Out of Exodus

There is a new film just released this week on Netflix called “Pray Away.”  I watched it today and was overwhelmed with sadness for the 700,000 people in the US who have gone through some sort of so-called reparative therapy and have been deeply hurt and traumatized by its message - that there is something intrinsically wrong with them - so wrong that they must seek to deny the person they were created to be and live as someone they are not.

Exodus International had its origins in 1976 as a local church support group for Christians who found that they were attracted to people of their own gender.  It soon grew to become the largest organization of its kind, with 250 local chapters in the US and Canada and 150 in 17 other countries.  Their premise was that change was possible and they sought to “help people who wanted to limit (or get rid of) their homosexual desires.”  

In 2012, Alan Chambers, president at the time, closed the ministry, saying that it was all wrong, change was not possible and apologized for the harm done to so many LGBTQ people.  Many other leaders also dropped out feeling remorse for having been involved in the ministry, admitting that their same sex attractions had not changed, just their behavior.

Unfortunately, several of the leaders have gone on to form new organizations under different names and formats but with the same premise, that it is possible to be transformed from gay to straight.  They claim that with the help of Jesus, gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender people can be washed clean and healed as if being same sex attracted or transgender is a disorder or malady.  (In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from their manual of mental illnesses) 

This film chronicles the journeys of five prominent leaders in the Ex-gay movement, then and now.  They talk about coming to realize that what they were involved in was a travesty and so very hurtful to so many vulnerable people.  It follows their own personal journeys along the way.

The survivors (as they call themselves) of the Ex-gay movement have such heart wrenching stories to tell.  What is most sad to me is that ‘well-meaning’ Christians, who thought they had all the answers about what God wanted, inflicted such pain on people to whom the Bible says we are supposed to show Love.

This should be a stern lesson to all of us.  God had commanded us to love God and love our neighbor.  Jesus did no harm to anyone and excluded no one.  He showed love and compassion to all, even those who tried and ultimately succeeded in killing him.  

Shouldn’t we do the same?  I urge you to watch the film, “Pray Away” on Netflix.  It may change your heart….

In Christ

Merryl Dietz