Posted on 10/25/2011 6:07:26 PM PDT by Graybeard58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- A major seven-year study published in a mainstream journal is challenging the secular notion that gays and lesbians cannot change their sexual orientation.
The longitudinal study followed 61 subjects for between six and seven years and found that 23 percent of them reported successful conversion to heterosexual orientation and function and another 30 percent reported stable behavioral chastity with a significant dis-identification with gay orientation. Twenty percent of the subjects had given up and embraced a gay identity.
It is believed to be the first study of its kind -- that is, one that followed people over a series of years and monitored success or failure. The study followed subjects who voluntarily were taking part in Christian ministries affiliated with Exodus International, the nation's largest ministry devoted exclusively to reaching out to homosexuals.
Partial results of the study were released in 2007 and 2009 but now are being published in a peer-reviewed journal, which its authors hope gives it more credibility to those who had criticized it. The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, Volume 37.
"The results that we report in our study suggest that change is definitely not impossible, and it's probably not uncommon, either," coauthor Stanton L. Jones, a psychologist at Wheaton College, told Baptist Press. "That doesn't mean that change is easy. We think that these results need to be taken into account as a way of respecting the religious freedom of individuals."
Baptist Press reported on the earlier findings in '07 and '09. Having the study published in a peer-reviewed journal, Jones said, is significant.
"It signifies that the methodology meets the basic requirements for being taken seriously as a piece of scientific literature," Jones said. "Critics still dismiss the study. They say, 'Well, it's only one study,' or they say it's not a large enough sample. But I think the study stands as a significant challenge to the reigning views on this matter, especially given that the major mental health organizations say in alternate voices that change of sexual orientation is impossible or that change in sexual orientation is highly unlikely."
A statement on the American Psychological Association's website says that promotion of change therapy "contributes to a negative climate for lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons."
"All major national mental health organizations have officially expressed concerns about therapies promoted to modify sexual orientation," the APA statement says. "To date, there has been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation ... is safe or effective."
Changing attitudes on the subject isn't easy, Jones said. Stories about gay people who tried but didn't change tend to get more media attention, he said. Also, he noted, the issue has become political. When Attorney General Eric Holder announced in February that the Justice Department would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, part of Holder's reasoning was that there's "a growing scientific consensus ... that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable." The study by Jones and coauthor Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University directly challenges that argument.
"To admit that the study has any validity is to draw into question ... the change in [public] policies," Jones said.
The study does not examine why some people are more successful in changing their orientation than others.
"We can't answer that," Jones said.
Some critics say the study was deficient because it did not record the physical responses of subjects to sexual stimulus. In some mainstream circles, that is done by placing pornography in front of the subjects and either monitoring the physical response or monitoring the brain for a response. But such a test, Jones said, would have gone against what Exodus strives to obtain -- sexual purity in both thought and practice.
"Christians and others who are pursuing a moral framework for change don't look at that as a benign interaction," Jones said. " ... People who are undergoing change don't want to submit themselves to exposure to gay porn as a measurement method as to whether they have changed."
Jones and Yarhouse caution against projecting success ratios based on their study. For instance, they say, it would be wrong to say that 23 percent of people can change their orientation, just because 23 percent of the people in their study did so. Nevertheless, they say, the study shows that change is possible.
"I know individuals who have been married for 20 and 30 years after coming out of the gay community," Jones said. "The claim that nobody has ever changed is not substantiated either by our study or by any number of powerful anecdotes that are out there." --30-- Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press. Learn more about the study at ExGayStudy.org.
I guess reading comprehension was not my strong point last night. One of you was I guess quoting that and I thought it was you. HiTech says it wasn’t him either.
I certainly don’t think homosexuality is inborn, so I guess we’re all on the same page.
Those sexual harassment laws need to be loosened. What you want to do used to be called “courtship”. :-D
Without it we wouldn’t be here.
Hmm but neither would Obama, Muslim fanatics, and so on and so forth. So maybe the homos have the right idea, let’s stop reproducing, wipe out humanity and let the cockroaches rule the Earth.
My orientation drives me to want to skip that main meal and get right to the dessert, but no one will make it a civil right for me. I swear I was born with this orientation but liberals dont care :)
Give you dittos for your post #71.
“PTSD is a real phenomenon”
Same-sex attraction disorder is caused by the trauma of a seduction or molestation in the pre-adult years. They didn’t choose it, and it can be as hard to stop as it can be for a man to stop having nightmares.
Not impossible, but very often help is needed.
I have no problem with your reply.
I just don’t want the notion that quirks of individual biology can make falling into homosexual habits easier for certain boys to be crudely dismissed with the non-pertinent argument that “nobody is born that way.” As has been so commonly mentioned, think of drunks. One of the unfortunate discoveries by American Indians was the proverbial firewater, distilled liquors. This hits most Indians like the proverbial brick wall because their metabolism is not as suited to handle it as is the metabolism of most people of European origins.
Sure, each human has their own unique (in a way) temptations. But the causes of homosexuality are known for the most part, as described in the link (with attendant links) that I posted above. Another point is that homosexuals know that they are recruiting. It is known in the "gay community" that they can make boys into homosexuals. They do it on purpose.
Oh, and another point is that even a person who has a genetic proneness to becoming an alcoholic will never become one if he decides not to touch alcohol. And even alcholics can decide to change and stop. I’m one who decided to stop*, and one of my parents never decided to stop being one.
*And I have zero attraction for alcohol now; I have gallons of it that I use for making medicinal tinctures and I am never tempted to take a sip!
...crudely dismissed with the non-pertinent argument that “nobody is born that way.
How is that crude? It's either true or not true. And how on earth is it "non-pertinent"? Its totally pertinent! And people are either born homosexual or not, it's quite simple. Are people born adulterers? Born rapists? Born necrophiliacs? Either they are or they aren't born like that. Same thing with homosexuals.
Untruly, then.
You are walking down the same path as strawman erectors. Pull the topic of conversation towards the strawman from the truth, then POW! there goes the strawman.
The point is that you had to make an effort of will, and I’m not sure how wise it is for you to flirt with your tincture fluid. “Let he who stands take heed lest he fall.”
And you might or might not have had the knowledge to control your first incident of meeting alcohol.
I disagree -- it sheds light like the sun itself. To fall into a hole, one needs a hole as well as to approach that hole.
You must be a zen master or something, far too subtle for a simpleton like me. I don’t know what the heck your comments are saying. Maybe if I went back to taking acid...
I’ve been stone cold sober for 40 years, alcohol tempts me no more than drinking drain cleaner.
hehehehehehehehehehehehe...you said “cockroaches” in a gay thread...hehehehehehehehehehe
Bisexuality is fairly common, especially among black men who have been to prison. The man some woman is getting laid with could have easily been committing sodomy with men while in prison. Likewise, plenty of lesbians got it on with men before they “came out”. Unless you can watch people all through their lives, you can’t always be sure about how purely homosexual or heteroseuxal they are based on behavior.
That reminds me, I forgot to check out Beavis and Butthead yesterday.
Right! They’re back on. I forgot.
I missed “Sunny” and “The League” last night...g/f DVR’d them though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.