How an 'Ex-Gay' Minister Saw the Light

[Smoke]

AlterNet: How an 'Ex-Gay' Minister Saw the Light

Scott Harrison desperately tried to change his sexual orientation in various "ex-gay" ministries for eight years, three of them as a ministry leader in Southern California. Most of his experience with ex-gay groups -- Christian organizations that see homosexuality as a choice that can be changed with proper therapy -- was with Living Waters and Desert Stream, two curricula of a national ex-gay network that has more than 80 branches today. When Harrison joined in 1982, he felt ex-gay ministers were then a band of compassionate outsiders attending to the first AIDS victims. But by the end of that decade, Harrison had taken note of the movement's increasing radicalism, symbolized for him by the minister at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in San Pedro, Calif., who performed an exorcism on him in an attempt to cast out the "demons" said to be the cause of his homosexuality. Harrison finally quit the movement in 1990 after deciding he could, after all, reconcile his sexuality with his Christian faith. Today, he speaks to parents of gay and lesbian children about the dangers he sees in the ex-gay movement.​

Harrison's account of the exorcism performed on him gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of thinking that characterizes the ex-gay movement:

I'm fairly hard of hearing; I had hearing aids at the time. This person was convinced that God had given word that I was supposed to give up my hearing aids, that God would heal my hearing. He did this in front of 300 people. I was psychologically vulnerable. I didn't follow my better hunches. Even though it happened over 20 years ago, it's hard to still not blame myself. ... I knew there wasn't a demon of homosexuality.

The [minister] said that if I let him crush my hearing aids, then God would give me back my hearing. He said he would pay for them if God didn't give me back my hearing. Then, he later reneged on that. For the next several weeks, I was faking that my hearing had been healed.
​

That's how effective they are at changing sexual orientation, too.

 

[Sunstone]

Nonsense, Bill. I used to be a perfectly straight arrow until the day I met James Dobson. As he looked right into my seeking eyes and gripped my excited palms in his manly hands for a firm handshake, I suddenly found myself fervently praying that I was destined to have his love child. So, people -- even straight arrows like me -- can indeed change sexual orientations through will alone, for I have not since that eventful moment when I became his missed a Valentine's Day without sending James a full and passionate profession of my love for him, along with a $20 gift certificate towards designer curtains.

 

[Sunstone]

More to the point, the fact these ex-gay ministries are willing to perpetrate a scam speaks volumes to the integrity of their leaders.

 

[Mister_T]

Those who were involved Mr. Harrison's "exorcism" should not be practicing ministers, IMO. They should also compensate Mr. Harrison for his hearing aids and then some.

I didn't follow my better hunches

This really stood out ot me: Always follow your gut instinct.

 

[Quath]

I think that Christianity suffers/advances from the idea that any belief can be made acceptable within its faith.

 

[Mister Emu]

The [minister] said that if I let him crush my hearing aids, then God would give me back my hearing. He said he would pay for them if God didn't give me back my hearing. Then, he later reneged on that. For the next several weeks, I was faking that my hearing had been healed.

The minister should have compensated the cost of the hearing aids...

That's how effective they are at changing sexual orientation, too.

Perhaps... perhaps not.

 

[Mike182]

AlterNet: How an 'Ex-Gay' Minister Saw the Light

Scott Harrison desperately tried to change his sexual orientation in various "ex-gay" ministries for eight years, three of them as a ministry leader in Southern California. Most of his experience with ex-gay groups -- Christian organizations that see homosexuality as a choice that can be changed with proper therapy -- was with Living Waters and Desert Stream, two curricula of a national ex-gay network that has more than 80 branches today. When Harrison joined in 1982, he felt ex-gay ministers were then a band of compassionate outsiders attending to the first AIDS victims. But by the end of that decade, Harrison had taken note of the movement's increasing radicalism, symbolized for him by the minister at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in San Pedro, Calif., who performed an exorcism on him in an attempt to cast out the "demons" said to be the cause of his homosexuality. Harrison finally quit the movement in 1990 after deciding he could, after all, reconcile his sexuality with his Christian faith. Today, he speaks to parents of gay and lesbian children about the dangers he sees in the ex-gay movement.​

Harrison's account of the exorcism performed on him gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of thinking that characterizes the ex-gay movement:

I'm fairly hard of hearing; I had hearing aids at the time. This person was convinced that God had given word that I was supposed to give up my hearing aids, that God would heal my hearing. He did this in front of 300 people. I was psychologically vulnerable. I didn't follow my better hunches. Even though it happened over 20 years ago, it's hard to still not blame myself. ... I knew there wasn't a demon of homosexuality.

