Friday, April 15, 2011

Dr. Drew asks "Can you pray away the gay?"

No kidding. That's the subject of his show tonight. On the National Day of Silence ... dedicated to eradicating homophobia and raising awareness about LGBT youth at risk ... Dr. Drew is going to use his HLN air time to give a platform to the Exodus International bunch. Check it out.

I got wind of it earlier today when we got a call from one of the CNN producers looking for "counter voices." I understand my friend MCC Pastor Neil Thomas is going to be on ... and good for him. But bad for Dr. Drew. Here's the note I just sent to CNN via their "send in a question or comment for the show" link on their website:
As a priest and pastor I am shocked and saddened that Dr. Drew is going to give air time to "ex-gay" ministry leaders on a the National Day of Silence dedicated to raising awareness about LGBT youth at risk. The destructive message that homosexuality is something that needs to be "healed" continues to tell LGBT youth that they are "less than" and contributes to bullying, marginalization and self-destructive behavior. So here's the answer to the question: You can NOT "pray away the gay" ... but you can teach away the ignorance that gives homophobia the power to put our children at risk.
Want to ask your own question or make your own comment about the show? Click here And then I'm torn between saying "tune in" -- so you can hear my friend Neil ... and "tune out" -- because it's all about ratings. So I'll err on the side of "do whatever" ... but stay aware that this is a message that's toxic to our kids and the more they try to "pray away the gay" the more we need to "preach against the homophbia."

And now, back to my regularly scheduled "day off."

9 comments:

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Sorry LG. Take it somewhere else.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

So I still think it was a bad programming decision ... I think it's a bad idea to give more air time to the "ex-gay" propaganda ... AND:

* The gay couple were great and a wonderful witness.

* Loved Dr. Alicia Slazer ... she rocked. Going to look for her documentary on reparative therapy.

* And who knew that the former leaders of Exodus left the program and married each other?

* My question is have any of these people ever thought about sexuality as a continuum and that the folks who consider themselves "former homosexuals" are actually bisexuals who found the love of their life in an opposite sex partner?

* But I'm really over this "Evangelist" chick ... "you're either going to live all of the Bible or none of it" ... and loved it when the guys called her on "so what do you do with the part of the Bible that says women are supposed to be subject to men -- not lead churches."

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Make that Alicia Salzer

uffda51 said...

And who knew that the former leaders of Exodus left the program and married each other?

Wow!

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

I'm not sure if they make these programs available online, but -- as I noted -- it really did end up being a good dialogue of (mostly) respectful conversation across differences ... and if it opened the eyes of some viewers to the fact that there ARE Christian voices speaking out for LGBT equality then some good work was done.

There's some spirited conversation going on over at Dr. Drew's Facebook page ... and since he's a Pasadena guy I was wondering out having him come to ASC for some further conversation. Hmmm ...

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

LG ... we didn't give up minority opinions ... we gave up delusional diatribes from folks who think they have Sole Possession of the Absolute Truth and use the literal words of Scripture as blunt instruments against those with whom they disagree.

I hear your frustration. My suggestion that you start your own blog still stands: it's really very easy and it's even free. www.blogger.com

LGMarshall said...

I thought the HLN show was somewhat even-keeled in presenting 2 sides to the debate: "Two Christian Responses to 'Can you pray away the gay'?"
Evidence Ministries has scores of Christians that changed from Homosexual orientation to Heterosexual orientation. This process is ongoing .. who are we to judge Alan Chambers personal story? It would be good to withhold judgment a little while longer...

zip98663 said...

I find it incredible that gays cannot accept the fact that other gays have successfully became heterosexual. I have personally witnessed it though I am not a part of any ministry or gay therapy group. I have also witnessed various degrees of persecution towards successful x-gays from other homosexuals. I find that to be hypocritical.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

So here's the deal:

I really don't give a rat's tail whether you identify as gay, straight or somewhere in between. What I care about are young people who are told that their same-sex attraction is something that needs to be "healed.'

It is not. Homosexuality doesn't need healing -- homophobia does.

And if someone leaves a same sex relationship and finds wholeness and joy in an opposite sex relationship I say God bless 'em. And vice versa.

I guess I find it incredible that people cannot accept the fact that other people have successfully became authentically themselves. I find THAT to be hypocritical ... at the very least.