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'Gays' shut down
discussion of faith
Psychiatrists pull symposium
on 'The Religious Dimension'

A discussion on religion, homosexuality and therapy that had been scheduled during the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington has been shut down following an attack by a "gay" publication on some of the people planning to participate.

The symposium called "Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religion Dimension," had been in the plans for months at the APA convention in Washington, and was to feature advocates for homosexuality including New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal church and was to be moderated by Harvard psychiatrist John Peteet.

Others scheduled to be on the podium included Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton, who has studied related issues intensively, and Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

But the event, scheduled Monday, has been yanked from the schedule, according to the APA, because of the "misinformation and rhetoric" that was circulating about the issue.

Peter LaBarbera, of Americans for Truth, said the reaction to a plan to talk "shows the intellectual shallowness of the gay side."

"They're afraid of a debate," he said, noting it wouldn't be correct to "paint Warren Throckmorton as the religious right."

"The gay activists don't want to admit ex-gays exist, when they clearly do," he said.

The attack was launched by the Gay City News publication, which on April 24 denigrated Throckmorton as "a psychologist without state board certification and an advocate for 'sexual identity therapy','' and quoted opponents calling him a "spin doctor of the ex-gay myth."

The article quoted those warning of the symposium's "potential harm."

The APA statement on the cancellation said the organizer "decided to withdraw because a key participant who would have brought balance to the discussion had withdrawn. In addition, misinformation and rhetoric surrounding this event had risen to a level that would hinder the kind of open dialogue and interaction that was originally anticipated."

Throckmorton, on his own blog, expressed doubt.

"What a difference a day makes," he wrote. "The American Psychiatric Association program Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religious Dimension has been pulled by chair David Scasta. My understanding is that he was asked (by whom, I am still not clear) to pull the program because of increasing concerns about it. I am still hearing more about the reasons and hope to know something more clearly soon.

"Dr. Scasta did tell me that the APA's position is that the program was not pulled because gay activists were unhappy with it. At this moment, I am skeptical," he said.

Throckmorton had written just a day earlier when Robinson had announced his own sudden withdrawal from the event:

"Bishop Robinson provided the following explanation," Throckmorton wrote. "'Conservatives, particularly Focus on the Family, were going to use this event to draw credibility to the so-called reparative therapy movement,' Robinson told the Blade. 'It became clear to me in the last couple of weeks that just my showing up and letting this event happen … lends credibility to that so-called therapy.'"

However, Throckmorton said there were problems with that statement.

"This is quite troubling and not at all accurate. Since no one on the panel planned to speak about reparative therapy, it is clear to me that the bishop was misinformed," Throckmorton said. "The symposium was approved by the APA in October of 2007 and nothing has changed in the descriptions, personnel or intent of the symposium since then. The meeting is not going to endorse reparative approaches, or advocate for any change in APA policy."

Robinson's statement to the Blade, however, made it clear that his intent was by refusing now to appear, after having agreed to do so, to shut down the discussion of homosexuality and religion.

The Washington Times is reporting that the attack launched by the Gay City News was followed quickly by the Washington Blade, which said the "panel could legitimize 'homophobic views.'"

"A furious Mr. Scasta said the bishop never spoke with him before quitting," the Times said.

"I got one e-mail from him saying he thought I was being used by the other side, such as Focus on the Family," Scasta told the Washington Times. He called the reaction of homosexuals to the plans for a discussion over-the-top and self-defeating.

Scasta had described the panel as a "balanced discussion about religion and how it influences therapy." He's a former APA president and a "gay" psychiatrist.

"We wanted to talk rationally, calmly and respectfully to each other, but the external forces made it into a divisive debate it never intended to be."

The original attack in the "gay" publication expressed criticism of the APA for including Throckmorton, "an advocate for 'sexual identity therapy,' which he says he has successfully applied to help patients 'alter homosexual feelings or behaviors' and live their lives 'heterosexually'…"

Scheduled to moderate was Peteet, who chairs the APA's committee on psychiatry, religion and spirituality. The original article noted Mohler is "a board member of James Dobson's stridently anti-gay Focus on the Family."

The article said, "Robinson's wisdom in appearing with Mohler – and the broader debate about LGBT advocates engaging those on the other side – are not what make this story intriguing, and indeed troubling. Instead it is the embrace by a scientifically based organization, APA, of an unlicensed practitioner who espouses controversial professional opinions about homosexuality but can point to no peer-reviewed findings that his clinical approach has merit…"

The article said the description of the panel as a "balanced" discussion was "the sort of characterization one might expect from intelligent design proponents demanding a seat on a panel of evolution experts."

