My prodigal son, the homosexual

I am still in a state of shock; I have been grieving for days. My son, Jamiel Terry, was paid $5,000 by Out magazine (to appear April 20, 2004, on newsstands) to write a story about being Randall Terry's homosexual son. I pray my following words help other grieving parents and serve as a warning to moms and dads of small children to be unflinchingly and unashamedly diligent to protect their children from predators, and bring a reality check to those exploiting my son.

First of all, I love my son. Jamiel is incredibly gifted. He is articulate and handsome. He sings like an angel, he plays the piano, he's a great cook, and he's a great debater. He would make a powerful lawyer and a formidable politician. People like him. I love him. I've poured 16 years of my life into him.

In March of 1988, my then-wife and I took Jamiel in as a foster child when he was 8 years old. We also took in his baby sister (almost 3 years old)) and their older sister (12 years old). We adopted him and his younger sister when he was nearly 15 and she was 9. He came to us as a deeply troubled boy, from a very dark home. He was literally born in jail.

Tragically, by the time we got him as a foster child, he had already learned a lifestyle of deceit from his surroundings and had been a victim of crimes and treacheries that would mar him for life. I knew of some of those things when we got him and have learned more over the years. My hope was that by providing a loving, safe home, his life would be spared the path it would inevitably take if he remained in those surroundings. Unfortunately, my hopes and prayers were not realized.

My son's teen years became a mixed stream of happy times mingled with half-truths, dishonesty and a double life. His behavior grew worse and worse in college, culminating with the story in Out magazine.

For the uninformed, Out magazine specializes in bringing homosexuals "out of the closet." Out is committed to the homosexual agenda – homosexual marriage, special "civil rights" for homosexuals, promoting the fallacy that their sexual activities are normal and even laudable. Their agenda is shameless. My son was offered $5,000 to "write" a story about me and his life with me and my family. However, much of the story was written by Out's editor who put words in my son's mouth to accomplish the magazine's agenda.

For me, the most horrifying part of the story is my son's admission: "I did have numerous sexual encounters with my friends, usually during sleepovers at my parents' house" and "I was home from boarding school in my old bedroom at my parents' house in Windsor, N.Y., where my friend 'Johnny' and I had just finished fooling around ... we had been having sex for ages. ..."

I am so grieved and sorry for those boys and their parents. Those parents trusted us; they believed their sons were safe at our home – so had I. I was wrong. I still am in a state of shock. Please, parents, learn from this tragedy.

Frankly, so much of the story is inaccurate (times, dates, events) it would take too much space to correct it. But worse yet is that the picture the story paints of my son is based in fraud.

For example, the story states, "I was baptized Catholic and raised Protestant, and I later returned to the Roman Catholic Church." This is not true. Jamiel has never been confirmed; he does not believe in nor go to confession; he does not believe in many Catholic dogmas; He rejects papal authority and Catholic teaching on family issues.

The story states: "My father seems to believe that the fact that I'm an adopted child may help explain why I'm gay – not because of the adoption process itself but perhaps because of things that my have occurred before I was adopted at the age of 5." As I stated, Jamiel was adopted when he was nearly 15, not 5. To gloss over the tragic events and surroundings Jamiel was rescued from at age 8 is deceitful. (Social Services took the children because of prostitution, drugs and deeds committed against them.) Many homosexuals want to ignore the causal links to their sexual addiction; they want us to believe their homosexuality is genetic, not behavioral. They're "made this way."

The story stated, "My father is still trying to get me to go to a three-month retreat to be 'delivered' from homosexuality." This is also not true. Jamiel has repeatedly asked me to pay for him to go to "Love in Action," which offers sound clinical, in-patient therapy to those who want freedom – and they have a great success rate with homosexuals. Even after the article was done, he asked me to help. I have offered to pay for the in-patient care, and the offer still stands.

Probably the most painful part for me as a dad is that my son prostituted my name for $5,000: He sold out our family's privacy and private discussions for cold cash. Can you imagine a family member doing that to you?

