Christian organizations that try to “cure” gays are increasingly uncertain they are dealing with a personal choice. The Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gave this discussion national prominence this winter when he suggested homosexuality might be a genetic trait. Today, Stephanie Simon of the LA Times warrants back to back mentions on The God Blog for this story:
Alan Chambers directs Exodus International, widely described as the nation’s largest ex-gay ministry. But when he addresses the group’s Freedom Conference at Concordia University in Irvine this month, Chambers won’t celebrate successful “ex-gays.”
Truth is, he’s not sure he’s ever met one.
With years of therapy, Chambers says, he has mostly conquered his own attraction to men; he’s a husband and a father, and he identifies as straight. But lately, he’s come to resent the term “ex-gay”: It’s too neat, implying a clean break with the past, when he still struggles at times with homosexual temptation. “By no means would we ever say change can be sudden or complete,” Chambers said.
In related news, President Bush’s controversial—aren’t they all?—nominee for surgeon general believes in ex-gay therapy, which “puts him in direct conflict with virtually the entire American medical community.”
