Christian Action League head Mark Creech is mourning the collapse of the ex-gay group Exodus International today in the Christian Post, arguing that Christians should not believe that sexual orientation exists as it is merely “a broad term developed in modern times to provide credence for the growing number of sexual perversions.”
Creech urged people to dismiss claims from gay people who believe that their orientation was shaped by biological factors, just as they would refuse to affirm a person who thinks they are really a squirrel: “if one felt that he or she was a squirrel, would that qualify as proof that one was justified in risking life and limb by climbing trees and eating only nuts?”
But Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, takes umbrage with Chambers’ apology, arguing: “I think there is a tendency to see Exodus folding as a parable of Christian capitulation and ethic. That is not what is happening. Instead what you have is an organization that has some confusion about its mission and purpose…What is not happening here, is an evangelical revision of a biblical sexual ethic.”
Peter LaBarbera, who leads Americans for Truth About Homosxuality [sic], would agree with Moore. When OneNewsNow recently asked LaBarbera about Exodus shutting down, he said, “I think Alan Chambers, who basically ruined the organization, had no choice because the affiliates were leaving. All the people who support the truth that homosexuals can change and overcome this perversion through Jesus Christ were leaving Exodus.”
LaBarbera, who called Exodus’ closing one of the greatest tragedies he had witnessed in the pro-family movement, also shared where he believes the ministry made its fatal mistake. He said, “Homosexuality is about behavior, and behaviors can be changed with the help of God and through Christ…That’s what Exodus used to be about. But once they started talking about so called ‘gay sexual orientation,’ as if this is the inherent state of somebody’s being, they got in trouble.”
…
It’s interesting that the concept of “sexual orientation” is based strongly upon one’s feelings. How does one know that one is gay? Conventional wisdom says because of the way one feels. Numerous are the individuals who have said, “I’ve felt that I was gay since I was a child.” But if one felt that he or she was a squirrel, would that qualify as proof that one was justified in risking life and limb by climbing trees and eating only nuts?
…
To those who would contend the Bible is silent about “sexual orientation,” let it be said this is because no such notion is based in truth. It is a broad term developed in modern times to provide credence for the growing number of sexual perversions.
