My Thoughts on Banning Gay Conversion Therapy

N.J. Governor Chris Christie signed into law yesterday a ban on “gay conversion therapy” or as sometimes called “reparative therapy” (source).  This legislation, which has already been enacted by California, makes it illegal for counselors to try to change the sexual orientation of a minor individual.  Two other states,  Massachusetts and New York, have bills in their state legislatures.

These laws concern me for several reasons:

  1. These laws demonstrate the cultural belief that homosexual orientation is perfectly normal and appropriate.  The American Psychological Association does not see it as something that needs to be “cured” (source).   As the governor stated in signing the bill his  belief is that people are born gay and homosexuality is not a sin, though this goes against his Catholic faith.
  2. Consider the position it puts the Christian counselor in legally in offering counseling.  It creates an immediate conflict between their faith and the law.  I have heard it said recently that the day is coming when it will be considered a hate crime to preach that homosexual acts are a sin from the pulpit, well it has already become illegal for counselors in these states to counsel a minor client that homosexuality is a sin and work with them to overcome this sin.  By the way, groups pushing for these laws hope to extend this in the future to include ministers and clergy as well.
  3. These laws also take power from the client.  Suppose a Christian teen is struggling with this issue.  They hold deep faith convictions and desire for professional help to fight their temptation.  Now the government is saying they cannot work with a chosen counselor whom their family is paying in a professional relationship to aid them in this journey.
  4. Consider the control it is taking away from parents.  Here we have a case of government intervention into a parent’s training and teaching.  So if you are a Christian parent who has a child struggling with the real temptation and sin of homosexuality and desire professional counseling by a local Christian counselor, you cannot get it.  You would be asking the counselor to perform an illegal act.
  5. This is just a part of the overall trend we are seeing in our country.  We are seeing it with the sweeping changes regarding same-sex marriage, supreme court rulings, and now it is entering the counseling field.  Recently Exodus International, the leading broad-based Christian ministry in the nation helping individuals for 37 years come out of homosexuality into the freedom from sin and often times a heterosexual relationship decided to shut down.  They even apologized to the gay community for years of “undue judgment”.  (see their statement).  These changes are all coming from the theological and philosophical changes regarding the beliefs of our nation, the Christian community, and individuals regarding homosexuality.
  6. This is another sign of the ongoing, and ever increasing clash, between faithful Christians dedicated to Biblical truth and the prevailing culture on the issue of homosexuality.  This issue is not going away.  Counselors are going to have some difficult choices to make as the clash gets practical and real for them.  I believe the rest of us will not be far behind.

What are your thoughts?

I have three other posts on the topic of Homosexuality:

——————————–

You can subscribe to this blog to receive every post in your email at the upper right corner of the page.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/my-thoughts-on-banning-gay-conversion-therapy/