'Curing' homosexuality!

I believe we are all as nature (my god) made us.

I wonder when all the homophobic nonsense will finally end. The science is clear - a person's sexuality is inborn. There is nothing any of us can do about this, and we shouldn't want to.

Thank goodness we are not homophobic on here, not even those who believe in a deity.

But when I read the news from America, especially the republicans and the born-agains, I despair. They have thrown science and common sense and common decency out of the window. I just hope Obama not only wins in November, but gets a massive win, to put those idiots in their place.

I was very pleased when he spoke personally in favour of gay marriage. And surprised - it was a very brave thing to do, though I suppose Joe Biden saying it first was a bit of a catalyst.

I went to a Quaker boarding school for a while when parents were overseas. Very humane place!
I lost any faith I had at 18 because of one old vicar! He told my school friend, who was a great actor, that she should not go to drama school as that way of life was not Christian and told me to give up my boyfriend as he was not a church goer. I had to choose church or boyfriend.. I've stuck with him!

"One of the most influential figures in modern psychiatry has apologised to America’s gays for a scientific study which supported attempts to “cure” people of their homosexuality.

The survey, published in 2001, looked at “reparative therapy” and was hailed by religious and social conservatives in America as proof that gay people could successfully become straight if they were motivated to do so.

But Dr Robert Spitzer has now apologised in the same academic journal that published his original study, calling it “fatally flawed”. “I believe I owe the gay community an apology,” his letter said. “I also apologise to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works.”

Reparative therapy is popular among Christian conservative groups, which run clinics and therapy sessions at which people try to become heterosexual through counselling."

How much misery can one man cause...?

Was sent this on FaceBook....

If you don't like gay marriage, blame the straight people. They're the ones that keep having gay babies

Perfect.

Oh yes, fieldwake I do think so!

All the homosexuals I have met have been kind and often 'feminine' isn't it the macho testosterone fuelled males we should be worried about?

absent Ditto!

Yes, very well said!

absentgran! Well said!

It's difficult to understand why men of the cloth and their followers focus so intensely on matters sexual when the world is full of war, hunger, disease, injustice, oppression and other terrible afflictions. Maybe secularists should focus on a cure for the myopia of organised religion.

I have only known one Quaker, although we have meeting house in portishead where I live!
She was at medical school with me and was the most peaceful, relaxed person I knew! She was also very intelligent!

Agree about Quakers, those I've known were incredibly intelligent and generous people (1 neighbour being one of the Cadburys).

Here is recent news of how the Catholic Church attempted to 'cure' gays:

"This weekend an inquiry was published on how the Dutch Catholic church castrated young men who announced they were gay, this too "cure" them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17453849"

sdolly - if I were going to be a Christian, I would probably be a Quaker. I have been reading about it on various websites and it sounds such a warm, inclusive religion.

I too was appalled by the proposed ad and am so glad it has been pulled. Just hope the group involved gets no where with it's attempt to take it to court. As a Quaker I find the religious arguments quite bewildering. Quakers have been campaigning for same sex marriage for many years. Here is a quote from our website: "At their Yearly Meeting in York in 2009, Quakers in Britain sought a change in the law so that same sex marriages can be prepared, celebrated, witnessed, reported to the state, and recognised as legally valid, without further process, in the same way as opposite sex marriages are celebrated in Quaker meetings. Quakers consider that they should be able to follow the insights of their membership in celebrating life-long committed relationships between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, in exactly the same way as they currently recognise the marriage of opposite sex couples."

I met a variety of nuns during my school days - some were lovely and kind, but one in particular was a sadist, who delighted in strapping seven year old girls on their hands for being a few minutes late. She was also the worst kind of snob, obsequious to the better-off parents, and contemptuous of the others (which included my mother).
My siblings went to a catholic orphanage as day pupils during the war, and the children, many of whom were illegitimate, had a most miserable life. I think they were being punished for the 'sins' of their mothers.
They wore no shoes, even in Winter. The day pupils, who had parents to defend them, were treated completely differently.
The orphanage, Holy Mount, in Tottington, near Bury, was a good half hour's walk across fields full of cows, which terrified my sister There was a C of E junior school next door to us, but my mother was too afraid of the priest to send us there.
Even if I had not simply stopped believing in a supernatural being, I think some of the priests and nuns I met would have made me leave the catholic church - and this was before we knew anything about sexual abuse.

How strange. The nuns at my school were lovely!

feetlebaum...and the nuns at the convent to which I won a scholarship, did their utmost to persuade me that I was the original sinner...

No - that was hundreds of years before 'the church'! I know the Christians like to claim it as theirs, but really the only original thing they have is the notion of 'original sin', which is a disgrace.

Was it not the Church who decreed, amongst a catalogue of other so-called charitable undertakings, that we should love our neighbour as ourself?

I hope I am a Christian. But I yhought this was beyond the pale!
I was so angry at the discourtesy shown!
My son is bisexual, he has left the church because of its attitude and now is an active pagan I suppose that means he feels that he has to believe in something and Christianity, the religion of love, has thrown him out.
I just hope I don't lose my faith. If I did I don't know what I'd do.
Sorry about this but this article really upset and angered me!

Is it time to talk about aggressive christianity yet?

So Lord Carey is complaining very loudly that Christians are no longer 'allowed' to express their views. I do try and respect all religions, even though I was 'cured' from religion myself a long time ago - but surely expressing homophobic views is just not acceptable, wherever it comes from.

Lika Maniac, not a Boris fan - but also applaud his action.

I saw this programme and share your anger.
I'm not a Boris fan but applaud his action in banning the advert.

Thanks, Jacey - I try to keep up with all threads, but I get a bit forgetful at times. This particular item made me so angry I just had to get it out of my system.