We’ve long rolled our eyes at Exodus International, the sham organization dedicated to the false notion that people can be cured of their same-sex urges. We didn’t even blink when we read how Exodus co-founders Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper came out (again) and recanted their ex-gay ways.
But we were stunned to hear current leader Alan Chambers (right) finally declare that there was no “cure” for being gay and that reparative therapy offered false—and even dangerous—hopes to those struggling with their orientation.
In an interview with the New York Times, Chambers laid out his change in approach:
He said that virtually every “ex-gay” he has ever met still harbors homosexual cravings, himself included. Mr. Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said that gay Christians like himself faced a lifelong spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it.
He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr. Chambers said he believed that those who persist in homosexual behavior could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven.
Only a few years ago, Mr. Chambers was featured in advertisements along with his wife, Leslie, saying, “Change is possible.” But now, he said in the interview, “Exodus needs to move beyond that slogan.”
“I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is sinful according to the Bible,” Mr. Chambers emphasized. “But we’ve been asking people with same-sex attractions to overcome something in a way that we don’t ask of anyone else,” he said, noting that Christians with other sins, whether heterosexual lust, pornography, pride or gluttony, do not receive the same blanket condemnations.
This is the newest tactic by the anti-gay lobby: Faced with insurmountable evidence that reparative therapy doesn’t work, they’re now saying gays and lesbians should just soldier through and ignore their innate feelings.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Okay, Mr. Chambers—can we marry your daughter?
Cam
So basically, since they have just admitted that being gay is not a choice, now they have to just be honest and admit that they are bigots.
B
Queerty’s take on it, not the quote, misrepresented Chambers. Christians have a “we are all sinners” theology. Chambers is now admitting that homosexual acts, while “sinful” in the sense that they have a taboo against it, are no worse than other “sinful” things people do like getting slightly inebriated, or a college kid out on a date ending up with nature taking its course, or a Jewish or Muslim guy eating pork.
Basically, he’s saying that, if you give Uncle Jake (from whom you expect to inherit 10 million dollars) a pass for getting a bit soused during a Christmas Eve dinner, you should also give out a pass if someone tries gay sex, whether they are gay or not. All of them can then repent the way most average Christians do – by admitting they are sinners and need divine forgiveness, but while just feeling guilty in general and not about anything specific. It’s basically saying, “I’ve been a bad boy” while drawing a blank when asked what you actually did that was bad.
Fundamentally, this represents progress – we are going from being the devil incarnate to being no worse than Uncle Jake after he has a few too many hot toddies on a cold winter’s night. It’s probably a sign that they are throwing in the towel. Exodus International’s new gig will be to help people who, for religious reasons, want to suppress their sexuality, making Exodus International no different in principle from an organization set up to help any hypothetical pork-eating Muslims avoid eating food they really like. BTW, I once met a Muslim guy who loved pork – he joked that he was in enough trouble for being gay that alcohol and pork were relatively minor issues (and he was not repressing his sexuality either).
Max the Communist
Finally. Now give the queer people you conned back their money, you asswipe.
Chad
I’m just wondering if he was caught with another man.
B
No. 4 · Chad quipped, “I’m just wondering if he was caught with another man.”
He wasn’t caught with another man. He looks happy, not self-satisfied.
While conducting a rehearsal of Handel’s The Messiah, Sir Thomas Beecham supposedly once told the chorus, “When you sing ‘for we are sheep who have gone astray,’ could you please try to sound less self satisfied?”
1equalityUSA
While conducting a rehearsal of Handel’s The Messiah, Sir Thomas Beecham supposedly once told the chorus, “When you sing ‘for we are sheep who have gone astray,’ could you please try to sound less self satisfied?”
B, I adore this one! Damn.
Baba Booey
It’s unfortunate that there are so many sweet, nice gay kids who end their own and this of shit still exists. Life is ironic and unfair sometimes.
Dirty Ole Man
I’ve dealt with a bunch of these tortured souls. You cannot convince them of anything. The south is full of them. They have so many of internal issues that they cannot resolve. Its sad that they push their ways on others.
hello
This is good and shows they are evolving.
There are many Christian gays that struggle with reconciling who they are with their religion. If Exodus continues to exist at all I would like to see them help people who struggle with this.
People are just as likely to commit suicide accepting themselves as gay as they are denying themselves for their religion. I separate being gay and who i am with thinking the “gay lifestyle” is very destructive. By “gay lifestyle” I mean drugs and promiscuity which is what it’s all about. The lie that it’s just fine leads to addiction and disease and suddenly realizing you are all alone with no friends when you need help.
Young people need to be taught that being yourself is fine but and that you can be a Christian and gay. They need to be warned about the seduction of a sad life.
