My prodigal son, the homosexual

WorldNetDaily ^ | April 9, 2004 | Randall Terry

[scripter]

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.

[DoughtyOne]

To: DoughtyOne

Yes I guess presenting some contextual informaiton in response to adverse commentary in public is self-serving? Tactless?

You're being disingenuous. I have little patience for it. You surely don't think Mr. Terry handled this in the most appropriate manner, but you argue as if his response was completely innocuous. Quit being so partisan yourself and maybe you'll see why he's receiving such criticism.

178 posted on 04/10/2004 11:30:45 AM PDT by tdadams (If there were no problems, politicians would have to invent them... wait, they already do.)


Could you please link me to some place where you have expresed your lack of patience for the son who sold out his dad for $5000, then appeared on CNN to do the same for free?

Failing that, how about  a link to your criticizm of Out for it's actions in this matter, or it's sordid advocacy of the lifestyle in question.

Perhaps you could even link me to your criticims of CNN for putting a son on the air to participate in this type of activity.

Thanks in advance.

Yes I guess presenting some contextual informaiton in response to adverse commentary in public is self-serving? Tactless?

You're being disingenuous. I have little patience for it. You surely don't think Mr. Terry handled this in the most appropriate manner, but you argue as if his response was completely innocuous. Quit being so partisan yourself and maybe you'll see why he's receiving such criticism.

[DoughtyOne]

We certainly have our share of 'first stone throwers' on this forum.

[don-o]

Duck!!

As usual, thread spreads in many directions. Some dialogue, some rant. Some actual documentation, some wild rumors and speculation Same old same old.

[Old Professer]

There seems to be plenty of rancor to go around; what is it with religious nuts that they feel impelled to go overboard?

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks Don-O. Take care bud.

[Old Professer]

167 comments and nobody bothered to broach the propriety of the magazine's action; this is telling.

[tdadams]

Won't you start reading what I've already posted before asking for something more? I've explained what point of view I'm coming from.

Apparently the only satisfactory response I can give is one in which I express complete agreement with you. Don't hold your breath.

[Sir_Ed]

I, too, was a member of OR. We went up and down the west coast surrounding abortion clinics, trying to bring an end to abortion. My friend John was one of the guys sharing the hotel room in GA with Randall and others when they were all arrested when OR was just starting. In fact, they had him bring all their wallets to the police station later that day!

I never got arrested, thank God...the cops would always stop just a few people short of me and the leaders would work something out, but a lot of my friends got arrested, and more than a few brutalized.

I remember one OR in particular, in Long Beach, CA, where the cops moved the public five blocks away from the abortion clinic we were surrounding, then marched horses in and through us, STEPPING on the people surrounding the clinic! Lots of people ended up with broken bones and sprains.

Of course, had it been a nuclear missile site, redwood tree or GOP Pro-Life Congressman's office we were surrounding and chained to, why, we'd have been glorified by the press, Martin Sheen and the NY Times, not brutalized by cops and police horses!

I, too, thought abortion could end that way, but RICCO made the stakes too high when they started seizing houses and bank accounts...people weren't willing to lose everything they had worked for.

So, I supported OR and Randall, but not this time, not after he divorced his wife like that. Frankly, I don't support ANY Christian representative who gets a divorce. I stopped buying Amy Grant records when she divorced her husband, stopped supporting YWAM and Melody Green when she divorced her second husband and stopped buying books by another Christian writer, forgot her name, but she used to talk about how she had to cope with her cold, autocratic Norwegian husband, but she was able to, then she divorced him.

I figure that if they can't keep that one major thing right in Christianity, then how are they going to be able to have any authority or have their ministry blessed by God?

Ed

[TaxRelief]

There is no doubt that one should be very careful concerning their charitable contributions.

There is the old saying, "Charity begins at home". It's actually a good rule of thumb. Surely, there is a family at church or in the neighborhood or in a neighboring neighborhood that is in need. There must be some way to know that the donated things are truly going to where they can be best used.

[Old Professer]

It seems lately we have a cadre of supporters waiting to cast aspersions on those here who would express traditional mores concerning modern perversions.

Gays may be enjoying their new-found popularity but, at what price?

Soon, society will tire of them and go off in search of something even more bizarre.

[DoughtyOne]

Well, to you and I it was. Thanks.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the additional comments. Catch you on antoher thread. I think we've exhausted the expression of our differences here. Take care.

[TaxRelief]

But, Sir Ed, how do you know HE left HER?

