I Will Not Be Silent

A link, prominently displayed on an Internet news page, triumphantly proclaimed, “Gay ‘conversion’ therapy may soon be banned nationwide!” The story made the usual claims about such therapy being “harmful,” not to mention useless because no one’s “orientation” can be changed. Besides being utterly false, these claims actually have nothing to do with why there’s a push to ban this therapy.

Next to that link was another one saying “Bill Nye exposes the ridiculousness of ‘conversion’ therapy.” But Nye (the famous “science guy” who seems to have little interest in legitimate science these days) could only offer something unoriginal, shallow, and blatantly fallacious.

[It was] a straw man argument against those who disagree with homosexuality and transgenderism. It set up those who disagree as arrogantly and stubbornly insisting that “vanilla” (heterosexuality) is best, based on nothing more than their personal preference. And, because they arbitrarily define “vanilla” as best, everyone else better make themselves vanilla…. [It] said temptation to try other flavors of ice cream (different sexualities and “genders”) is good [and] finished by promoting indulgence (promiscuity). (1)

This is a classic case of someone pretending that they only need to come up with one clever little slogan or analogy, and it will conveniently be the last word on a controversial subject. (By the way, I have to wonder what other “flavors of ice cream” Nye would include in his analogy. Incest? Pedophilia? By his logic those are just “personal preferences” too, right?)

Sorry, Bill, but some of us just aren’t going to fall for this kind of propaganda. Not only is it unconvincing to begin with, but it just doesn’t stand a chance against the knowledge and understanding that many of us have.

Personally, I can’t speak for what goes on in “conversion therapy” or how effective it is. I’m sure that it can be done wrong, and that it can often be unsuccessful because its subjects are unwilling or unready.

But I do know that many people have gotten away from same-sex attraction, even where actual “therapy” wasn’t involved, and have gone on to have normal, healthy lives. I’ve known a number of such people myself, and their lives can’t be explained away by the usual accusations of “they didn’t really change” or “they weren’t really gay to begin with.”

I know that the reality of “ex-gays” shines a bright, unwelcome light on the lies that the whole “gay rights” movement is founded on, and that’s why there is so much angry denial of their very existence — and why there’s a push to ban conversion therapy.

I know that there are various deep-seated ways that people’s sexuality can be messed up early in life, and that same-sex attraction is essentially just one of these ways. I know that messed-up sexuality can, and should, be straightened out. I also know that the process is never easy and takes more faith, perseverance and help than most people are willing to have.

I know that people with various forms of messed-up sexuality are usually looking to sexuality to meet needs that it was never designed to meet. I know that “gays” are often looking for acceptance of their actions because they really crave acceptance as persons. I know that my own past sins are as great as any of theirs, and that they have the same opportunity for redemption that I’ve had.

I know that people in my life who didn’t get away from same-sex attractions did not have happy endings, to say the least. One – my best friend at one point – died in his early 30s. He had gotten married young in a misguided attempt at “changing,” then lost his wife and children when his secret “gay” life was exposed. He died of AIDS which he caught while living with a “committed” male partner, from someone besides his partner, without that partner having objected to what would be called “cheating” in a normal relationship. And, toward the end of his life, he felt the need to warn as many young people as possible not to live a life like his.

I know that “gays” have a remarkably high rate of drug abuse, suicide and other issues. These issues get blamed on how “gays” are supposedly persecuted; but they occur even when the “persecution” isn’t there, and they don’t occur similarly in other groups of people who experience (real) persecution.

I know that men and women are designed to function in a complementary manner, both physically and otherwise. I know that living up to this design is challenging even for the most normal and healthy people, and that’s why so many fail at it and others don’t even attempt it. And I know that no other arrangement can even try to have the same value as a real, committed and exclusive man/woman marriage.

I know that true “same sex love” consists of close, healthy friendships; that “gays” typically have missed the benefits of such friendships in their early lives; and that fear of being seen as “gay” prevents many kids, especially boys, from having such friendships.

I know that the current “science” that calls homosexuality “normal” is no science at all. Not only does it fly in the face of what I can observe for myself, but the history behind this “science” utterly discredits it. (2)

I know that Jesus Christ is not the “myth” that many want to pretend he is, and that he has been radically changing the lives of people, “gay” and otherwise, since he arrived on the scene. (3)

Am I going to forget or disregard what I know, just so some people won’t be offended? Absolutely not. I will not forget, and I will not be silent. And even if I were to be silenced, there are many more who will not be silent. And even if they were silenced, the truth will remain; and even those who deny it the loudest will still know, on some level, that it is the truth.

People who disagree with all this may call me “hateful,” which my life clearly show’s I’m not. They may call me “ignorant,” which is exactly what I’ve been determined not to be. They may cite “science” to support their claims, but I already know the background behind it better than they do. They may rationalize, or play word games, or flat-out lie; but I’ve never known one to cast a shred of legitimate doubt on what I’ve learned.

To them I would ask this:

Remember the friend I spoke of earlier who died of AIDS. Once he had already gotten married and had children, which of the following paths would you prefer he’d taken?

Should he have taken the hard path of recovering from his same-sex attraction? He would have saved his life, and might have also saved his family; and by faith in Christ he would have found the peace he’d always missed before. But, in doing so, he would have helped expose lies that your position depends on.

Or do you prefer the path that he did take? The one where he lost his family, died young and never found peace? And, by the way, would you rather he skipped the part at the end where he warned young people not to take that path? After all, that also helped expose lies that you wouldn’t want exposed.

And don’t try to tell me he couldn’t really have taken the path of recovery, because many others have done just that. I wish he’d taken that path. Does that make me a “hater” in your eyes?

Someone has said that the opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference. Love would have taken him off of the path that killed him; indifference helped keep him on it.

Indifference is silent. Love refuses to be.

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(1) Bill Nye Saves the World Netflix Series Review, Answers in Genesis website, 4/25/2017.

(2) A quick summary from one source:

“The APA’s decision [in 1973] to declassify homosexuality as a disorder has been acknowledged by gay activists as one of their victories. The details are well documented, and the role of gay activists in the process is not really disputed. The APA, after months of harassment and intimidation by activists (who disrupted scientific research and conferences, forged credentials, and physically intimidated psychiatrists) made a ‘medical judgment’… by a vote of only 34% of its members…. Although a survey conducted by the journal Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality four years later showed that 69% of the 2500 psychiatrists who responded opposed the 1973 action…. the decision effectively silenced professional discussion of homosexuality as a disorder.” – My Genes Made Me Do It!, Neil Whitehead & Briar Whitehead, 1999.

(3) I Corinthians 6:9-11.

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