Here are some excerpts from the October 2004 issue of the Exodus newsletter. Unfortunately, Exodus does not make its newsletter available online. Boldface print was bold in the original.
Alan Chambers, Exodus president, says:
"We are a country in need of reminding that our roots are firmly planted in Christ.
… And though I believe that Christ is our only hope and that His
Church is the vehicle for His will to be accomplished in the world, I
believe that part of God’s plan and order for this world lies in a
strong and democratic form of government.
"We are on the doorstep of the most important election in the history of the world, I believe.
It is critical for the people of this nation to exercise their civic
responsibility and get out and vote on November 2. This election will
decide much from morality and the future of our Godly nation to
national and international security. I honestly believe that the
outcome of this election will greatly impact the future of redemptive
ministries like Exodus, with bills like the Hate Crimes (sic)
legislation that has passed through the Senate and is now on its way
back to the House. Our Canadian ministry leaders are close to being
unable to minister because of Canada’s Hate Crimes LAW that now makes
it illegal for churches to speak the truth about homosexuality, even
redemptively. America is headed that way."
Chambers concludes his article not by linking to exgay web sites, but rather by promoting two anti-gay-marriage sites, We Vote Values and For Marriage.
R. Albert Mohler Jr., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says:
"With the 2004 presidential campaign now under way, the issue of political involvement emerges anew with urgency.
… The late Carl F.H. Henry addressed evangelicals with a manifesto
for Christian engagement in his landmark book ‘The Uneasy Conscience of
Modern Fundamentalism.’"
and
"Ominous signs of moral collapse and cultural decay now appear on
our contemporary horizon. A society ready to put the institution of
marriage up for demolition and transformation is a society losing its
most basic moral sense."
and
"Christians may well be the last citizens who know the
difference between the eternal and the temporal, the ultimate and the
urgent."
Randy Thomas, Exodus national staff, says:
"It is a cultural bias that says Christians should not exercise the same rights as their neighbor."
and
"Legislation is coming forth that will punish people for saying that
homosexuality is a sin. These ‘hate speech’ laws are already on the
books in Europe, Canada and even here in Pennsylvania and California. Some of your elected officials on Capitol Hill are promoting further thought policing.
"Meanwhile, the compelling voices of people who have overcome homosexuality are dismissed, ridiculed and slandered. If we do not speak up at the ballot box today, we may not get a chance to do so tomorrow.
Let us declare our position on moral and fiscal issues. Let us shepherd
where this country is headed and and celebrate our celebrate our
freedom of self-determination."
Tim Sneed, executive vice president of Exodus, says:
"Our citizen’s (sic) viewpoints are extremely polarized: Republican
or Democrat, conservative or liberal, believer or unbeliever.
"In high school and college I was taught to consider that there
might not always be black or white, right or wrong for everything. I
was taught that living in the gray area is appropriate, and accepting
this middle ground was expected. We as a nation have lived with this
philosophy in education and in government for the past 20 years. The
polar extremes today make me realize that perhaps ‘gray’ is not so good
and that there is a right and a wrong for everything. I see it like a
bottle of vinaigrette — no matter how much you shake it, when it sits,
the oil will separate from the vinegar. Twenty years ago, I accepted
the ‘gray’ and the place between right and wrong. As I have let that
sit, it has become clear to me that I prefer to operate with a firm
distinction between right and wrong.
"Today I clearly support that which I know is right and
stand up against that which I know is wrong. This year will you do the
same? Your voice can be heard when you support ministries that are
following the Lord and when you vote for the future of government. Be heard: get out and vote!"
Scott Davis, Exodus youth director, reacts to a testimony by exgay
child-molestation victim Donnie McClurkin. The testimony is not
available online.
"Kids should not have to suffer the terrible abuse of sexual
molestation at the hands of adults. They should not have to struggle to
figure out their own gender identity, growing up without the influence
of both a father and a mother. And kids should not have their
hope and self-determination destroyed by educators and counselors who
claim they were born gay and will always be gay, contrary to the
scientific evidence!
"We hear from many young people with stories similar to Donnie’s.
Many were sexually abused as children and grew up in families where
they were unable to identify with their own gender in a healthy way.
Many youth tell us they are discouraged and depressed when they are
told that they are gay and cannot change and should just accept it. These young people found real hope when they heard that thousands have found freedom from homosexuality through Christ!
"Donnie’s story of abuse and confused sexual identity is a reminder
of God’s call on Exodus to be part of preventing homosexuality among
youth. We cannot merely help those who have developed homosexuality; we
must help prevent the development of homosexuality among our youth. Fore
the sake of our children, we need to vote for civic leaders who defend
sexual morality and who work to build up American families instead of
tearing them down."
