Ex-Gay Watch

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

full transcript / msnbc video

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Ron Reagan Jr. was filling in for Chris Matthews last week on Hardball. In the “Let me finish” portion at the end of the show, Ron refutes (fmr. Sen. (R)) Rick Santorum’s (et al), claim that gay marriage will lead to polygamy — the “slippery slope” fallacy/argument.

The pith of it is this:

Ron Reagan Jr.: “Santorum and many of his anti-gay colleagues can do a lot better than paper towels. They’re fond of claiming that if gay people would be allowed to wed, we’d also have to allow polygamy, incest and bestiality. This assertion is so absurd some people find it difficult to argue against.

If you find yourself similarly flummoxed, just point out this very simple distinction. Laws against polygamy are non-exclusionary. Whether you are gay or straight, black or white, Christian or Muslim, you can’t be married to more than one person at a time. Preventing gay people from exercising the same right as their fellow straight citizens creates a separate unequal class of people, it is exclusionary. That is the only meaningful distinction you need to keep in mind when arguing with people like Santorum.”

Not so slippery a slope after all.

Now let’s add some glue to that slope:
Read more…

From the AP:

As a response to Apples’ recent move to drop their iPhone app from the App Store, the leaders at Exodus International have vowed to live without their iToys.  “Contributing our money and computing allegiance to a company that clearly does not represent our values just seemed wrong,” said Exodus president Alan Chambers.  “After all,” he continued, “Apple represents a minor segment of the computer and smart phone market, there are plenty of alternatives.  It would be wrong of us to concentrate so heavily on them when they do not accept us or our worldview.”  Asked to comment on that move by Apple, Chambers said “they are threatened by our personal stories of change.”

Exodus vice president Randy Thomas was in agreement with his boss, but said it was not easy to let go.  “I had already received and named my second iPad — Zack, if you are interested — and I keep my first iPad (Rex) in my bedroom.  It is filled with our conference video to keep me in line should I have those “urges” that any normal not gay but almost holy person sometimes has.”   He further confessed that “it’s not easy to live in this world without an Apple product (Igor the iPhone means so much more to me than just a phone), but God can give me the strength to seek other brands.  The Motorola Droid is a more masculine, gender appropriate phone according to several studies.”  When asked to share references, Thomas declined, calling us “pro-gay activists” and as having a “critical spirit.”  Still, he did remark that my camera man had excellent taste in shoes, to which Chambers nodded in agreement while looking a bit preoccupied.

While the decision to dump their excess tech baggage is made, it’s not clear what they will do with the devilish devices.  Jeff Buchannan, Exodus’ senior director of church equipping and student ministries said he is advising his fellow ex-gays to burn all their iMacs, iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs in a special ceremony to celebrate breaking one more bond with their old lives.  “We considered selling them or even giving them away, but a brief 127 page email sent to me by Robert Gagnon helped me understand that the Old Testament speaks to this, that these devices would not represent God’s best for their new owners.  Without at least our Exodus app to redeem them, these tech toys represent an anti-ex-gay spirit.”

Asked to comment on Exodus and their recent decision, a local Presbyterian pastor and founder of one of the few homeless shelters in the area, Rev. Robert Miller, was somewhat confused.  “Who has time for toys?  We could feed 500 people for  a day on what an iPad costs.”  Miller continued, “We have an old laptop that was donated by a grandmother who received it as a gift. It works, and I can use free Internet at local establishments when necessary.  The laptop doesn’t have a name, unless you mean Dell.”  At that he had to go help a homeless man who was walking with considerable difficulty toward the shelter, revealing a reference to Matthew 25:40 printed on the back of his shirt.

This was our April Fools post for 2011.

Our friend, Jim, over at Teach The Facts brought this up and I thought it was an ideal theme to start the New Year off with.

Imagine Peace in 2011

It is a New Year, 2011, war is raging, hatred abounds, greed is rewarded with power, love is reviled as filth. Good people need to be vigilant, paradoxically to fight for peace.

I m a g i n e:

War is over, if you want it

Subtitle: A Biblical and Compassionate Response to Same-Sex Attraction
General Editors: Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche
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Introduction (Part 1) here.

