"ex-gay"

The news I peruse tends to include equal rights issues.

Lately, there has been a frequent focus on self-professed 'ex-gays', those people that were 'naughty' but thanks to the grace of god and fervent therapy they have put their 'wicked ways' behind them.

I'm not just skeptical on this issue... I'm an all out cynic.

To me it seems obvious that gender identity and preference are established *very* early in life. Some day I'm sure that science will document that BOTH nature and nurture play a role in it.

Years of maturation is not undone quickly, or, I think, ever. The mind is a cumulative thing... we can't go back and erase formative moments in our life, only try (and fail) to write over them so many times that we forget.

But, people can pretend to be what they are not, even to the point of self-delusion.

But when that dishonesty is the foundation upon which one tries to build a permanent loving relationship... what can anyone expect but that the marriage will end in spectacular failure.

I'm sure there are many god-fearing Christians that utterly fail to comprehend why some people beligerently refuse to 'pretend to be straight' or stay hidden from "polite socieity".

To them I suggest:

Don't you want to keep your children safe from The Radical Islamic Jihadists? Why don't you pretend to be devout Muslim for the rest of your life, to your spouse, your children, your friends, the people you work with... You can worship Jesus in your heart, but don't let anyone ever know. It would end the threat of terrorism, peacefully, lovingly and without bloodshed. What could be more Christian than that?

Oh. You don't want to live a lie? Well, stop pretending like it's a solution for other people.

So... Ex-gay? Yeah, right.

Lies and deception are not tools that bring about salvation. Quite the opposite, according to your dogma.