He knows that the only reason Out, and now CNN, (and God knows who else before it's over) want to talk with him is because he's "Randall Terry's son." He knows he is going to get his 15 minutes of fame because he's the adopted son of a high profile Christian leader who has fought against homosexual marriage.

Adding pain to pain, he told CNN and a journalist from the Washington Post that he is no longer welcome in my home because he is a homosexual. That is not true. I have had him in my home for many days after knowing he was a homosexual.

But when I saw the Out article, I went to Charlotte, N.C., (where he is now) to tell him I love him, and how hurt I was that he betrayed our families privacy, and that he was not welcome in my home right now – not because of his homosexuality, but because he could sell us out again. At any point, he could come for a holiday, make mental notes and find another buyer for another story. I have a great wife, a teenage daughter and two small boys; I will not let that type of intrusion happen again.

My son is being paraded around as the latest homosexual "trophy" that had the guts to "come out." What they aren't telling you – and this grieves me to my core – is that by anyone's standard – homosexual or heterosexual – my son's life is in shambles. He was recently arrested for DWI; he is knowingly writing bad checks on a closed bank account; he dropped out of school; he doesn't have a job (and refuses to get one); he bounces from house to house living off other people; he's racked-up huge bills for friends and family that he cannot pay; he's been taken to court by former friends to get him to pay money he owed them; he's lied to his friends, telling them his "famous dad" was going to send him money to pay for his debts (I get calls or e-mails from college friends looking for money); he has "borrowed" money from countless numbers of my friends; he has a trail of wrecked friendships and family relationships because of deceit, money fraud and crossed boundaries – a mirror image of the home he was in from birth to 8.

I am a father in anguish; my son is a young man in crisis who needs intervention and therapy, not heady interviews with CNN. And Out magazine is despicable for their participation in a sham and exploiting my son for their own political agenda. If my son is their latest "hero," we should wonder how many more of their homosexual leaders and trophies that they present as "model citizens" have lives that are this unraveled.

Let all who read the Out story, or any other that spins off of it, know that the story about my son is laced with fraud and deceit from beginning to end. And please pray for my son's redemption, and pray for our family's healing.

Never mind. I found Randall Terry's defense. (Letter to World magazine)

I am responding to the World Magazine story about me entitled, "Appalling Appeal."

Due to ten years of lawsuits against me from the abortion industry for my work as founder and director of Operation Rescue, I filed bankruptcy, and lost everything to the attorneys of the abortion clinics and women’s groups. Dear people like Alan Keyes, Rich Buhler, Fr. Pavone, Norma McCorvey and others sent out letters asking people to restore what I had lost to the enemies of life, by sending money to "The Terry Family Trust."

The World story declared that the fundraising appeal was somehow deceptive. To the contrary, every word in every appeal was 100% accurate. World’s story, however, was incredibly inaccurate. I will correct some of those errors.

First, the article implied that the funds from Trust would not benefit my older children. That is untrue.

My oldest son is 23, lives on his own, but has been helped by the Trust. Both my older daughters’ colleges are paid for by the Trust, as are clothes, etc.

Second, the story implied I was neglectful in child support. That is a lie. World inaccurately reported I was ordered to pay an additional $75 a week in child support (a year and a half ago.) The fact is that the judge ordered I pay $75 a week total in child support, which was far less than I was already paying. After the order, I continued to pay more than I was required until my daughter moved in with me permanently. World knew this, because my bookkeeper told them so. They ignored her.

Third, the story implied I was not honest with the family court when stating my income, because a twenty-thousand dollar deposit had been made on the home we now live in. The story failed to mention that I don’t own the home, and that the deposit did not come from me. Every word to the court was true.

Fourth, the story implied that my first wife, Cindy Dean, was left with nothing. The story conveniently forgot to mention that she held title to six pieces of real estate worth nearly $700,000.00. When everything was sold, she kept her half of the equity. I lost everything; she lost nothing to the abortionists.

Fifth, the story implied that I left my first wife for Andrea Sue Kollmorgen. That is a lie. The story forgot to mention that when my first marriage melted down, Andrea lived five states away, and that we were not in contact with each other.

