Today on NPR's "Fresh Air" today, host Terry Gross was interviewing Alan Chambers, the President of Exodus International, an association promoting an exodus from the homosexual way of life through faith in Christ. A more politically incorrect group one cannot imagine.
Gross was stunningly one-sided and hostile, despite her calm tones. She tried to twist everything the man said. She even asked him if his relationship with his wife was sexual! She must have assumed that he abstained from homosexual activity out of sheer will power and married just to please his concept of God on some external level. His answer was straightforward: it was intimate personally and sexual physically. I marveled at the man's restraint with the imperious and incredulous Gross.
Gross finished with a question that she must have meant as hope for him. She asked if he could imagine himself giving up the fight and going back to "being gay." He said he never would, since his life was so much better now. Gross must have assumed that he was fighting impulses constantly and must want to give up this battle (even though he is now married). She could not conceive that a homosexual might change at a deep level and not want to go back. In fact, her next guest was a man who tried to change, joined Exodus (or a similar group), then reverted to homosexuality again. He, of course, was given the last word.
While many do struggle with this orientation even as Christians (and we should not judge them harshly), radical change is possible. I once met a man who had been a homosexual his entire life. But shortly after his conversion at mid-life, all homosexual desires ceased.
That is "fresh air" indeed, the wind of the Holy Spirit. Please think about it, Terry Gross.
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2 comments:
Hi Douglas,
I have seen your name mentioned several times over the years. It is neat that you have a blog, and that you like Allan Holdsworth who is one of my favourite musicians as well.
"She could not conceive that a homosexual might change at a deep level and not want to go back."
Among many in western society, and especially here in Canada where we have same-sex marriage, there appears to be an unwillingness to even consider arguments opposed to homosexuality from philosophy, physiology, and the Bible. This of course prohibits meaningful dialogue on the subject. As those of us in the Christian Church are aware, many Christians that think homosexuality is wrong are not homophobic, but believe that sexual sin in every form is a serious human problem that needs to be dealt with by God. I respect you for discussing homosexuality, and I thought it was important for me to post on it when our federal government brought in the same-sex marriage bill.
Thanks
Russ
I am disappointed in Terry Gross's treatment of Chambers. I have listened to Gross often and have always thought her a talented interviewer. It's rare that she makes it so obvious where her sympathies lie (though given the venue, it's not hard to guess).
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