LIES

Baptist Leader Says Childhood Sex Abuse Made You Gay

southern baptistsHere’s Richard Land, former Southern Baptist Convention leader, speaking on Tony Perkins’ radio show: “I know that the dirty little secret that nobody wants to talk about is that a high percentage of adult male homosexuals in America were sexually molested when they were children. … Anybody who’s a counselor…will tell you that.”

No, Richard, anybody who’s a counselor will tell you that that is not true. It’s an old myth, thoroughly debunked, an absurd stereotype as dangerous as saying that Jews steal babies and black teenagers are probably in rape gangs. It’s not just offensive, it has the potential to incite people to violence.

After all, a claim like this will no doubt come as a surprise to the millions upon millions of us who are happily homosexual, never molested or abused or seriously traumatized. Or to the many heterosexuals who endured childhood abuse and yet somehow, miraculously, did not magically turn gay. Or to just about every mental health professional in the country, whose experience runs counter to Richard’s evil falsehoods. Richard’s babbling is kind of impressive in that it is offensive to LGBTs, to the victims of childhood sexual abuse, and to the medical professionals who’ve dedicated their careers to helping them.

What’s terrifying about this is that Richard Land is not some fringe nutcase. People listen to this guy. People believe him when he lies. President Bush appointed him to a commission on religious freedom, for crying out loud. He’s president of a seminary, which means he’s putting these lies into the minds of younger people. He’s the executive editor of the Christian Post.

Our question is this: surely, with all those religious people he works with, at least some of them must have a conscience. Some of them must know that he’s not telling the truth. What will it take for his colleagues to denounce this objectively false, completely unprovable claim? Why are they letting him get away with out-and-out lies?

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