Here are my offhand observations about the newsletter:
- Albert Mohler’s preoccupation with sexuality, and his attempt
to accuse faithful gay couples of demolishing marriage, remind us why
Christian leaders around the world consider it immoral that the
Southern Baptist Convention avoids serious moral discussion about
economics, war, nationalism, criminal justice, truth in politics,
loving one’s enemies, and countless other concerns. Mohler cites Carl F.H. Henry in support of Christian engagement of a supposedly dying U.S. society. But ironically, Henry argued against
the separatism, the aversion to logic and dialogue, and the witchhunts
that now influence Exodus and Southern Baptist political thinking. - Alan Chambers offers no reasons to oppose the addition of sexual
orientation to existing laws against violent hate crimes. Instead, he
confuses U.S. laws against violent crimes with hotly debated Canadian
regulation of speech, which would be unconstitutional if attempted in
the United States. - Tim Sneed neglects to consider that both ends of his bent and
skewed ideological spectrum are wrong, and that Christ called upon his
followers to follow a third way that was not merely somewhere in
between Sneed’s subjective choice of endpoints. - Randy Thomas cites nonexistent California and Pennsylvania laws
preventing people from declaring that homosexuality is a sin. He also
regards any sort of criticism of exgay ideology as the equivalent of
being "dismissed, ridiculed and slandered," and he declines to name
anyone who says Christians should not exercise the same rights as their
neighbors. - Scott Davis overlooks the large number of same-sex-attracted
individuals who do not report any abuse or gender-identity concerns. He
seems to favor discrimination against single-parent families as well as
same-sex-attracted teachers. It is unclear whether he supports unbiased
science education in the schools, or prefers limiting teaching to exgay
scientific claims. Finally, Davis repeats the logical and factual
mistakes detailed in XGW’s current discussion on pedophilia. - The abundance of boldface print reinforces the impression that
Exodus publishes judgmental and opinionated tracts that are light on
facts. Readers may look elsewhere for thoughtful, compassionate,
balanced, and appropriately substantiated reflections on exgay faith
and sexuality.
Apart from a brief monthly calendar of local events, recent
newsletters offer little for Exodus member ministries. Instead of
providing member services or reporting new discoveries about sexual
attraction and celibacy, the newsletters emphasize Exodus’ ties to
Focus on the Family and the Southern Baptist Convention and promote
political activism against mutual tolerance and social or legal
equality.
I have seen ex-gay groups say that there are tens of thousands of ex-gays out there on some occasions and just thousands on others. Randy Thomas said tens of thousands have sought the help of Exodus in the Houston Press article. Maybe when Scott Davis says that thousands have changed, he is unintentionally admitting that Exodus’ success rate is not that great. Either that or they should just get their numbers straight.
Why should they? If they aren’t getting all their members straight, why get the numbers straight? 🙂
It is easy to quote exact numbers when saying “X” number of people called or wrote, seeking help from Exodus. It is quite another to say, with honesty, that “x” number of people actually changed their orientation, or effected a permanent change of behavior (measured at 1-year or 5-year distance out). It don’t believe it can be reported, because I don’t think it is all that frequent an event.
And even if someone is genuinely unhappy with their gender-attraction, and wishes to behave a different way, or become opposite-gender attracted, and finds some measure of success at it, so what? Just becuase 1, or 100 or 1000 “can” doesn’t mean everyone else “should”.
Joe Dallas used to say the number was ‘hundreds of thousands’, in his novel. They keep ignoring the requests for percentage of change, probably for very good reasons.
Exodus leaders, Dobson, et al, breathe into those paper bags, you all are hyperventilating too much. The election will be over soon, and either you will be Raptured out of the reach of Antichrist Kerry, or you will be still here with Bush, so what’s the big deal?
Really, I could forgive these a–hats more easily if they were out there organizing canned goods drives and renovate/winterize-a-thons for poor folk. After all, they ought to have something to do in their spare time once their “problem” is resolved.
I don’t mean to disparage MEMBERS, just leadership, in the above post. The leaders are the ones with the bully pulpit and the non-profit mailing rates and list, ie, the tools to help organize other people. So sorry, should always hit preview first.
Nancy, you really do need to consider that the people you are referencing in your last post are customers. Not members. Customers.
Wherein lies the difference between “member” and “customer”? (since I, too, used the term ‘member’) I thought folks who sought help from Exodus or other ex-gay programs became somehow “members” of those groups… sort of in the same way one who joins AA is a ‘member’ …. or one who joins a political party is a member of that party.
O’course, that may be a totally erroneous assumption, since I don’t know how those groups work or what they do with the people who are snared in their baitings. I suppose if they pay money for “services” (rendered or not), perhaps “customer” is the better word.
I appreciate Nancy’s effort not to generalize about the exgay rank-and-file. And Raj, I think it’s a bit nitpicky to demand that regular participants not be called members even informally.
However, few exgay “ministries” seem to have formal memberships that confer any rights, benefits, or voting privileges upon the participants or clients. (This is unfortunate; a membership structure might, in fact, promote greater accountability within each ministry.) The individual ministries are a mix of nonprofit groups and personal fiefdoms with varying organizational structures.
Local ministries must meet certain criteria — such as a minimum period of time successfully living and ministering as an exgay — to affiliate with Exodus and join its referral network.
Raj, I assume you are asserting that ex-gay organizations are thinly disguised for-profit businesses.