It noted that in 1973, an intense campaign based on research findings including the work of "sexologist Alfred Kinsey" by homosexuals resulted in the APA removing homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

"How did APA arrive at the point where it is sponsoring a symposium Scasta inexplicably terms a 'balanced' discussion?" the critique asked.

Peteet had defended Throckmorton from the newspaper's attack, saying, "My understanding is that Dr. Throckmorton does not describe himself as a reparative therapist, but rather as a clinician trying to help individuals who are struggling with these issues…"

The APA itself, has condemned "prejudice and discrimination against individuals or groups based on their religious or spiritual beliefs…"

On his website, Throckmorton explains his academic work has been published by journals of the American Psychological Association, the American Mental Health Counseling Association and the Christian Association for Psychological Studies. He's also past president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association and is past chair of its ethics committee.

He has served on the national advisory board of Magellan Behavioral Healthcare, the largest behavioral healthcare company in the world, and in 2004 he wrote and produced the documentary, "I Do Exist" about sexual orientation change.

His writings have appeared in more than 100 newspapers nationwide.

Lesbians riot at Smith College speech
'This is no civil rights movement, but a sexual special interest lobby'

Rioting lesbians have stormed a speech by "Born Gay Hoax" author Ryan Sorba on the campus of Smith College in Massachusetts, shutting down his address, according to two major pro-family organizations, Americans for Truth and Mass Resistance.

"Beware lesbians with frying pans (if you care about free speech)," AFT said in his announcement. "Lesbian activists at Smith College just couldn't stand by and let a young critic explain his views about the supposed innateness of homosexuality – so they stormed Ryan Sorba's speech on the 'Born Gay Hoax' and forced him to end it prematurely."

"Thus they decided for everyone in the room – supporters, foes, the curious and the undecided – whether Sorba's arguments would be heard. Stalin would be proud," said AFT's Peter LaBarbera.

"Brian Camenker, Amy Contrada and the dedicated folks at MassResistance.org have captured the totalitarian episode on film for the world to see. Kudos to MassResistance for once again chronicling the anti-democratic antics of the 'gay' Left for the record. It is absolutely shameful that Smith College and Massachusetts authorities would allow Sorba’s First Amendment rights to be neutralized in – of all places – the academy, which is supposed to be a place where opposing ideas can be debated freely," he said.

President Carol Christ noted in a memo "to the Smith Community" after the attack that "on a pragmatic level, after about 10 minutes the speaker could not be heard" and suggested a strategy to defeat such statements that homosexuality is not innate.

"When faced with the visit of a controversial speaker, our challenge as a community is to reaffirm our commitment to teaching and learning. Hearing the views of someone with whom you disagree affords the opportunity to sharpen one's own counterarguments, displaying the weaknesses in their reasoning or evidence," she wrote. "Alternatively, we can boycott speakers whose views we find offensive."

"The event was planned and funded by the Smith Republicans, which, like every student organization, has the right to invite speakers of its choice. The decision to halt his presentation was made jointly by public safety, student affairs and the Republican club leadership. There were serious concerns about overcrowding, audience and speaker safety, and facility damage," she said.

The videos of the event reveal chanting and screaming by protesters that quickly escalates to the point the protesters physically have taken over the stage.

Shouts of "We're here, we're queer, Get used to it!" combined with various shrieks and screams punctuate the protests.

With police officers standing idly by, a homosexual protest leader takes the microphone and orders, "They have told us to leave, so everyone needs to stay."

While security officers are shown doing nothing to eject the mob, Sorba is told to leave the room.

"This is no 'civil rights' movement but a sexual special interest lobby espousing … doctrines that run counter to natural law, healthy living and Judeo-Christian history," AFT said.

"Communists and fascists censor advocates of democratic freedom and independent religion. Darwinists expel critics of evolution from the academy. Officially pro-homosexual governments in Britain, Canada and other countries persecute Christians who voice their biblical belief that homosexuality is a changeable sin. And radical homosexualists here in the USA trample on the rights of those who dare question the tenets of their activist movement…," AFT said.

"People confident in their ideas don't storm opponents' speeches," AFT said. "Rather, they listen intently to them, and then present another viewpoint to compete in the marketplace of ideas. In the long run, homosexualists can't compete with truth, and they seem to know it."

Hello Pastor Roger,

I live in CA and have seen the immense harm that is being inflicted upon public school children by radical homosexual activists in our state.  It is truly appalling!

Have you ever heard of the book called, "The Marketing of Evil" by David Kupelian?

The first chapter is all about how the "gay" agenda has been sold to America.

