bring on the ex-ex-gay movement
Sex columnist Dan Savage weighs in on Ted Haggard, and while I generally don’t copy-and-paste wholesale from other pieces of writing, I don’t know how many of my readers are also Savage Love readers so I’ll risk it:
If you believe that Jesus Christ can change the sexual orientation of a believer, why on earth did he refuse to cure Haggard? He founded a church that has 14,000 members! Thousands were brought to Christ by Haggard’s preaching. Mixed in with Ted’s meth-fueled gay sex romps and hypocritical gay bashings were, without a doubt, thousands of good works.
Did Jesus help Haggard out? No. Haggard struggled with temptation all his life. He tried to battle off his “dark” desires, but nothing proved effective. There was no cure for Haggard, no miracle. No matter how long he struggled, no matter how much faith he had, Haggard’s sexual orientation remained unchanged. Nothing helped. Not prayer, not Jesus H. Christ on his cross.
Nothing.
If giving his heart to Jesus couldn’t cure Haggard, what hope is there for the likes of me? If Jesus can’t be bothered to work a miracle for the most powerful evangelical minister in the country, what “hope” is there for the average dyke?
None.
The ex-gay thing is over. It’s dead. It was bullshit from the start, and it’s bullshit now. And I will personally track down and bitch-slap the next fundie douche who sends me an e-mail explaining how Jesus can cure me. And I will personally track down and shit in the mouth of the next cable-news anchor who entertains—even for an instant—the notion of a miracle cure for homosexuality.
I know this is basically the line of thought that I and a few folks who appear on the sidebar links there have had lately — both when it comes to homosexuality and pretty much any other area of life where God supposedly has ultimate power. Of course, here it’s presented with Dan Savage’s usual, shall we say, zest.
Personally, I do feel a little sorry for Haggard. But not too sorry, because in the end he was a victim of his own regime. When you build the weapons you’d better be prepared to die by them.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:57 pm
And what’s up with these supposedly “cured” drug addicts who relapse? If Jesus can’t make me stop doing something entirely, then obviously either what I’m doing is fine, or Jesus ain’t all he’s cracked up to be.
November 15th, 2006 at 10:46 am
I think people tend to oversimplify homosexuality all the way around. I don’t think human sexuality is as simple as you’re gay or you aren’t. There’s a spectrum of behaviour here. I know a guy who used to be gay. Now he’s not. Does that mean God cured him? I have no idea. Maybe he still fantasizes about having sex with men while he’s having sex with his wife. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he struggles. Maybe he doesn’t. Most people don’t seem to be able to change their orientation though. Beyond that, there was no category in the Bible for monogamous same-sex relationships. Nor was homosexuality thought of then as an identity issue. Now it is. Those things change everything.