{"id":3338,"date":"2005-05-23T20:54:31","date_gmt":"2005-05-24T03:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/05\/23\/love-battle\/"},"modified":"2019-12-13T14:59:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T22:59:18","slug":"love-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/05\/23\/love-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ideologies and slogans are going to be battling it out in the Seattle area<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n

In the (far) right corner: Love Won Out<\/a>, a “national campaign to treat homosexuality as preventable.”<\/p>\n

In the left corner: Love Welcomes All<\/a>, a counter-conference organized by PFLAG<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n A national campaign to treat homosexuality as preventable is coming to the Seattle area for the first time next month — and local activists are ready to respond.<\/p>\n

The evangelical Northshore Baptist Church near Bothell has agreed to host the “Love Won Out” conference, presented by author James Dobson’s Focus on the Family group, on June 25.<\/p>\n

“The goal is to provide healing for those that want healing in this area of same-sex attraction,” said Glenn Reph, the church’s executive pastor, adding, “It’s not negative. It’s not gay bashing.”<\/p>\n

But while claiming not to condemn anyone, Reph said that letting children “choose” homosexuality “would be like letting them choose murder or adultery” because it is “not God’s way of life.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do these people even listen<\/em> to themselves? In one breath they claim that their agenda isn’t negative, and in the next they’re likening homosexuality to adultery and murder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n It’s that kind of message that prompted local chapters of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG, to organize their own conference, “Love Welcomes All,” as a response to “Love Won Out.”<\/p>\n

They want to counter the argument that gay people, along with their parents, are to blame for their sexual orientation as if it is a freely made and negative choice.<\/p>\n

“There is no evidence to suggest that people can successfully change their homosexual orientation,” said Doug Haldeman, a University of Washington professor and national president of the Association of Practicing Psychiatrists, who will speak at the PFLAG conference July 9.<\/p>\n

“There is, however, considerable evidence to suggest that many people are harmed psychologically in the attempt to change their sexual orientation. They feel guilty and shame-ridden.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As far as I’m concerned, real love doesn’t discriminate, and certainly<\/em> not on matters of whether you and your partner have indoor or outdoor plumbing.<\/p>\n

\"iTunes\"<\/a>\"\" “Die In Winter (Haujobb Edit 2)<\/a>” by :Wumpscut:<\/a> from the album Born Again<\/a><\/em> (1998, 4:06).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ideologies and slogans are going to be battling it out in the Seattle area next month. In the (far) right corner: Love Won Out, a ‘national campaign to treat homosexuality as preventable.’ In the left corner: Love Welcomes All, a counter-conference organized by PFLAG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2042],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}