Here is a link to my blog where I posted the first chapter:

http://talkwisdom.blogspot.com/2005/10/its-about-manipulation.html

The tactics of the lesbians shutting down discussion of faith is right out of the "gay" agenda playbook.  If you don't have time to read the entire chapter, note this portion:

Quote:

Rondeau explains Kirk and Madsen's techniques of "desensitization," "jamming," and "conversion" this way:

"Desensitization is described as inundating the public in a "continuous flood of gay-related advertising, presented in the least offensive fashion possible. If straights can't shut off the shower, they may at least eventually get used to being wet." But, the activists did not mean advertising in the usual marketing context but, rather, quite a different approach: "The main thing is to talk about gayness until the issue becomes thoroughly tiresome." They add, "(S)eek desensitization and nothing more. … If you can get (straights) to think (homosexuality) is just another thing – meriting no more than a shrug of the shoulders – then your battle for legal and social rights is virtually won."

This planned hegemony is a variant of the type that Michael Warren describes in "Seeing Through the Media" where it "is not raw overt coercion; it is one group's covert orchestration of compliance by another group through structuring the consciousness of the second group."
"Structuring the consciousness" of others? If that phraseology is uncomfortably reminiscent of various mind control and brainwashing tales you might have heard over the years, don’t be surprised. Manipulating the emotions and thereby restructuring the thoughts and beliefs of large numbers of people is what modern marketing is all about.
"Jamming," explains Rondeau, "is psychological terrorism meant to silence expression of or even support for dissenting opinion." Radio counselor and psychologist Dr. Laura Schlessinger experienced big-time jamming during the run-up to her planned television show. Outraged over a single comment critical of homosexuals she had made on her radio program, activists launched a massive intimidation campaign against the television program's advertisers. As a result, the new show was stillborn.

But perhaps the highest-profile example of jamming occurred after the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming freshman Matthew Shepard. Lured from a bar, robbed and savagely beaten by two men, Shepard died five days later of head injuries. In the frenzied, saturation media coverage that followed, the press and homosexual activists singled out conservative Christians as having created a "climate of anti-gay hate" in which such a brutal act could happen.

NBC's Today show took the lead, focusing on a Christian ad campaign running at the time that offered to help homosexuals change their orientation. Reporter David Gregory narrated: "The ads were controversial for portraying gays and lesbians as sinners who had made poor choices, despite the growing belief that homosexuality may be genetic. … Have the ads fostered a climate of anti-gay hate that leads to incidents like the killing of Matthew Shepard? Gay rights activists say the ads convey a message that gay people are defective."

And in a now-infamous interview, Today's Katie Couric asked Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer: "Some gay rights activists have said that some conservative political organizations like the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family are contributing to this anti-homosexual atmosphere by having an ad campaign saying if you are a homosexual you can change your orientation. That prompts people to say, 'If I meet someone who's homosexual, I'm going to take action to try to convince them or try to harm them.' Do you believe that such groups are contributing to this climate?"

Consciously or not, the media were following Kirk and Madsen's playbook to the letter, discrediting anyone who disagreed with the homosexual agenda by associating them with lowlife murderers. In reality, none of the Christian groups smeared by NBC had ever condoned mistreatment of homosexuals – in fact, they had explicitly condemned it.
As if to add even more shame to the whole-hog jamming of Christians after the Shepard murder, in 2004 a comprehensive new investigation by ABC News 20/20 concluded that homosexuality very likely wasn't a factor in Shepard's murder, but rather Shepard had been targeted for his money.

So much for desensitization and jamming. But what about "conversion"? Here, Kirk and Madsen announce defiantly:

"We mean conversion of the average American’s emotions, mind, and will, through a planned psychological attack, in the form of propaganda fed to the nation via the media. We mean "subverting" the mechanism of prejudice to our own ends – using the very processes that made America hate us to turn their hatred into warm regard – whether they like it or not."

Transforming another person’s hatred into love ("warm regard") is the object of classic brainwashing. As Kirk and Madsen explain:

"In Conversion, we mimic the natural process of stereotype-learning, with the following effect: we take the bigot's good feelings about all-right guys, and attach them to the label "gay," either weakening or, eventually, replacing his bad feelings toward the label and the prior stereotype. … Whereas in Jamming the target is shown a bigot being rejected by his crowd for his prejudice against gays, in Conversion the target is shown his crowd actually associating with gays in good fellowship. Once again, it's very difficult for the average person, who, by nature and training, almost invariably feels what he sees his fellows feeling, not to respond in this knee-jerk fashion to a sufficiently calculated advertisement."

We're talking about some serious messing around with Americans' minds here. Do the homosexual activists thus engaged really know they're deceiving the public, or are they convinced they're just telling the truth?
"It makes no difference that the ads are lies," write Kirk and Madsen, "not to us, because we're using them to ethically good effect, to counter negative stereotypes that are every bit as much lies, and far more wicked ones."

