 Three Sisters call for therapists, not faith healers By Parker T. Williamson The Layman Online Thursday, May 29, 2003
If adopted later this week by the full General Assembly, Presbyterians will be subjected to another denomination-wide referendum on G-6.0106(b), the constitutional standard that denies ordination to persons who insist on sexual activity outside of marriage. An 'academic' inquiry The $30-per-plate luncheon was sponsored by "The Three Sisters" – More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve and Shower of Stoles Project, three gay rights advocacy organizations. Billed as an opportunity for scholarly engagement with "experts" in the field of psychology, the event purported to examine the "dangers" of change therapy, a ministry that has liberated homosexuals from addictive behavior. But scholarship slipped into snickers as participants poked fun at those who would lead them into wholeness. Michael Adee, a field organizer for the More Light organization, introduced a panel of speakers whom he said had attained notable credentials: Kate Van Brocklin is a student at Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education; the Rev. Chuck McLain, who has undergone more than six years of therapy, is a More Light coordinator for Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, Calif.; Jennifer Stone, a clinical psychologist, collected her degrees from the University of Mississippi, Columbia Theological Seminary and Memphis Theological Seminary; and Cleave Evans, who holds a masters' degree in Personality Psychology and teaches Religion and Sexuality courses at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Neb. Blaming Aristotle Van Brocklin said the church's belief that homosexual behavior is abnormal was rooted in Aristotle, borrowed by Augustine and disseminated by Aquinas and a host of theologians whose purpose was to maintain male dominance. Admitting that many who engage in same-sex practices feel uneasy, she suggested that such feelings have nothing to do with conscience but are caused by pressures from "powerful and privileged church leaders." "Deep down, we feel inadequate, shamed, depraved …" she said. But this is the result of put-downs foisted upon gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people by the "dominant paradigm." "Our tradition has been high-jacked by power brokers," she said. Defining oneself McLain told the group that his struggles with inappropriate inclinations led him into four years of Freudian therapy and two years of Jungian therapy. He said the therapists didn't help him much but, during this period, he discovered he had been victimized by homophobia. "Homophobia drove me to let family, church and other institutions in my life define me," he said. Finally, he concluded that he must define himself. That, he said, was his liberating moment. Jennifer Stone told the group that she attended her first General Assembly in 1996, when the denomination's ordination standard was made a part of its constitution. She said she saw hundreds of gay and transgendered people come out during the meeting. "That was a conversion experience for me," she said. Stone called the American Psychological Association a "very conservative organization," and she applauded its work. She wrote off reports that question the validity of its research on homosexuality, saying they have "maligned its credibility." Bait and switch Stone's thesis was that human sexuality appears in more than two categories. "Sexual attraction is a continuum," she said. "Most people are sexually attracted to both genders." She suggested that only those who understand this can see why change therapy claims are fraudulent. She said that when people say they left homosexuality, they were probably not homosexuals in the first place. They were bisexuals who simply switched partners. "It is not hard for a bisexual person to appear changed to a straight person," she explained. Debunking the claims of ministries that offer change therapy, she said, "There are these reports of gays who have been changed. But, in truth, they are just bisexuals who are acting out who they are … We need more professional therapists and fewer faith healers," she said. Change therapy 'harmful' Cleave Evans said most mental-health professionals dismiss change therapy as ineffective. He dismissed data from studies among persons who have left homosexuality, claiming that the research in those studies was not credible. Evans said that one's sexual orientation does not change, and that therapy is harmful when it focuses on behavior rather than orientation. Among the results that he attributes to change therapy are increases in depression and guilt, broken relationships with parents, increase in loneliness, low self-esteem, and loss of faith. The real thing Observing from the rear of the room were members of One-By-One, a Christian ministry among persons who suffer gender confusion. Several of those present had been active homosexuals for years before experiencing liberation with the help of change-therapy ministries. "People say you can't change," said Don Corne, a member of the group. "In a way, they are right. I could not change myself, but by the grace of God, I found I could be changed. Isn't that what the Christian faith is all about?" |
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