The [minister] said that if I let him crush my hearing aids, then God would give me back my hearing. He said he would pay for them if God didn't give me back my hearing. Then, he later reneged on that. For the next several weeks, I was faking that my hearing had been healed.
​

That's how effective they are at changing sexual orientation, too.

lol... that all sounds very familiar to me. very familiar.

i was part of the Vineyard movement over here in England, the movement made its way over seas sadly. the general tactic is to use techniques to build up enough extacy in the atmosphere that not believing isn't an option. at there big gatherings, "religious experiences" are very easy to come by, and in fact people are actually alienated if they don't have a "God induced" seizure on the floor and scream about Jesus for half an hour.

they make a lot of bogus claims about people's legs growing during prayer sessions, as proof that faith makes all things possible... and the conclusion they will happily lead you to is that if you are not healed, then you simply didn't have enough faith.

i had a payer meeting with the youth leaders about being gay, and they prayed that i would read the Bible and discover it's true meaning, specifically Romans where Paul talks about abominations unto God, and that i will find strength in my celibate lifestyle. yes, homosexuality was equated entirely to celibacy.

 

[Aasimar]

I LOVE gay people it makes it accomplishes 2 things for me.

- Somebody gets to automatically take the roll of a girls platonic friend, meaning I don't have to.

- 2 competetors down for the price of one.


Seriously though, I think it's horrid that they are trying to force people to not be gay. Who cares man, it's their damn life. Look to your own soul, and all that.

 

[Smoke]

Perhaps... perhaps not.

There's not really any "perhaps" about it.

 

[GayAtheist]

Its good to hear that someone in involved in this warped movement has seen the light and is now warning others about the dangers of it.

I have only heard about this movement in the last few years, but believe it has been around for more than 30 years, in places such as Australia and the U.S. I know that their "success rates" (if you can call it that!) are very low and the effects on these poor people is so damaging, especially for their mental and emotional states. I can't believe that these things are still allowed to happen.

It is such a hard time for someone when they are homo (or bi) sexual and they want to feel comfortable in themselves, and enough to be able to tell those around them. These sick ex-gay movements prey on the vulnerability of, not only the gay person, but on those close to them as well. It also feeds on their beliefs of homosexuality from the perspective of the bible, which is dangerous in itself.

As for this :

The [minister] said that if I let him crush my hearing aids, then God would give me back my hearing. He said he would pay for them if God didn't give me back my hearing. Then, he later reneged on that. For the next several weeks, I was faking that my hearing had been healed.

The fact that he says he will buy new hearing aids, shows the ministers obvious lack of faith in his so called "god".

This is another thing that people shouldn't go through. The false hope that these so-called ministers give to vulnerable people is criminal.

It is also sad, that you had to fake the return of your hearing for this charlatan. Anyway, as long as you have seen your ways and escaped the madness of these conmen, then good for you.

 

[tomspug]

I think that organizations like this one are birthed out of fear more than out of love, and I totally disagree with them.

I don't think anyone wants to believe in an intolerant God.

Even if you believe that homosexuality is wrong, it doesn't make them less of a person. A Christian should only be concerned about spreading the message of salvation and loving people, not spending all their energy pointing out what is wrong with them and how they should change.

 

[Mister Emu]

There's not really any "perhaps" about it.

Actually there is...

edit:
Do I think that the therapy works in most, or even anything but a small minority, not really... but if a man says they don't have sexual desire for men anymore, I'm gonna have to have evidence, or the person going back on what they said before I conclude they do...

 

[tomspug]

Actually, a speaker came to my college that was 'formerly' gay, and also a cross-dresser. Now he is happily married with three children and travels all over the country telling his story about how he achieved 'freedom' from a life of self-loathing and despair. You can choose to believe him or not, but his story seemed to come from the heart.

