From a Christian perspective, I was wondering if you ever thought about why God would make SSA the result of a child growing up with a physically or emotionally absent parent? It seems like bad luck for the child. Not only did he have a bad childhood, but he is then also prohibited by God from having any sort of passion in a romantic relationship by not being allowed to act on his sexuality. It seems strange to me that God would choose to make the result of a bad childhood something that he hates most in the world. He could have chosen to make the result of a physically or emotionally absent parent an excessive desire for the adult to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But no, he chose to make SSA the result. This doesn’t make sense. Do you have any thoughts?

Perhaps that’s the social factor you’re looking for?

And never mind ACT — I’ve just come up with a new exgay therapy: DeEducation.

Warren, care to collaborate on a paper for DeEdT?

Well the report did say that there was a small group with MAJOR SSA who’s SSA was pretty much stable.

So perhaps for those small group of people, there’s a strong innate drive, whereas for others social factors contribute more?

Another NZ film well worth seeing is Once Were Warriors. It’s a bit too gritty and depressing for kids to watch, and the scenery is dismal compared to Whale Rider, however the performances are equally amazing. There’s an undercurrent theme about the way Maori society was previously organised that will be missed by most — a clue: slavery and social standing — but it’s key to understanding the characters, and echos of that society are still very much evident today.

If, however, I ever hear “that haunting theme from The Piano” one more time… I might just throw up. Too late. I wish they’d re-release the film without THAT TUNE.