Perhaps instead of asking people to be celibate they encourage them to seek monogamous relationships based on family, church and a decent life.
john shepard
@hello: @hello: i am a gay man. i have been in a committed monogamous relationship for over 8yrs and just last year married my husband in New York State. I never had this ‘gay lifestyle’ that you define, so it ISNT what its ALL ABOUT.
The PERCEPTION that this is the gay lifestyle is just that. There are str8 men and women alike who have promiscuous drug fueled lives, but you dont refer to the Straight LifeStyle as a such. lets not get it twisted here. when a straight man or woman is abusing drugs and alcohol and runs around sleeping w/ strangers, you call them drug addicts and alcoholics…not victims of the Straight Lifestyle.It is time we drop this double standard. let it begin with you.
Hello
@john shepard: Sorry but we are not straight people and are held to a higher standard. Don’t you tell me gay life isn’t about sex …all you need do is look at a gay blog to see ads about hookup sites next to hiv ads. Ironic huh? Last year 61 percent of all new hiv infections were gay men. I say gays need to change their behavior….not stop being gay. It ain’t a perception and you know it. It’s true. Everyone I know is on grindr looking for the next hookup.
the other Greg
Too funny – Pope “Hello” gets slapped down by one of the Church Ladies.
Anyway I saw this guy Alan Chambers last night on “Hardball” (without Chris Mathews), where guest host Michael Smerconish asked him about the “homosexual cravings” referred to in the New York Times. Funny, that was the ONE thing Chambers got upset about, he said he “would never use the word ‘cravings'” and he seemed quite upset that the reporter had used THAT word!
Also, Chambers has a rather, um, how should I put this… traditionally GAY voice!
So imagine him telling this inspiring religious tale in the voice of, say, a slightly more masculine Sean Hayes.
the other Greg
Oh yeah – so Michael Smerconish, smart-alecky liberal, seemed to think the term “HOMOSEXUAL CRAVINGS” was getting this guy rattled a bit so he kept using it… “HOMOSEXUAL CRAVINGS”… “HOMOSEXUAL CRAVINGS”… “HOMOSEXUAL CRAVINGS”… and oh dear, the poor closet case looked so upset at times!
Alexi3
This really is a very big deal. Inconceivable just a short time ago. The magnitude of the shift that had to occur for an evangelical based organization to admit that sexual orientation is a fact not a choice can’t be overstated. That they are still calling acting on that orientation a sin is within their religious worldview and is something I can live with, for the moment, since he is clearly stating that focusing on homosexual behavior with such condemnation while essentially giving a free pass on other sins within this same worldview is hypocracy. Given that fornication in whatever form is condemned in the Bible; they may yet “evolve” to a position that a monogamous homosexual relationship is just as viable as one involving a heterosexual couple. This would truly be treating all such relationships equally and this statement gives me more hope that one day the evangelical church can stop being an enemy of gay people than I would have ever believed possible. For many gay Christians this is a beacon of hope that the conflict between their religious beliefs and what they know to be true about their own same sex attractions can be reconciled.
B
No. 14 · Alexi3 noted, “This really is a very big deal. … Given that fornication in whatever form is condemned in the Bible; they may yet “evolve” to a position that a monogamous homosexual relationship is just as viable as one involving a heterosexual couple.:
If I remember correctly, the Christians even have a precedent for giving a pass for living together when marriage is not legal – e.g., if living in a state that required a pagan religious ceremony to get officially married, a potential issue two thousand years ago. I’m not sure how often this happened and unfortunately have not found a citation. Does anyone have one?
B
Re No 15 – found an example: Roman slaves could not legally be married, so if one became a Christian, a state-sanctioned marriage was not possible. It would have cut down on potential converts if they told them that they had to be celibate because of Roman law forbidding marriage for slaves.
T.L. Mack
One thing that I always found hillarious was how these so called “ex-gays” would say God healed them from their affliction. Then they would say that it was a daily struggle. The last time i checked, when God heals you from something you’re healed. Example, the man that couldn’t hear gets healed. That man doesn’t have to wake up every morning and pray to God to make sure he can hear that day because he’s already been healed.
B
No. 17 · T.L. Mack wrote, “One thing that I always found hillarious was how these so called “ex-gays” would say God healed them from their affliction. Then they would say that it was a daily struggle. The last time i checked, when God heals you from something you’re healed.”
God learned a thing or two over the past few thousand years. Previously he just healed you. Recently he learned how to be a professional and makes sure you come back for follow-up visits.
T.L. Mack
Hey B,
that’s cute but i feel that’s selling God’s ability way short. Once again humans trying to comprehend the uncomprehendable.
chadthreesixty
Of COURSE there is a cure for homosexuality.
It’s called Hollywood.
queerty1958
Now if there was only a cure for homophobia and stupidity.