Year: 2013

Update: Now (11/19/13) Barton says drinking Starbucks is treason to God.
I grew up occasionally attending a church where one might hear the following: “We don’t go to movies even if they are G rated because even those movies support Hollywood.” While I didn’t buy that kind of thinking, I knew a lot of people who did.  The impulse to retreat to the monastery is strong in some Christians and often is voiced by boycotts of various entertainments and products. Recently, our old friend David Barton has gotten himself into one of these controversies by telling the Whitesburg Baptist Church that Christians shouldn’t drink Starbucks coffee since the company supports gay marriage.
Lots of people seem upset or amused about it. To me, it just sounds like a silly fuss about which conservative Christians debate.
Barton’s case, he wants Christians to avoid Starbucks, but he is apparently fine with selling his books on Amazon.com. Amazon, like Starbucks is gay friendly and committed to support for gay causes. And Amazon’s founder and leader, Jeff Bezos, has made a pretty hefty financial commitment to gay marriage. By Barton’s logic, I guess he is contributing to gay marriage every time The Jefferson Lies or Original Intent sells on Amazon.

Brain scans? We don’t need no stinking brain scans!
At least Jerry Mungadze doesn’t. Crayons and markers on a map of the brain tells him all he needs to know about personality and sexuality.
Last week, I posted about Mungadze’s appearance on the Joni Show telling Joni, Joe Dallas and David Kyle Foster that the brains of his patients go straight as the result of his approach. I wondered at the time how he could support that claim with brain assessment. It turns out that he fully filled in the audience of Foster’s Pure Passion on his methods. Hint: He doesn’t demonstrate how to read MRI results. The full version can be viewed on You Tube here and here. For a brief excerpt of part two, see below:

 
Note that patients color in a map of the brain and Mungadze reads the map like a projective test. Apparently, pink relates to femininity, red to anger/aggression, and so on. He says he can tell gay people apart from straights; and when they revert to heterosexuality, he can tell by how they color between the lines.
Who needs brain scans when you have crayons?

Mungadze’s is best known for his work in trauma and dissociative identity disorder (DID). His most famous patient is football star Herschel Walker, who wrote a book citing Mungadze’s help to overcome DID. Mungadze wrote the forward.
As for the theory of the brain revealing itself via colors chosen by patients, I know of nothing to support it. Projective tests in general are not reliable and this one in particular looks like a method invented by Mungadze without reference to research or validation.
The offer from Michael Bailey to send patients for real brain scans still stands. They can even bring crayons.

Recently, on the Joni Show, ex-gay therapist Jerry Mungadze said his therapy helps rewire the brains of gay clients. Listen (see RWW for transcript):

If you want the full context, go to this segment on the Joni Show and hear the rest.
Mungadze did not say how he accomplished this or how he tested it. His website mentions neurotherapy but we are not given many specifics.
Being aware that Michael Bailey at Northwestern University has challenged ex-gay therapists to send clients to his lab for brain scans to assess change in sexual arousal patterns. I asked him if he was open to issuing the same challenge to Mungadze. As I expected he agreed enthusiastically. Essentially, the challenge requires that Mungadze send a client to his lab before and after therapy to see if sexual arousal patterns have changed. Mungadze can invite the press or any other observers if he wants to. Bailey and I have discussed this for several years and made these offers to others. Thus far, no one has taken him up on the offer. I wonder if Mungadze will.
 
 

On May 29, plaintiffs filed a request to reconsider the dismissal of claims in the Sovereign Grace abuse case.  Plaintiffs are alleging a conspiracy on the part of Sovereign Grace leaders which, if granted, would allow the presentation of claims relating to that claims. Read the entire motion here.
A helpful summary can be found here.
A leading advocacy group formed out of the Catholic church abuse scandal has spoken out in condemnation of Christian leaders who have come to the defense of C. J. Mahaney, founder of the Sovereign Grace network. David Clohessy said the public stance of the ministers who defend the accused send a chilling message to the victims of abuse and may keep others from coming forward.
Related post:
The Sovereign Grace Abuse Scandal

Nigeria’s version of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill passed the Nigerian House of Representatives. Reports conflict over the immediate future of the bill. The AP reports that the bill goes to the President for signature, while others indicate that the bill will go to the Senate first.
According to the AP, the bill bans marriages or civil unions whether in a church or not. Any public displays of homosexuality will be punished. Penalties range from 10-14 years depending on offense. In the Muslim areas of the country, gays could face death by stoning. Human rights workers expect a court challenge.
It is difficult to say what effect the Nigerian action will have across Africa, most notably in Uganda where the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been on the Parliament’s list of business to come for months.
Here is the text of the bill as of July, 2011.  The Senate passed essentially this version in November, 2011 and, according to the AP, the version passed by the House is the same bill.
Related articles:
Nigeria moves to criminalize same-sex unions
Senate passed version of bill
American Anti-Gay Campaign in Africa Opposes “Fictitious Sexual Rights”