I wanted to start Part 2 with the beginning chapters that put the rest of the book in perspective, but this issue seems timely enough to skip to.
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Chapter 21: Gays in the Military, by Joe Dallas, co-editor and main author of the book.

It should first be observed that while Scripture condemns homosexual behavior, it says nothing of the general characteristics of homosexual people. [p378, emph mine]

Except when Scripture actually does speak to the characteristics of homosexuality:

Romans 1:26-32: Paraphrased: Furthermore [re the example of homosexuality], since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless…

But wait, he clarifies:
Read more…

Subtitle: A Biblical and Compassionate Response to Same-Sex Attraction (part2, part3)

“Wouldn’t it be great if this book could be a one-stop resource?” So we selected the main topics associated with homosexuality —theological, clinical, social, political, and familial—then solicited contributions from a variety of authors with specific expertise. The result is a comprehensive guide providing biblically based insights into the many issues the subject raises. [p16-emph in original]

There is much ground to cover here. The book is nearly 500 pages long and most of the information contained is an organized conglomeration of things we’ve been hearing for years and rebutted ad-nauseum. However, there are many studies, statistics and sources I am unfamiliar with that are in need of investigation by the “militant homosexual activist” slueuths among us.

In regard to that, and to their credit, they’ve not only put the footnotes at the end of each chapter, but also (in addition to website urls) list the page numbers of the books they cite from.

Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche are listed as the general editors. Though most of the book is written by Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche, contributing authors are listed as: Alan Chambers, Paul Copan, Melisa Fryrear, Mike Haley, Bill Maier and Randy Thomas.

All of whom, with the exception of Paul Copan (to my knowledge), are or were speakers at Love Won Out conferences:

Love Won Out: Christian experts will address everything from why some people struggle with homosexuality to practical ways the church can respond with the truth and grace of Christ. Whether you are a parent or friend of a gay loved one, a pastor or therapist looking for help to assist those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions…

Given the number of contributing authors, this book is riddled with contradictions. Some small, some galaxical.

IMNSHO, the willingness of the authors to participate in the construction of this manifesto makes them party to everything that is said by everyone else. I say this because there is some serious ugliness contained within these pages. (Note: If any of them publicly denounce their involvement with this book I will eat my sock.)
Read more…

Ex-Gay Watch reported on Matthew C. Manning’s troubling criminal record in June, 2009.  Manning claims to have been “delivered from homosexuality in 1989 and miraculously healed from HIV/AIDS in 1994.”  He has claimed that this enabled him to help people wishing to be “delivered from homosexuality.”  Readers unfamiliar with Manning are invited to read our previous post for background.

What’s happened since last June

The day after last year’s post, Manning filed to expunge the conviction from 2005 per California penal code 1203.4.  It appears to have been granted on August 10, 2009.  This is something we contemplated in the original article — California law provides for this in some cases if the defendant follows all court imposed conditions. These are listed in our post from that time.  A reading of the statute indicates that the expungement has limits, especially if one is found guilty of another crime in the future.

It also seems he either tried to, or did sell his house in Santa Rosa.  We don’t currently have the records to know under what circumstances this was done.  His new ministry address is a UPS private mail box in San Francisco.

All references we could find indicate that his house was his main ministry location.  Aside from a period during which a local church allowed him to use a room at off hours for meetings, his home is the only thing we could find.  Copies of the ministry 990s bear this out with no payments to any property or office outside the home.  There are expenses claimed for a “ministry house” which we assume to be a reference to his home (or former home) in Santa Rosa.

There is also no mention of a board of directors, in spite of the fact that posts appear on Manning’s blog claiming to be from them, discussing Manning’s activities, claiming to give their blessings to this or that move, etc.  These posts follow Manning’s grammar and writing style closely.  It is our considered opinion that Manning is the sole “director” of Light House World Evangelism, Inc.  He is listed as president on the 990s, with his wife as secretary. Read more…

Arthur Goldberg’s damage-control campaign has begun. His strategy is to portray himself as an innocent man who made a mistake, and is now the victim of a ruthless personal attack by the purveyors of the much-feared gay agenda.

