“Ex-gay” preacher Sy Rogers died yesterday morning after a long struggle with kidney cancer.
Rogers rose to notoriety as a member of Exodus International in the 1980s. He claimed to have lived life as a gay man, and later, as a transgender woman, before undergoing a religious awakening. He spoke at length about his “conversion” throughout the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. He also spoke about his extremely abusive childhood, having grown up with an alcoholic mother and an emotionally distant father. Rogers also claimed to have been bullied for his effeminate manner, and to have been sexually abused.
Related: What seeking conversion therapy in my conservative county taught me
Rogers later met his wife, Karen, in a Bible study. They wed in 1982. The couple had several children and grandchildren together. The family would relocate to Singapore in the mid-80s to open a ministry in hopes of using conversion therapy to combat the AIDS crisis.
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Though he gained fame as an advocate of conversion therapy, Rogers would distance himself from his “ex-gay” messaging after the closure of Exodus International in 2013. He began to preach a more generic message about salvation through Christianity. Exodus subsequently apologized for the harm it did to the LGBTQ community, though Rogers never did personally.
Dijonaise
Burn in hell mfr.
Harley
My mother always said to speak good of the dead. Sy Rogers Is dead….. GOOD. (Credit Bette Davis for that line)
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Instead if Singapore, it should have moved to Egypt..
Cause that’s where da Nile river is…
ShiningSex
AND NO ONE GIVES A F*CK.
ONE LESS VERMIN.
wikidBSTN
I’m willing to believe, even easily so, that someone who came from a very abusive background, can be so sexually screwed up, that he or she goes down multiple “wrong” paths.
By “wrong” I mean paths that would not have been natural to them and were only taken because of the abuse.
And maybe this guy was one of them.
But for him to then say everyone else who is not heterosexual is just as messed up as he was – that’s clearly wrong.
With conversion therapy – he was pushing the same abuse he suffered onto others. Trying to force/coerce sexual practices onto someone that violates their nature is abuse. Conversion therapy is abuse.
Chrisk
Plus many of them were kids who didn’t have a choice.
This is a good reason why religion should never replace science. They’re incapable of considering anything that doesn’t support their belief.
blackhook
Good riddance to bad evangelical trash!
yoshimura8869
Evangelicalism itself is so faulty so it only creates faulty people like him believing in faulty things. The unbiblical Evangelical “Bible Alone” theology makes them all crazy because everyone can interpret the Bible according to his or her own ideas and claim that God “speaks” directly to them via the Bible. They are making God in THEIR image and likeness. Therefore, THEY become “God”. Sola Scriptura or Bible Alone is NOT found anywhere in the Bible, explicitly or implicitly. Martin Luther created this new teaching. in 1642 as a brand new basis of authority to replace the Church’s authority. However, Jesus did not leave his followers with a book but with a church according to Matthew 16:18 “You are Peter (Kepha or rock in Greek) and on this rock I will build my Church”. If some Evangelical tries to con you into believing that 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” proves the Bible Alone teaching, you can show them that St. Paul used the word “useful” NOT “sufficient” or even “necessary”! Running is useful for health but is it sufficient or even necessary? Nope. Neither is the Bible to be misused the way these Evangelicals use it. That’s the reason why you have so many crazy Evangelicals making crazy assumptions and opinions and saying that “God TOLD” them this or that nonsense.
scotty
nothing of value was lost.
Cam
Another A**hole who thinks that they need to force their baggage onto everybody else.
Chrisk
Wow. 7 kids. That’s some serious hetero compensation. No doubt the sex was cold and only used to confirm their hetero normality.
Oh and how sick can you get using Aids as a tool to convert them. No doubt making them believe that it was their fault and if only they change and love p*ssy God will forgive them. It always comes from a point of weakness.
Kidney Cancer is no joke though. My Dad died of it. However, glad this POS is dead!
woodroad34
Sy Rogers is at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him are three nuns. As the line progresses, the first nun nervously comes up to St. Peter and St. Peter says to her, “Who was the first man on earth?” The nun is surprised and answer correctly, “Adam.” Tadaaaa! The gates open and she walks through.
The second nun arrives, and she’s really nervous; the first question was so easy that she thinks the questioning will get more difficult. St. Peter asks of her, “who were the parents of Jesus?” The nun gives a heavy sigh of relief and says “Mary and Joseph.” Tadaaaa! the gates open and she walks through.
The third nun comes up to Peter, extremely nervous, because she also thinks the questioning will be more difficult. Peter says to her, “what was the first thing Mary said to Joseph on their wedding night?” Oh, the nun practically has a conniption–how is she supposed to know something like that? “Oh, that’s a hard one,” she exclaims. Tadaaaa! The gates open.
Now it’s Sy Rogers turn. He boldly walks up to Peter and says, “I am the most devout man that ever lived and I’ve kept the course of mankind on a strict road to purity and a no-nonsense code of behavior. I’ve lambasted gays, fornicators and self-abusers. You have to let me in.” Peter looks at him intensely and says, “You have to answer a question first. ‘Jesus was an only child; who did he play with?” “Oh, give me a break!” says Sy. “Let me in now–I deserve it!” “He played with himself”, Peter says and a trap door suddenly opens and Sy goes to Hell, screaming “that’s not trruuuuuuue!”
butchqueen
If god is love, this asshole is roasting in hell.
Matthewnow
He will surely need to atone for his words and actions. I am always stunned by the anti God rhetoric on this site. Being gay AND believing in a higher power is not a polarizing issue. We (Gay Brothers and be Sisters) should be supporting each other not tearing each other apart. Peace