Matt Carpenter and David Closson on Former Homosexuals’ Freedom March Shows Why Religious Freedom is Needed in Counseling

Men and women who left gay and transgender lives march to the White House with the Freedom March on May 5, 2018. | (Photo: The Christian Post)

Today, former homosexuals and transgender individuals will gather for a Freedom March in Orlando, Florida to tell their stories of finding freedom in Christ. To a nation engulfed in the sexual revolution, their stories are both inspirational and counter-cultural.

Last year, they marched in California to counter AB 2943 – a bill that would have made it illegal to sell counseling services, conferences, and potentially even books that help people voluntarily overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria. Tens of thousands of Californians called, emailed, and lobbied their state legislators to stop AB 2943 from becoming law. At the eleventh hour, the bill sponsor pulled the bill from consideration.

However, activist legislators in California are at it again. On September 4, the California Senate passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution 99 (or ACR 99) by a vote of 29 to 7. This resolution calls on the state’s religious leaders to “counsel on LGBT matters from a place of love, compassion, and knowledge of the psychological and other harms of conversion therapy.”

This resolution is an abuse of state power and represents a threat to religious liberty. Although the resolution is non-binding, its intent is to paint those belonging to religious traditions that hold orthodox beliefs on sexuality as not only outdated but dangerous.

Through ACR 99, California legislators have officially communicated to their religious citizens that orthodox beliefs on marriage and sexuality are so beyond the pale that they deserve moral censure. Moreover, the legislature has made an explicitly theological claim that contradicts the Bible—namely, that homosexuality is immutable and can’t be overcome.

Clearly, the assumption of the legislators is that the Bible does not provide a loving message for those who want to leave the LGBT lifestyle. By claiming that attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation are “ineffective, unethical, and harmful,” legislators, consciously or unconsciously, are making the claim that the gospel is inherently unloving.

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SOURCE: Christian Post, Matt Carpenter and David Closson