End of Quote

*******

Kirk and Madsen are (were - one has died) wrote a book called "After the Ball" which taught all "gay" activists the tactics described above.  They have achieved their evil goals of deceiving the public with their lies.

However, now that people are gradually catching on to this deception, they are fighting back against the homosexual tide of brainwashing and propaganda.

When lesbians think that they can just "shut us up" by barnstorming a place where free speech should be allowed - it is then that they may have won another victory.  But the battle will one day be won by the Lord!  All that we can do is keep sharing the truth. 

They can't shut us all up!

Hello Christinewjc,

WELCOME!


I sincerely hope that you enjoy Christians Unite, and I look forward to having fellowship with you.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

Hello Christinewjc,

Welcome to the forums.

Yes, I have heard of the book by David Kupelian. I have read many of his commentaries on World Net Daily. All those that I have read have been quite good and right on the mark.

Hello Blackeyedpeas and Pastor Roger,

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I received the private message regarding my other post.  I tried to respond, but the editor said, "you cannot send private messages" - or something like that.

I must apologize for breaking the rules.  I had forgotten that the link to the petition also had an option to donate (but people could sign the petition without donating, of course).

I am used to the complete free exchange of information via the blogs.  I now realize that this forum limits that.  I understand why, but I am disappointed.  I noticed that there are 388 "guests" online here right now.  The petition could have been seen and signed by many of them.

Oh well...such is life!

Christine

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8

The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong to those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

P.S.  Can someone explain why there are lines crossing out some of the text in my original post?  How can they be removed?

Your first post had the characters [ ] around the letter S which is recognized by the forum software as the strike out function. I fixed it for you by replacing them with the ( ) characters.

Sister Christine,

I'll try to look for several other petitions on this same issue that don't have goods for sale and requests for donations.

I'm not about to say anything at all about you. Many people see that we have over 15,000 readers per day and try all kinds of advertising schemes, some even involving con games where money is actually stolen from our readers and users. One of the goals here is to have a safe and family friendly forum that even children can use. We try pretty hard to keep it that way, and many people help us. The only advertising you'll see here is official advertising that helps pay the bills for a massive online Christian Community that distributes Christian Materials to thousands of other web sites around the world every day. Otherwise, the forum would be full of advertising that our Administrator would never be able to verify even a small percentage of them.

The private messages are turned off for the same and other reasons - abuse. These are the only ways we know of to keep the forums clean and safe. However, you can use the free classifieds on the main area of the board. You can also get and use a Blog on Christians Unite. The rules are different for each area and work of Christians Unite. Use the menus on your left and at the bottom to explore a truly huge Online Christian Community.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hello Again Sister Christine,

I just did an advanced Google search using all of the following words:

flight 93 petition
______________________

There were 582,000 links, so I didn't take the time to check very many. I did find out that numerous petitions on the Islamic Symbolism of the Memorial have already been turned in, including one on 5-04-2008.

I doubt that we could even guess how many petitions have already been completed and turned in. However, it might not be that difficult to find still active petitions gathering signatures. I can't remember when the information was posted here, but it's been at least months ago. Just pick one of the active petitions that isn't on a commercial sales site, without requests for donations, and post it. I think you will find still active complaints being taken by the government park service having much to do with the memorial.

I've already signed one. Post another one anyway because many people may not have signed a petition yet.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has passed the U.S. House and Senator Edward Kennedy is now leading the push for a vote in the U.S. Senate. ENDA is aimed at providing heightened protections for a particular sexual behavior - homosexuality. It would grant special consideration on the basis of "sexual orientation" that would not be extended to other employees in the workplace.
ENDA violates employers' and employees' Constitutional freedoms of religion, speech and association. The proposed legislation would prohibit employers from taking their deeply held beliefs into account when making personnel decisions. This would pose an unprecedented intrusion by the federal government into people's lives.

ENDA would approvingly bring private behavior considered immoral by many into the public square. By declaring that all sexual preferences are equally valid, ENDA would change national policy supporting marriage and family.

It's obvious that the real agenda behind the innocuously named Employment Non-Discrimination Act is a push to enshrine homosexuality in national policy. This dangerous legislation would dramatically expand the government's reach into your work place and create unnecessary work-place conflicts and lawsuits. ENDA is a sweeping employer mandate to create special new legal protections based on "sexual orientation" (or "perceptions").

 Take Action!

Send an e-mail to your U.S. senator and ask him or her to oppose ENDA. It's especially important for lawmakers to hear from business owners and associations.