Warren Throckmorton

Now here is an interesting wrinkle that proves nothing but may create some interesting theorizing. From the San Francisco Bay Times, an article titled “Changing Sexual Orientation” says,

“If gender identity is fluid, then sexual orientation is as well,” contends psychology grad student lorne m. dickey, who identifies as a gay FTM and spells his name entirely with lowercase letters. Though many scientists and laypersons believe sexual orientation is fixed and immutable, dickey disagrees. His own experience suggests otherwise: “Prior to transition, I identified as a lesbian. I’d never once had sex with a man. Shortly after beginning my transition, it was clear… I was more interested in being sexual with a man than I was with a woman.”

Read the whole article here…

In the last week I have heard from many sources regarding my posts about the Mankind Project and New Warriors Training Adventure. Admittedly, I have done more posts on this topic than I had originally intended — with more to come. This post brings together a hodgepodge of points of view that I would like to get in the discussion.

The first one is a post from Bill Cork who is an Adventist pastor in Houston and a veteran of one NWTA there. The subject of the October Houston Press article, Micharl Scinto also attended the NWTA hosted by the same group. Rev. Cork mentions this in his post. He also discusses his reason for not referring people to the event:

It isn’t done in a Christian framework, and so for that reason I wouldn’t recommend it. I think these are issues that men need to work on, but I think for Christians it is better done in an explicitly Christian setting. One of the Archbishop’s concerns was that some elements of the weekend smacked of “New Age” spirituality. He was right about that–but again, the leaders of the retreat were respectful of Christians who spoke from their own convictions. I was grateful for that, but still I think Christian men need to come together in an environment where Christian faith is assumed, supported, and nurtured, and not merely tolerated.

A skeptics viewpoint from a UK blogger with interests in sexuality and religion, also notes the incompatibility of Christian ministry (in this case Living Waters) with New Warriors.

I’m not sure why members of Christian organisations like Living Waters (UK) enroll in NWTA. There isn’t an scrap of Christian teaching in NWTA. Perhaps Living Waters, Mankind Project and even TfT all part of an extensive underground social network for SSA men?

NWTA drips homoeroticism. I don’t think it’s just my dirty mind. As I said, a very large number of men at the graduation ceremony were SSA men. My gaydar was buzzing all night. Officially, NWTA is a (Jungian) therapeutic way out of SSA. Unofficially, it might be one big dating agency for bi-curious men and SSA Christians.

————————-

BTW, I don’t really believe organisations like Living Waters and Mankind Project cynically promote an exgay agenda as a legimate cover for illicit encounters. It’s more likely that a large number SSA men are drawn to these groups and (unintentionally) start to create safe ‘cultural spaces’ to meet other similar guys.

I wonder if he is correct in his less cynical view that at least among some people, the entitativity of New Warriors is a draw for SSA men looking for fellowship and who have not found it in more traditional ways.

Speaking of matters gay, psychotherapist Joe Kort has emerged as a vigorous defender of NWTA on his blogs and at ExGayWatch. He posted on an Amazon.com blog and on his StraightGuise blog regarding what he considers to be false charges leveled at the Mankind Project. In a long and personal post, he recounts his own struggles with masculinity and how NWTA was vital in his own life. He believes the NWTA helped him in many ways. He specifically takes on the predictions of reparative therapists who believe enhancing masculinity diminishes same-sex attractions. About the experience, he says,

The New Warrior Training Adventure provided me with a group of men, mostly straight, whose mission in life is to help men become better and more mature. Still, I went to this workshop not knowing what to expect—and I’m glad I didn’t. That is exactly what made it so powerful for me. This workshop changed my life, liberated me as a man among men, and opened up new possibilities for me.

Given the apparent number of gay and bisexual men initiated into and leading NWTAs, it raises for me the question of the efficacy of sending questioning or struggling men, particular Christian men to them. If enhancing masculinity does not reduce same-sex attractions, then activities such as take place at NWTA could become a stumbling block. I welcome Mr. Kort or any reparative therapist to address that issue here.

I will have more to say about this in due time, however, while it is current, I wanted to post this Citizen link article regarding the APA sexual orientation task force.

In a nutshell, the APA solicited opinion from gay advocacy groups in regard to the sexual orientation task force mandate but thus far has declined to meet with a large religious coalition which asked for a meeting regarding that mandate. The letters to the APA are linked in this report.

For the record, Clinton Anderson and the APA GLBT office is open to conversation with callers and has been responsive to my inquiries and input. I do not want to imply otherwise. And I know that the task force is aware of a diversity of views. However, that being said, I do think it would be productive for the APA leadership to have a formal sit-down with those representing a major US demographic group.

Well, duh!

Yesterday, I posted a portion of a manual published by the Mankind Project for leaders of the Integration Groups (I-Groups). I excerpted a portion of an exercise called “bucketing” where one may include another man as a stand-in for an issue one has with another man.

While this technique might be of some benefit with skilled facilitators, I see potential for men to process wounds in ways that might not be helpful. Age regression techniques can mislead the person being regressed to incorporate a narrative that may be a reconstruction of events rather than a true account. These techniques, promoted by some therapists, are not universally accepted. 

According to a former New Warrior, this bucketing technique, along with another process known as clearing, can lead to disturbing experiences. The following account was sent to me via email:

This is a MKP process where you “kill” someone in proxy. It is often the father but can be a mother or someone else. I’ve even seen MKP have men “kill” God. Actually I was instructed to “kill God” by MKP leaders but I refused. There is something in MKP called a “God split” this is where a man kills God and gives himself is own god of his making, usually himself. This is a necessary step in the MKP ladder. For a man to become an “inner King” he must “kill” God first. King is one of the four quadrants of the four archtype circle, those being, Warrior, King, Magician, and Lover. These are loosely based on Jung’s archtypes.

Well back to “killing dad.” In these killing processes, one man stands in proxy for the person who is being killed. Cushions and pillows are placed before him. The man who is to kill has a baseball bat, tennis racket, etc. He hits the pillows and cushions over and over right before the man standing in proxy. The man continues hitting and yelling at his “daddy.” The “daddy” gives insults and calls the man with the bat names. These are names that are brought out earlier before the “killing” begins in a “bucketing” process. Eventually “daddy” slowly begins to “die.” He begins to sink slowly to the floor pretending that he is being hit and hurt. He eventually pretends to be dead. This can take many minutes. This usually occurs when the man with the bat is near the point of exhaustion.

This process looks like gestalt psychotherapy to me. I did it several times to my “dad” at MKP meetings. The reason that they stated I needed to do it over and over was because I didn’t kill my whole dad, just one part of him that hurt me. I needed to kill every part that had “bad energy.” This could take many meetings and workshops to accomplish.

After the process is done there is the de-role process, there the man standing in proxy says “I’m not your father, I’m your brother ‘Jim’.” The man then repeats it to him. Then the process complete, at least for now.

This description sounds like two other accounts we have seen before. First, the “rage therapy” documented in Divided Memories. Hear a survivor of Genesis Associates discuss the rage therapy:

Another reference for tennis raquets and pillows, of course, is what Richard Cohen calls “bioenergetics.”

I asked Mankind Project, Executive Director, Carl Griesser for a comment on the proxy process described above and he was not able to comment today. He did say he was thinking about how to respond and would be in touch. I am looking forward to this.