Story: In US Capitol Rotunda, ex-LGBTs pray, repent on behalf of nation for sin of homosexuality

[FiveLinden]

Do they have evangelical prayer sessions in legislatures? Anyone else?

 

[TheLittleLady]

The headline says “sin of homosexuality”.

 

[GraceJ]

Well, complete accuracy by the news media is a bit much to ask…

 

[TheLittleLady]

LifeSite is an opinion blog, they are famous for misleading headlines that are written to encourage clicks & outrage.

 

[GraceJ]

No wonder it is so inaccurate in headlining, then.

Everyone on this thread seems to want to argue over where SSA comes from, and whine about the people being publicity-seeking.

But for myself, I will take this as a the light it is, that people are willing to speak, however gently, against their sins when American society would rather encourage those same sins.

 

[John10]

We know because it can be corroborated with family and friends who knew them before and after. We can also know because there are no studies that proof any biological trait with being gay or lesbian, while there are proof of gender being part of our generic structure and thus “inherit” to all people.

Last but not least if this was a biological trait and irreversible, nobody would be able to overcome it, however everyday more and more people have been successfully treated for it, proofing the opposite.

 

[PapyrusDouay]

It has been proven that it is not fixed in a forever state, although many “ex-gay” hardly say anything because of fear from the homosexual community. They are living proof that debunks their argument that homosexuality is an “inherit” trait of people. It also casts doubts that it should therefore be used as a ground to protect against discrimination, since unlike gender, it is not something set in stone.

No. An “ex-gay” is someone who claims to no longer be gay, usually after going through conversion therapy. Conversion therapy does not work, it’s a myth, and often leaves people with real psychological trauma. several leaders of the “ex-gay” movement have admitted as much…and the countless “ex-gays” who have gone back to the homosexual lifestyle Point to this fact too…and that’s on top of what we know from real psychology. What they’ve done is rebrand “gay” to mean “homosexual lifestyle”, not “same sex attraction”. Since they are no longer living a “homosexual lifestyle”, they are no longer “gay”, even if they still have same sex attraction. Some are bisexual, and face little issues once finding an opposite-sex partner they want to spend their lives with. Others live chastely. But most don’t last as an “ex-gay”… because it doesn’t work. Yes, studies have shown that sexual attraction can be fluid and change, but they’ve also shown that the individual has little or no control over it. I also know a couple “ex-gays” in happy straight marriages who identify as straight, and have admitted that a same-sex attraction still exists.

 

[CathoRick]

More and more people are realizing how empty a life of sexial deviancy is, and instead find fulfillment in God. I think that’s terrific.

If only our culture didn’t promote such harmful behavior to begin with, society today might not be so miserable!

 

[John10]

Conversion therapy does not work, it’s a myth, and often leaves people with real psychological trauma.

Untrue, the lifesitenews article above disproves that, those people are very happy to have gotten rid of their homosexual desires, even if some do not , they are still far better abstaining from such lifestyle. It has been proven that living a homosexual lifestyle (gay or lesbian) leads to a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases and mental disorders (suicide, depression, etc), not to mention the spiritual perils.

That is no surprise, given that a homosexual relationship is completely unnatural.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

No one chooses to be gay, so no one can choose to become “ex-gay.”

They are, literally, evidence that you are wrong… Are you really incapable of realizing that? These people were all actively engaged in the lifestyle, and then they chose not to be, eventually resulting in their sexual preference resetting back to what was appropriate for their sex. There are plenty of ex-gay testimonies from people who no longer have any attraction to the same sex.

 

[PapyrusDouay]

These people were all actively engaged in the lifestyle, and then they chose not to be, eventually resulting in their sexual preference resetting back to what was appropriate for their sex. There are plenty of ex-gay testimonies from people who no longer have any attraction to the same sex.

Where in that article does it say their sexual preferences “reset”. I can’t find it. It’s pretty well established scientifically that sexual attraction does not work that way.

What I see are Christians who now live chastely, or are in heterosexual relationships, who did not always live that way. It’s important to clarify that difference, because of the implications it can have.

From what I’ve found, this is also the fundamental difference between Catholic organizations like Courage and “conversion therapy” and most of the “Ex-gay movement”. Most take a 12 Step approach, which works for overcoming things you do, things like drug dependency , pornography, sexual addictions. It does not help with getting rid of or ‘resetting’ same sex attractions, just how you manage those attractions. Courage appropriately uses this the help people overcome homosexual activity by living chaste lives. It does not change attraction. It can’t, but that’s also OK. The Church has a long history of helping people learn to live chaste and celibate lives successfully (eg. priests and religious) which can be applied to any sexuality. I find the approach most other “Christian” conversion therapy programs take to be morally reprehensible, and frequently damaging, but I won’t dive into that here.

My point is, there are things that are controllable and things that are not. If we actually want to help people live healthy Catholic lives, we need to recognize the reality of that.

 

[TheMortenBay]

No, it’s actually a salient distinction. The article calls them “ex-LGBT.” For those first three letters, this is impossible. No one chooses to be gay, so no one can choose to become “ex-gay.” Lifesite is equivocating, deliberately perhaps, between identity and practice.

I’d say it’s quite possible to be “ex-lgbt”. Even though I am probably in agreement with you that sexual orientation is not a choice, often “LGBT” (add letters at your leisure) refers to a lifestyle and a way of viewing things. So being “ex-lgbt” is voting out of that and focusing on other, rightly ordered things, not changing your sexual orientation.

 

[Thorolfr]

We know because it can be corroborated with family and friends who knew them before and after.

Unless they’ve been having sex in front of their family and friends, how would their family and friends be able to corroborate their sexual orientation before and after?

 

[Taras_Bulba]

Political lesbianism is a thing.

 

[Rau]

The headline says “sin of homosexuality”.

The word tends to be ambiguous - is the reference to just the inclination or the acts as well. These days, the “societal norm” is that sexual acts are always proper when two people desire them, so any such distinction is blurred anyway.

 

[Rau]

everyday more and more people have been successfully treated for it,

Really? Do you mean the same sex attractions are eliminated, and opposite sex attractions previously absent are now in place? That would be newsworthy! Or perhaps we are talking about people inclined “both ways” who have resolved to reform their behaviours.

 

[Gibson4NJ]

It’s difficult to see the good in a political stunt like this. It’s hard to applaud the psychological stress placed - particularly on young people - over how deeply people are repulsed by, hate and hope ultimately to criminalize their intrinsic identities.

 

[John10]

Because they either told them , or they have seen him or her with their partner.

 

[John10]

It would seem those seeking reparative therapy want to form a heterosexual family, instead of simply avoiding immoral behaviours. Regardless, even if they do not form a heterosexual family, avoiding the homosexual lifestyle is already a major victory.

 

[Thorolfr]

Because they either told them , or they have seen him or her with their partner.

What friends and family say someone told them is not corroboration of the truth of what that person said. And 70 years ago, Alfred Kinsey found that people fall on a scale in terms of their sexuality which is now called the Kinsey Scale:

Rating	Description
0	Exclusively heterosexual
1	Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2	Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3	Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4	Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5	Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6	Exclusively homosexual
X	No socio-sexual contacts or reactions

So, someone could be a 4 on the Kinsey scale and have been in a sexual relationship with a man and then later he could be in a relationship with a woman. He might be more attracted to men but still be somewhat attracted to women and still be able to have an OK sexual relationship with a woman. Or someone could be a 3 on the Kinsey Scale and be truly bisexual, equally attracted to both men and women. So seeing someone first with a man and then with a woman doesn’t prove that they have changed their sexual orientation.