Arthur A Goldberg, Executive Secretary of NARTH and a co-founder and co-director of Jewish ex-gay group JONAH, was exposed earlier this week as convicted felon Arthur Abba Goldberg, the Wall Street investor fined $100,000 and sentenced to 18 months in 1989 on three counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States of America.

Goldberg has yet to respond publicly to the reports. He appears, however, to have written to his fellow board members at NARTH, in a letter obtained by Ex-Gay Watch.

Goldberg: Allegations exaggerated, false, malicious

Goldberg begins by describing the charges made against him by the Truth Wins Out/South Florida Gay News investigation as “exaggerated and in many parts false and malicious.” He then says he will explain what happened “so that all of you may have some idea of what was involved.”

This suggests that he had not disclosed his criminal past to NARTH. This is further supported by XGW’s conversation with David Pruden, NARTH’s Vice President of Operations. While freely identifying Goldberg as Arthur Abba Goldberg, Pruden denied knowing anything of the charges made in Monday’s article.

This is very concerning. Who neglects to disclose criminal convictions – especially a felony of this nature – to organizations for which they work, unless quite deliberately? Most companies, organizations and workplaces require their employees and officers to disclose such matters, not least because it could open an organization like NARTH to liabilities of its own. The protocol applies even more so when an organization is professional, pastoral, financial or charitable in nature. Yet the evidence so far suggests Goldberg said nothing. Read more…

This is a clear, concise and accurate analysis of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, with its  implications laid out simply and horrifyingly. The narrator of this video demonstrates faultlessly that the bill in its current form would mean death not only for gays, but for anyone who supports them.

For more clear analysis, see Ex-Gay Watch’s earlier post Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009: Just the Facts.

A tip of the hat to Harry’s Place for the video.

Leading evangelical magazine Christianity Today has weighed in on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009. In an editorial appearing today without attribution, CT urges American Christians to “listen, then speak.”

Faced with the possibility that thousands of Ugandans will be put to death, the writer has the audacity to say approvingly that “for American Christian leaders, both silence and open condemnation end up violating important missional and human-rights principles.”

This isn’t an argument about abstract moral principles. This is about human lives.

I can’t be the only homosexual wondering what human-rights principle could possibly be getting in the way of the clear condemnation of a law that would have you and me executed?

(Note: The relevant texts to this episode can be found here (adb/pdf)), and/or you can view the whole thing here.)

With that, we begin.

Dr. David Kyle Foster is the producer and co-host of a show called “Pure Passion.”:

David founded Mastering Life Ministries in 1987 and has been its director ever since. He is also the producer and host of “Pure Passion” – a televised outreach designed to equip the church to redemptively minister to those who are trapped in sexual sin and brokenness. … The goal of the program is to tell the world of God’s grace and love through Jesus Christ and His power to set anyone free from any sin or bondage.

Foster has a series of articles on homosexuality, rife with all the stale yet vicious antigay talking points:

Kyle Foster, 2008: The reality [of homosexuality] is a dramatically reduced life expectancy and the likelihood of contracting hepatitis, AIDS, or one of a host of diseases and infections, as a result of the unnatural perversity of homosexual activity.

Suicide among homosexuals is epidemic, not because society disapproves, as many would have you believe, but because these dear people feel trapped and condemned into a lifestyle and orientation that they know is out of whack.
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And the faithfully monogamous gay couple myth – not even close. Such relationships are statistically nonexistent in the gay community.

On December 21st, 2009, the host of the show was Jayson Graves, a board member of Exodus International:

Welcome to Pure Passion. I’m Jayson Graves, and I’m your host for today’s program.

Today we have a man who has lived with the HIV virus for almost 30 years. His name is Jonathan Hunter, and since 1985 he’s been the director of a ministry to those with the AIDS virus, called “Embracing Life.”

After overdosing on drugs, he also had an after-death experience which utterly changed his life.

In my opinion, this episode exploited Jonathan Hunter’s near-death experience (NDE) in an attempt to convince their audience that there is now eye-witness testimony—proving once and for all—that Jesus Christ Himself is anti-gay.
Read more…