Sodomy on the March in Spain and the Coming Battles over Gay Conversion Therapy

http://evangelicalfocus.com/lifetech/2674/Law_giving_special_rights_to_LGBT_groups_worries_Spanish_evangelicals

This law is a cause for concern but it also drives one to reflect on nations like Italy, Ireland and in this case Spain. These nations so long under the influence and at times even domination of the Roman Catholic Church are completing a multi-generational process of undoing and dismantling Rome's legacy and moral teachings.

In the case of Spain, the transformation was remarkable. The Roman Catholic backed dictatorship under Franco came to an end at his death in 1975. The monarchy intervened and shepherded the country into the era of 20^th century liberal democracy. Thirty years later in 2005, Spain, the once ultra-conservative society that seemed 'backward' to so many in the West, stunned everyone by legalising homosexual marriage.

Now, but twelve years later, the controversy is not over homosexual marriage or the acceptance of homosexual behaviour. Instead the controversy is over those who would dare question it.

There's a lesson here for Protestant nations as well. The United Kingdom comes to mind and while the United States is on a different timetable than Europe and at a different phase in this process... the lessons are just as real.

As far as Conversion Therapy, I must confess that I wince every time I hear of it. This is not because I'm opposed to people turning away from homosexuality. That's right and proper. Therapy smacks too much of psychology and the dominant syncretism that has taken place in Evangelical and even Confessional circles. Therapy regimens and counseling certifications are in many ways an assault on Sola Scriptura and in particular the notion of sufficiency. This is not a mechanical issue of neurons and brain wiring. This is an issue of the heart... of the will and the mind. Can Church leaders help struggling people work through these issues? Yes, but it has precious little to do with 'therapy' beyond identifying problematic thought-patterns and behaviours. Dressed up Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Christian garb is not the answer.

The heart of the problem is addressed by confession of sin and repentance. And then of course an ongoing struggle to establish new patterns and obedient desires. Faith so often coupled with obedience in the New Testament is something poorly understood by Evangelicals.

I'm not keen on Conversion Therapy but I would strenuously argue for Homosexual Repentance... a change and transformation of mind and heart. The person turns away from the old life and embraces life in the Spirit... finding their identity in Christ, not in a learned and degenerate behaviour.

The Churches that accept the idea that people 'are' gay or are 'born gay' have already lost the argument. Many Evangelicals have already succumbed to this. Telling a homosexual that they are indeed 'gay' and yet must live celibate neither addresses the problem, helps the person, nor is capable of speaking prophetically to the culture.

They must cease to be homosexual. While they may indeed wrestle with feelings and impulses, that is not their identity... if they're Christians. Homosexuality is an identity they must explicitly reject.

This issue over Therapy, so-called homophobia and sundry attempts at legislating pro-homosexual ethics in society is not just a problem in Spain... though its manifestation there is of particular social and historical interest.

This issue is coming to the fore in the United States and it's just going to get worse. Unfortunately Evangelical confusion regarding this issue is going to make the road ahead that much more difficult.

I am encouraged that a handful of people... and they are indeed very few, seem to be waking up and realising the American Christendom project is (rightly) over. The victories of today are in reality defeats. The turn toward someone like Donald Trump reveals that with great clarity. I would argue the concept was dead on arrival... centuries ago and that all previous heroes of the Christian Right from Reagan to the Bushes were all bankrupt and compromised. The last figure that at least possessed some integrity was probably someone like William Jennings Bryan and yet even that claim could be called into question. I say this not to praise him, for I don't agree with many of his views. But I will grant that he was a sincere man. I say that even while acknowledging that many a Christian Populist at the time viewed him as little more than a coward and compromiser. While many believe politicians like Reagan, George W. Bush or Sarah Palin were sincere, I do not.

We must be willing to be viewed as fools and treated with scorn. The days of respectability are over for anyone who's serious about following Christ. It's been that way for a long time, but it's reached a point that even the most resistant are being forced to see it and make a choice.