Month: April 2008

Make way for the Evangelical center

Here is a review of a new book that is going on my after-the-semester-is-over reading list: The Future of Faith in American Politics by David Gushee.

I agree with this assessment by Gushee:

I think there are some fractures emerging among the people who identify themselves as Religious Right. I think some are starting to deemphasise partisan politics to a certain extent. Others are attempting to reframe their message. I think the new book by Tony Perkins and Harry Jackson (mentioned above) is a reframing effort. A lot of the things I critique in my book, they say ‘you’re right we need to work on those things.’ Things like disentangling from the Republican Party, having a more positive and less negative kind of tone, emphasising a broader range of issues. I think there is a feeling on the Religious Right that those things are a problem for them.

ACA President Canfield promises Ethics Committee review

In July 2007, and then again in February, 2008, I wrote the American Counseling Association Executive Committee regarding a 2006 Ethics Committee article on sexual orientation and counseling. Check the link for the full background; in short, I was not defending conversion or reparative therapy per se, but rather seeking clarification of a counselor’s ability to work with a client in harmony with that client’s religious beliefs and value direction.

Recently, ACA President, Brian Canfield wrote back to alert me to the process.

Highlights from my vantage point:

Dr. Canfield acknowledges that the ACA cannot resolve social and religious differences. He says, “While there are ardent voices on both sides of this issue, as you correctly note in your communications, there is no social consensus regarding homosexuality.”

He returns to a familiar stance at ACA: If there is no disorder, then there is no need for a treatment. He then adds:

However, to what extent a counselor may ethically engage in providing counseling services to a client who expresses conflict and dissonance over their sexual attraction/orientation with their personal, cultural or religious beliefs and values is, in my opinion, a very legitimate question which needs to be clarified. 

I certainly agree.

The letter notes that my letters will be forwarded to the Ethics Committee with a request for review.

I am heartened by this response in that Dr. Canfield has taken the matter seriously and set forth an appropriate review.

iPods may cause homosexuality?

Of course, why didn’t we see this!? Scientists at the Harrington Institute have located what might be the single biggest factor associated with homosexuality in the modern world today – Brilliant White iPods.

Some people think it is soy products, but this may be the lead we have all been looking for…

Of course, iPods have been a problem for a long time.

(Pssst – Look at the date today)