Ex-Gay Ministries Also known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy
These are various methods ranging from prayer to aversive conditioning, such as electric shock or nausea-inducing drugs, that is intended to change a homosexual orientation to a heterosexual one, or at least to lessen the homosexual desires to the point where they are willing to remain celibate (having sexual activity with no one). The most high-profile contemporary advocates of conversion therapy tend to be conservative Christian groups and other religious organizations. In a 2009 Task Force on Sexual Orientation, the American Psychological Association concluded after a careful review of the research and papers that such therapies and those who advocate them "have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure." (link to this full report provided below) In other words, there is no hard evidence that Ex-Gay Ministries work, but there is evidence that they can do harm to the individual. It should be noted that there are many religious leaders and places of worship that hold the same belief. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 480,000 mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus is not something that needs to or can be “cured.” With that caution from the scientific community, we present below links to sites that will provide you with the positions and reasons for both sides of the issue.
CRITICAL OF EX-GAY MINISTRIES AND REPARATIVE THERAPY
- this section of their website is devoted to a series of articles and commentaries on various aspects and organizations of ex-gay ministries
SEEKING TO PRESENT BOTH SIDES
SUPPORTIVE OF EX-GAY MINISTRIES AND REPARATIVE THERAPY
- advocates abstinence in accordance to the church's teachings.
Jewish Ex-Gay Ministry: There is an organization called JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality) and we had intended to offer a link to their website as a continuation of our policy of providing resources on both sides of issues, but recent news reports have stated that Arthur Goldberg who founded and heads JONAH (and is also Executive Secretary of NARTH) is a convicted felon for selling $2 billion in fraudul entmunicipal bonds and was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on 52 counts of bribery, fraud, and conspiracy in 1989 and served a federal prison sentence. In his position at JONAH and NARTH he acts as if he has an extensive knowledge of both psychology and Jewish theology, but holds degrees in neither of those fields.
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