Whatever ‘gay conversion therapy’ is, banning it won’t change Christian sexual ethics

Dec 9, 2016 by Jill

by Mike Davidson, Christian Concern:

The Christian Church in the West manifestly fails to see the nature and extent of the threat that Malta’s decision to ban ‘conversion therapy’ presents in Europe. That the Church, under Archbishop Charles Scicluna appears to contradict Pope Francis’ rejection of homosexual culture, doesn’t augur well for the Maltase Christians. It is of course well known that the ‘Gay Christian’ agenda is the final frontier in the process to normalise homosexuality. The Church, in that model, provides the last bastion against recognition of a categorical notion of ‘gayness’ and the history of the Church must be re-written and Christians should be re-educated.

So, what has gone wrong? And what is the antidote in this propaganda war evident in the BBC article by Becky Banford? Why should the people of Malta be allowed, as she says, to “self-determine their own gender” but not their own sexuality?

Perhaps in avoiding the psychologising of the Gospel, the Church long ago relegated therapeutic interventions for unwanted same-sex attractions to psychologists and counsellors and believed, as the media bade them, the idea that specialist therapies were being used to ‘cure’ homosexuals. Stories about electro-shock therapies, invented and used on homosexuals by the establishment, (a story line followed in serval UK sitcoms and dramas over the past two years), have wrongly associated this approach with Christian ministries and psychotherapists offering illegitimate help for those seeking change.

The work of demonising any therapist supporting clients wanting to move away from any unwanted sexual attractions is almost complete. Without research evidence, and simply at the behest of mental health organisations around the world, including in the UK, which prescribe discipline for any professional breaching the ethical boundary of only affirming homosexuals or transsexuals, there is now no professional body willing to support client autonomy and professional intervention for those who refuse to accept homosexual feelings as normal. Only the American Psychological Association has been brave enough to admit that research has not been done which proves that such therapy is ipso facto harmful and ineffective.

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