Worse yet, World never told the truth: that a tribunal from my church was convened to hear evidence; that Cindy Dean participated in that procedure; that she made perfectly clear that she did not want to reconcile. They granted me a divorce, and the right to remarry. To paint the picture that I abandoned her and my children is a lie. My children moved in with me after we separated.

The most glaring evidence that this was a hit piece was the fact that not one person was named or quoted who signed the fundraising appeals. The Honorable Alan Keyes sent out the letter. The whole project was Rich Buhler’s idea. He spoke to World at length, and was blacked out. The esteemed Priests Frank Pavone and Terry Gensemer urged people to help me. All the signers knew I went through a divorce, all of them knew I lost everything to the abortionists.

Worse yet: every false accusation and innuendo I mentioned was set straight by statements and interviews given to World’s reporter, Lynn Vincent, as well as their editors. Ms. Vincent ignored my two attorneys and my accountant’s statements; the interviews done with Rich Buhler, Gary McCullough and others were discarded; and finally, she never interviewed my pastor, Bishop Craig Bates, even though he told her he would be happy to talk with her.

Bishop Bates wrote a public letter to the body of Christ dealing with my divorce, remarriage, and all these false charges. His letter can be read at Randallterry.com. Why was every voice of truth silenced that could have accurately told the story?

I have been on 60 Minutes and Nightline; I have been interviewed repeatedly in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the LA Times, and I can say without doubt that this was the most mean-spirited and untrue story ever written about me. World magazine claims they have a spiritual responsibility to cover Christian leaders.

Yet they despised the authority of my pastor and church, and their story was a gross violation of the Ninth Commandment, a treachery against honest journalism, and an insult to my family…as well as all those who have helped us. They told us volumes about their "spiritual responsibility."

Randall Terry

There are always two sides to every story. Sinkspur has present an extraordinary amount of detail concerning the Terry divorce, from Cindy Terry's point-of-view.

There are few of us who have not seen a close personal friend or relative go through a highly emotional and agonizing divorce, and I am sure we can all agree that

Neither party in a divorce represents the objective truth,
nor can either party see beyond their own hurt, anger and righteousness.

For any publication or individual, to condemn someone on the basis of of the rhetoric from one side of a divorce situation, is simply unrealistic. Here's the other side, Randall Terry's position,

Documentation refuting Cindy Terry and Landmark Church's accusations against Randall Terry, for those who are interested.

Now, back to my point-

All activists must be conscious of the fact that the closer we walk along the path of righteousness, the more life's little distractions will attempt to divert us from our various missions.

All activists must be conscious of the fact that the closer we walk along the path of righteousness, the more life's little distractions will attempt to divert us from our various missions.

Yes, you're right. Even if we're not activists, we'll find constant opposition as we seek to live holy lives in Christ.

The situation of the former Mr. and Mrs. Terry represents one type of distraction. I confess I jumped to a conclusion (with prejudice) because this is one of every SAHM's nightmares ... husband decides "Our marriage is breaking down," and there's nothing you can do, while he quickly finds a woman half your age, and starts a new family with a $400,000 house (notice my subtle class-warfare theme, too :-).

Irrespective of moral judgments on any party, the objective facts of the situation reinforce the idea that marriage covenants are always revocable, and that personal gratification is the highest end in life.

The closer we are to following G_d's chosen path, the more obstacles the forces against G-d seem to place in our way. Randall Terry can wear this scandal as a badge-of-honor

Hate to be so blunt, but that's a load of crap. You seem to think Terry's tribulation is God testing him. It seems to me he's made his own bed and is now lying in it.

Sometimes God works through tribulation and sometimes personal turmoil is a result of our own srcrewups. It may bring us comfort and resolve to think that we're being tested because we're doing the Lord's work, but that can also perpetuate destructive self-delusion. It's much easier than being introspective and taking an honest assessment of your life and circumstances and how your own behavior may have gotten you there.

It certainly seems to me that if Terry's family is alienated from him, a lot of the culpability is on him.

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