 

[Mike182]

Actually, a speaker came to my college that was 'formerly' gay, and also a cross-dresser. Now he is happily married with three children and travels all over the country telling his story about how he achieved 'freedom' from a life of self-loathing and despair. You can choose to believe him or not, but his story seemed to come from the heart.

i don't understand why his life was one of "self-loathing and despair", did he mention why?

i can tell you that my life was one of self-loathing and despair when i was pretending to be straight, and when i was denying my homosexuality in the face of those who called it sinful and an abomination and unnatural, and i completely understand the pressure that causes many in that situation to commit suicide.

 

[GayAtheist]

Actually, a speaker came to my college that was 'formerly' gay, and also a cross-dresser. Now he is happily married with three children and travels all over the country telling his story about how he achieved 'freedom' from a life of self-loathing and despair. You can choose to believe him or not, but his story seemed to come from the heart.

You don't have to be gay to be a cross-dresser by the way. In fact, I think that many more heterosexuals dabble in this, than their gay counterparts.

The reason behind these people becoming self-loathing and despairing, is often not because of their own feelings, but because of the judgement and prejudice from their own religion, communities and society as a whole. In my eyes, it is these people who need to get over their own prejudices rather than forcing these people to some how get fixed of their homosexuality.

 

[tomspug]

I said ALSO a cross-dresser. I know there is a difference.

And I absolutely agree with you that people shouldn't pressure other people, especially if it's rooted in prejudice. But this speaker was a really great guy and I will take him at his word that he thought that his homosexuality was a mistake. He didn't abandon it because people told him to, but because of his relationship with God. And that, I think, is all that matters: your relationship with God.

 

[Mike182]

I said ALSO a cross-dresser. I know there is a difference.

And I absolutely agree with you that people shouldn't pressure other people, especially if it's rooted in prejudice. But this speaker was a really great guy and I will take him at his word that he thought that his homosexuality was a mistake. He didn't abandon it because people told him to, but because of his relationship with God. And that, I think, is all that matters: your relationship with God.

good for him, but don't expect others to renounce their sexuality.

 

[GayAtheist]

And I absolutely agree with you that people shouldn't pressure other people, especially if it's rooted in prejudice. But this speaker was a really great guy and I will take him at his word that he thought that his homosexuality was a mistake. He didn't abandon it because people told him to, but because of his relationship with God. And that, I think, is all that matters: your relationship with God.

What I don't understand then about this is that he thought that his homosexuality was a mistake. If he believes in "god" who is supposed to be all-knowing, all-loving creator of everything, then if he created this guy to be gay - what is the problem?! Apart from then obviously getting on to the fact that shows then that this "god" must also be flawed, by creating people in his image.

I am obviously not going to agree with you about a relationship with "god" being the only thing that matters. This guy should be happy with himself first of all, once you have that, it doesn't matter about the prejudice opinions of those around you.

Also, from what I have gathered and read over my years on this earth, is that the "god" of the bible is not a loving one. Rather the opposite. He is a bi-polar, schizophrenic, homophobic, hateful, misogynistic, abusive bigot. Best keep away from him! :rainbow1:

 

[tomspug]

You are under the assumption that if someone is 'gay' that means that they are always 'gay'. There is such a thing as 'gay' tendencies. Just because there is same-sex attraction, doesn't mean that it defines who they are.

Are there not people who call themselves homosexuals but sometimes find themselves attracted to the opposite sex? I think people get confused, and the truth is not always clear. This guy was clearly NOT permanently gay, unless he is lying about being happy. He was probably just confused about his identity and eventually decided that he was NOT, in fact, gay.

Also, if God has given you that impression, it's probably the church's fault. I'm sorry for that.

 

[Mike182]

You are under the assumption that if someone is 'gay' that means that they are always 'gay'. There is such a thing as 'gay' tendencies. Just because there is same-sex attraction, doesn't mean that it defines who they are.

Are there not people who call themselves homosexuals but sometimes find themselves attracted to the opposite sex? I think people get confused, and the truth is not always clear. This guy was clearly NOT permanently gay, unless he is lying about being happy. He was probably just confused about his identity and eventually decided that he was NOT, in fact, gay.

you don't need to tell me that. but like i said, because some people have tendencies that go either way, and happen to find their place in a heterosexual relationship, don't expect others to.