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[zeek]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55326461

Gay conversion therapy: Hundreds of religious leaders call for ban
By Harry Farley

More than 370 religious leaders from around the world are calling for a ban on conversion therapy - the attempt to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The signatories to the declaration represent all the world's major faiths and many are known LGBT advocates.

They include South African cleric Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Chief Rabbi of Ireland David Rosen.

Other religious figures said a ban could risk criminalising pastors.

A declaration calling for a ban will be launched at a conference sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Wednesday.

The Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, and Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland, are also among those who have signed the declaration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/w...py-pledge.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/world...gbr/index.html

[zeek]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opin...us/3876042001/

God help us: We're losing our religion and filling the void with politics
Opinion: Early Christians would rather be thrown to Roman lions than reject their Savior. Now, we're supposed to hold that same devotion to politics.

Not long ago, the religious right was the bugaboo of the American left. Whether it was the Moral Majority in the 1980s or the Christian Coalition in the 1990s, Democrats warned of a right-wing theocracy if churchgoing Republicans seized the levers of power.

The good news for secular types is that this once-powerful voting bloc is hard to find these days. That’s also the bad news.

You might not have liked the Christian right, but you’re really going to hate the post-Christian right.

Americans are losing their religion
Secularism continues its march. Over the last two decades, Americans belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque fell from 70% to 50%. Gallup found that adults declaring no religious affiliation has more than doubled.

Nature abhors a vacuum, not only in the physical world but also in the spiritual. If people aren’t getting meaning from their local religious community, they’ll seek it elsewhere.


Increasingly, Americans seek fulfilment in politics of all things. Count the Arizona Republican Party among its devotees.

Some are willing to die for their party
This week, a right-wing activist with a very sketchy past claimed, “I am willing to give my life for this fight”; the “fight” being to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in November.

Most rolled their eyes, but the state GOP agreed that we should seek martyrdom to usher in the Kingdom of Don. “He is,” the party's official account posted on Twitter. “Are you?”


In the early days of Christianity, believers would rather be thrown to Roman lions than reject their Savior. Now, we’re supposed to hold that same devotion so some flawed politician can have four more years in Washington, D.C.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’ll stick with the Trinity over Trump.

We've replaced prayer with protest
I follow this stuff for a living, but let’s be real. Politics is a grubby business in which amoral charlatans use fear and false promises to gain earthly power. They come back a few years later, blaming the other side for their lack of results.


In a republic, it’s a necessary evil. But politics is a terrible religion.

This divinization of democracy is sprouting up all over. Instead of spending Sunday at church, Republicans are flying flags in a “Trump Train.” Instead of listening to a sermon on racial tolerance, Democrats are accosting diners at sidewalk cafés. Instead of resting on the Sabbath, we waste our weekends cursing strangers on social media.


We’ve replaced prayer with protest then wonder why everyone is so angry.

Conspiracy theories rule both sides
Seeking meaning in politics is one thing, but seeking transcendence is even worse. Some have spent their lockdown immersing themselves in bizarre conspiracy theories.

Before the Kraken, there was QAnon. Once you’ve convinced yourself that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is plotting against Donald Trump, it’s easier to buy that Venezuelan communists hacked Dominion voting machines in Gila Bend.

Don’t be so quick to point fingers and laugh, Trump haters. “The Resistance” insisted Vladimir Putin hacked the 2016 election and that the White House was stealing mailboxes to rig this year’s. Prominent studies have shown that the far right and the far left share an equal enthusiasm for the conspiratorial.

Why this trend is likely to continue
Barring a new Great Awakening, the trend toward secularism is likely to continue. As we’ve seen, this doesn’t mean we’ll see a growing emphasis on reason and scientific materialism. It just means new religions, unmoored from tradition, humility and grace.

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by zeek

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55326461

Gay conversion therapy: Hundreds of religious leaders call for ban
By Harry Farley

More than 370 religious leaders from around the world are calling for a ban on conversion therapy - the attempt to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The signatories to the declaration represent all the world's major faiths and many are known LGBT advocates.

They include South African cleric Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Chief Rabbi of Ireland David Rosen.

Other religious figures said a ban could risk criminalising pastors.

A declaration calling for a ban will be launched at a conference sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Wednesday.

The Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, and Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland, are also among those who have signed the declaration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/w...py-pledge.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/world...gbr/index.html

It’s time we criminalize pastors who do conversion therapy that lead to suicidality of innocents. Finally some religious people doing what is right.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by SerenityLives

It’s time we criminalize pastors who do conversion therapy that lead to suicidality of innocents. Finally some religious people doing what is right.

Such a perfect example of today's agnostic Marxist Socialist -- "it's time we criminalize pastors" because we don't like their teachings.

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Such a perfect example of today's agnostic Marxist Socialist -- "it's time we criminalize pastors" because we don't like their teachings.

They’re not teachings. They’re therapies that dont work. It’s kind of ironic you would support a therapy that leads to suicide and deaths of people already are living but you adamantly support the life of unborns.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by SerenityLives

They’re not teachings. They’re therapies that dont work. It’s kind of ironic you would support a therapy that leads to suicide and deaths of people already are living but you adamantly support the life of unborns.

Ministers provide teachings. Therapists provide therapy.

If you hate these therapies, get the Psychiatrists and Psychologists to change them.

[SerenityLives]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Ministers provide teachings. Therapists provide therapy.

If you hate these therapies, get the Psychiatrists and Psychologists to change them.

It’s already illegal in the state of California for marriage and family therapists to do conversion therapy. The problem is that nonlicensed therapists including pastors are providing the therapies themselves, secretly, underground. So there’s no law banning these. Especially when you have a high demand of parents wanting their kids to not be gay.

[Sons to Glory!]

This conversation makes me, once again, think of this grand song:

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
how He will claim his earthly heritage,
how satisfy the needs and aspirations
of east and west, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
and He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
and some glad day His sun will shine in splendour
when He the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known.

We need the Savior - only He can!