Hi, Chris
Submitted by Heather on 2002-12-7 22:59:30, Saturday
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I tried to reach you by way of another CBF member, but didn't have any luck. Here's my thoughts on an article for the NARTH Bulletin. 1) People's views on NARTH are pretty much set by how they view the ex-gay movement. I don't think it's going to do you any good to ask what people here think of NARTH as an organization, because it's going to come down to the question of whether or not the person being asked is in favor of reorientation therapy. 2) The proper question I think to ask is not, "Do we approve of this organization's views?" but, "Do we believe that this organization is capable of giving an accurate description of CBF?" One doesn't need to share an organization's views to want to enter into dialogue with them. The thing I think we need to take into account is that NARTH is an advocacy organization. Its mission is to advocate on behalf of psychologists who offer reorientation therapy. Now, while there are some people at CBF who have taken this route, it's not a route that most people here have taken. I'm just not sure how good a job that NARTH can do in covering a group of celibate-but-not-reorienting people (I'm guessing that most people here fall into that category), given that they rarely cover that topic, even in terms of homosexuality. Nor do I think this is the best forum for research on a psychology-oriented article, given the group's faith focus. I think that the ex-gay organization that is actually best qualified to cover CBF is Exodus North America, the umbrella group for Christian ex-gays, whose members include a fair number of minor-attracted adults. However, Exodus hasn't shown any interest in CBF. On the plus side, NARTH is influential among conservatives, and it would be nice to see it offer a more balanced view of adults who are attracted to minor. If NARTH says, "There is more to pedophilia than many conservatives have said," then people are likely to listen. So I don't really have a "yes" or "no," to offer, just a cautions about problems that might arise. By the way, you might want to point your therapist to the article I link before; it appeared in a conservative Christian publication. (The heading is the worst part; the article itself is well-balanced.) Hope this helps-- Heather [Anonymizer] [NetHUSH] [Megaproxy] [subDIMENSION Anonymizit] [Linkbeat] [freeProxy] [@nonymouse] [BlackCode] |
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