[DoughtyOne]

I agree. That's why community based efforts are so good and government produced efforts are so bad.

[truth_seeker]

"Randall Terry was a disaster for the pro-life movement!"

But it appears the "pro-life movement" has made for a lucrative career and lifestyle for him.

How else does somebody buy a 432,000 dollar home, on a 30,000 dollar salary? A new 22 yr. old bride.

Like father like son. Good paying careers, from well publicized controversy.

[DoughtyOne]

This was a strange thread to me. I don't think homosexuals should be targeted perse', but can't for the life of me understand why this young man, Out Magazine and CNN all got passes here.

I agree with your 'next perversion' premise and have been suggesting that will turn out to be beastiality. Rob Schnieder's "The Animal" already broached the subject.

Will that become as popular as 'cow-tipping'? Only time will tell. Eeeeeeeee...

[tdadams]

How else does somebody buy a 432,000 dollar home, on a 30,000 dollar salary?

Didn't you read Terry's response to World magazine? He doesn't own the home (wink wink, nudge nudge).

[raynearhood]

"The article is one small effort to make a public statement when his son has published and article in a nationwide magazine, and participated in interviews on CNN. I doubt Terry relished the idea of airing this in public, but I doubt he could stomach allowing his son to air untruths that would go unresponded to."

"Folks, if you can't understand the grief this guy is having to deal with, please go to another thread and contribute there in a positive manner. This article deals with a very real issue and doesn't deserve to be trashed."

"I'm not sure why you would say something like that, but it flabbergasts me the stupidity shown on this thread.
I can think of at least five families right now who raised excellent kids, all except for one. Sometimes it's girls. Sometimes it's the boys. For some unknown reason one child goes south and never returns.
One family had five children. Of the five children three went on to obtain advanced degrees. Four found success in business and had families of their own.
The fifth, raised with all the advantages, care and support the other kids had, even more than some of them did, was a miserable failure. BTW, the parents never wrote him off.
There is no rhyme or reason why some kids fail. If there was, society could adjust and prevent the problem child syndrome. That will never happen.
Please understand that you simply cannot always blame parents.
As for Terry's falling out with his wife and church, I doubt he is the first person to experience that, and I'm thinking most kids don't go homosexual over it. For all I know Terry may not be a very good human being, but jumping on him for this situation is silly. Are we going to hold his wife responsible as well? I don't see mention of anything she has done that is wrong, but if we're going to hold Terry responsible, then as one of his parents, his mom would have to be half the problem since she was right in there sowing also."

These are just a couple of the posts that you wrote before I posted to you. You were, if fact, defending more than Randall Terry's right to defend himself. You were defending Terry.

In your first post you said that "this article deals with a very real issue..." I agree, it deals with the issue of the homosexual agenda to make all who stand against homosexuality seem evil. In this case, it is Randall Terry. The point that I was trying to make, and the point that I think sinkspur was trying to make, is that to stand up and defend Terry in this situation is probably not the best idea. The reason is because he has been such a public figure in the fight against abortion and, more recently, gay marriage, and his dirty laundry can be easily aired and exploited by the leftist media. His son's homosexuality is not Terry's fault, it was the kid's decision. But that can be turned around and twisted all to hell by the media. I can see it now, "Randall Terry abandons family, leaves homosexual son in wake of breaking home." and, "Ultraconservatives back Randall Terry in disowning loving gay son."

In this case, I think we should take the fight elsewhere.

[DoughtyOne]

I think it's reasonable for you to state that I defended Terry, because early on I was not privy to Terry's sordid history. At that point I was more broad in my support. As his history was revealed, I tried to defend his response to his son and recognize some of the information raised against him as valid.

Bringing up Terry's sordid history as if it had bearing here, was unfortunate IMO. This issue stood on it's own, there was no need to expand the issue to Terry's past or present. Was the kid wise to do what he did? Were Out and CNN correct to give the kid voice?

I don't believe that the future of RTL is dependent on Terry. For that reason, the idea that Terry should shut up and allow the kid to make unrebutted comments, is foreign to me.

We have hashed this issue out pretty well. You guys have voiced your thoughts and I have voiced mine. I don't wish to spend any more time on this issue.

Thanks for the response.

[Tribune7]

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);

I thought Terry's response was appropriate.

Some are trying to make his son out to be a hero and his lifestyle to be harmless. It is not in the best interest of his son for this to happen. And it's not in the best interest of the rest of the family to allow his son's claims to go unanswered.