Posted on 07/13/2005 11:20:50 AM PDT by phoenix_004
The mother of a 29-year-old lesbian who committed suicide nearly a decade ago told a gathering of gays and their friends and family members yesterday that her daughter died because of the "untruths taught by the church."
A few of the 75 of so people gathered at Newport Presbyterian Church in Bellevue wiped away tears as Mary Lou Wallner talked about Anna's death in 1997, about the guilt she felt and how the circumstances have changed her life.
Wallner, who lives just outside Little Rock, Ark., explained she was raised in a conservative Christian home, and that was how she had raised her daughter. When Anna came out as a lesbian in 1988, Wallner was not prepared to accept it.
"I committed a hate crime," she said, recalling a comment she once made. "I didn't love my daughter unconditionally."
Wallner and her husband, Bob, Anna's stepfather, were featured speakers at yesterday's Love Welcomes All conference sponsored by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). It was held in response to a conference last month that promoted the idea that homosexuality is preventable and treatable.
That June 25 event, sponsored by James Dobson's evangelical Christian organization, Focus on the Family, drew about 1,200 people.
Yesterday's daylong conference included a panel discussion that explored science and research about homosexuality and gave attendees a chance to chat with presenters.
Patrick Chapman, an anthropology instructor at South Puget Sound Community College, challenged published reports about homosexuals' ability to change, saying that "over 99 percent of those who attempt reparative therapy to change their sexual orientation have failed."
"There's scientific evidence that homosexuality is inborn and immutable — with a few exceptions explained by psychosocial theories," he said.
Kirsten McArdle, of Redmond, whose previously married sister came out to the family recently, said she attended the conference to better understand the difficult issues confronting her family.
"My parents are pretty open-minded, but I want to help them better understand this," she said.
"My dad characterized it as a phase, that she was rebelling. I believe it's part of who she is."
McArdle said although she had a lot of gay and lesbian friends before her sister came out, "I had a hard time understanding how someone who had been with men could then suddenly find out she's gay."
During her gripping half-hour presentation, Wallner told the group about the painful telephone call from her ex-husband the night their daughter died and her long and painful path to spiritual acceptance.
With her husband, she created an organization called To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia (TEACH), to allow her to spread the story about her daughter.
The Bible, she warned the group, "must be taken as a whole, with considerations for the cultural realities of the day.
"Homosexuality is not a choice. Who would choose to adopt a gay lifestyle?"
"Homosexuality is not a choice. Who would choose to adopt a gay lifestyle?"
Crazy people. Homosexuality is a mental disorder and should be treted as such.
And the blame game goes on.
I'm beginning to think ALL of life is based upon your body's HORMONE levels......and when they get messed up....weird stuff happens.
The prodigious promiscuity in disease-causing behavior, coupled with denial of lethal dangers, provides incontestable evidence that the homosexual orientation is a compulsive and addictive condition. FACT!
This mother has to relieve her guilt by blaming everyone else.
OK...You have had enough grieving time that I can say to you SHUT UP! Your daughter died because she killed herself. Find a way to deal with it without blaming others.
"There's scientific evidence that homosexuality is inborn and immutable — with a few exceptions explained by psychosocial theories," he said.
The lie continues to be told.
A parent should love their child even if (s)he becomes a heroin addict. The parent should not celebrate that addiction. The parent should try to educate the child (regardless of age) that the heroin only contributes to the problems (s)he is experiencing.
SHE'S GOT TO BLAME SOMEONE, OTHER THAN HERSELF...MORE LIBERAL BULL-SHIT....
There's scientific evidence that homosexuality is inborn and immutable — with a few exceptions explained by psychosocial theories," he said.
I am an expert on BS. In Fact, I can correctly identify it two out of three times. (the other time it is still Bs, I just didn't identify it) This is BS.
So because she alienated her daughter for her homosexuality and she ended up commiting suicide... It's the Bible's fault? Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Strategically perhaps gay people made a mistake by lobbying to get homosexuality removed as a mental illness. They would have a lot more protection if it were still classified that way... conventional wisdom is not to be mean or disriminate because someone is mentally ill.
Absolute BS.. the overwhelming evidence shows the exact opposite, that homosexuality is a psychological disorder with a few exceptions explained by biology. How long is the PC crowd going to be allowed to keep repeating these lies??
And that is because of "untruths" the church teaches?
In the Bible it talks about (although it doesn't spell it out specifically, I don't believe) that you should "love the sinner but hate the sin". Obviously, she wasn't able to do that, and now blames the church for her own shortcomings.
I'm sorry for her lose but what a bunch of crap. Scientific proof that there is a "gay" gene? Let's see it.
I have not seen any conclusive studies like that (or for that matter on the other side) got any links we should look at?
Homophobia:
This term is probably the most outrageous invention of the "gay" sophists. the illogic of homophobia is insultingly blatant.
Originally, homophobia was psychiatric jargon invented to describe a person's fear of homosexual inclinations in him or herself. "Gay" activists simply stole the term and redefined it as "hate and/or fear of homosexuals."
As a rhetorical weapon, homophobia is unequaled. It serves first to define anyone who opposes the legitimization of homosexuality as a hate-filled bigot. The universal inclusion of all opponents as homophobic is of course not emphasized. Homosexual activists publicly associate this label with violent "gay bashers" and hateful fanatics. When they use the term they want people to think about the killers of Matthew Shepard, but in conventional practice they include every man, woman and child who believes homosexuality is abnormal or wrong.
Secondly, the term defines opposition to homosexuality as a mental illness. "Gay" activists take special delight in this since it was scant decades ago that homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatry (removed by the political maneuvering of homosexual activists in a 1973 vote of the members of the American Psychiatric Association without a shred of scientific evidence or proof that homosexuality is a normal immutable human quality).
Thirdly, the term serves as the semantic equivalent of "racist," helping the "gay" movement to further indoctrinate the public with the notion that opposition to homosexuality is equivalent to prejudice against racial minorities.
The use of the term is in itself religious discrimination because it implicitly disparages and declares illegitimate the religious teachings of several major world religions. Adoption of the term by government constitutes a prima facie violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the endorsement or inhibition of religion.
That's exactly what I think the spirit of the Bible is: When you love someone but not what they're doing, you make it clear to them.
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