Exodus: Live Out Loud

Exodus Representatives Participate in Documentary Screening

"For the Bible Tells Me So," a documentary about Christian families who were faced with a homosexual child, and ultimately grew to embrace their homosexuality, was presented at an open screening at Stetson University last week. The screening was followed by a discussion panel featuring the film's director, Daniel Karslake. Among the other panelists were Mike Ensley of Exodus Youth and Dr. Julie Hamilton, a professional counselor affiliated with Exodus.

From the Daytona Beach News-Journal Online:

Overall, the movie won praise from both the conservative and liberal panel members.

"I loved that the core of it was families' stories," said Mike Ensley, a counselor with Exodus Ministries, which helps youth wanting to overcome homosexuality.

The documentary focuses on five Christian families coming to terms with a gay son or daughter. Just released on DVD, it's becoming a popular movie for church screenings, said filmmaker Daniel Karslake...

...Dissenting about some of the movie's science was Julie Harren Hamilton, a Palm Beach psychologist and president-elect of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, which helps clients change their sexual orientation.

She disputed the suggestion that homosexuality is simply genetic, arguing that the causes are more complicated.

Karslake, the filmmaker, defended his research but agreed with Hamilton that everyone should study the issues for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

Bible/Homosexuality Film Stirs Debate

From Baptist Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Few issues are as controversial as the Bible and homosexuality, and a new documentary on that subject is receiving thumbs down from orthodox Christians -- and garnering its own controversy in the process.

"For the Bible Tells Me So" is a 90-minute, one-sided film focusing on five families who profess to be Christians and who have a homosexual family member. For the most part the families' stories reflect the documentary's message: The Bible has been misinterpreted over the centuries and homosexuality is not a sin.

"There's nothing wrong with a fifth-grade understanding of God, as long as you're in the fifth grade," one liberal pastor says in the movie.

Director Daniel Karslake and his film crew interviewed such notables as former Democratic House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt -- who is promoting the film and who has a lesbian daughter -- and Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop. Not surprisingly, the documentary throws in a few scenes showing Fred Phelps' infamous church of "God Hates Fags" fame, picketing.

It has won a handful of awards, including the Audience Winner for best documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, and it has the backing of the homosexual group Soulforce, which promotes so-called "pro-gay" interpretations of Scripture and which has posted the trailer on its website. The film is not being distributed widely, but media critics nonetheless are raving about it and essentially urging readers to support it. That has become part of the controversy, too.

The Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald called it an "inspiring" film about "acceptance" that "may well leave you blinking away a few tears." The documentary, she said in her Oct. 26 review, shows clergy and religious scholars "calmly rebutting literalist interpretations of Scripture."

Not to be outdone, The Tennessean's Bill Friskics-Warren wrote a 1,400-word review of the movie for page one of the Nov. 18 Issues section, asserting that "nowhere ... does the Bible say anything, much less condemn, loving and committed partnerships between same-sex adults." Scholars, he argued, "tell us that these passages have nothing to do with sexual orientation as we've come to understand it." Friskics-Warren even listed a few Bible verses he said are misinterpreted.

"The use of Scripture to justify discrimination began long before the current dispute about what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality," he wrote.

Both reviews included information on when and where to watch the film.

The Tennessean's one-sided review received so much reaction that a week later it published three columns by Christians from the opposing viewpoint.

"While there may be a few idiots like Fred Phelps among us, most Christians oppose homosexuality with a degree of humility," wrote Kevin Shrum, pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church in Nashville. "... Someone asked me one time, 'Pastor, what would you do if you had a homosexual family member?' My answer is that I do. And when I see her, I hug her, love her, pray for her, talk to her, laugh with her, listen to her and long to see her 'come out' of a lifestyle that appears to be miserable, abnormal and destructive."

Read the rest of the article >>

Grandparents File Lawsuit over "Brokeback" Shown to 12-year-old

From the Associated Press:

A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film "Brokeback Mountain" in class.

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.

The film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.

Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages.

"It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this," said Kenneth Richardson, Turner's guardian. "The teacher knew she was not supposed to do this."

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video was shown without permission from the students' parents and guardians.

The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher, referred to as "Ms. Buford."

The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

Richardson said his granddaughter was traumatized by the movie and had to undergo psychological treatment and counseling.

In 2005, Richardson complained to school administrators about reading material that he said included curse words.

"This was the last straw," he said. "I feel the lawsuit was necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they were giving out to children to read. I told them it was against our faith."

Messages left over the weekend with CPS officials were not immediately returned.

Back Breaking Mountain of an Argument

http://americandaily.com/article/12161

"I don't feel threatened by two people of the same sex who love each other and want to get married. This is a standard response of progressively minded individuals who do not want to appear intolerant towards homosexual marriage. It is also a response designed to end the conversation on the subject.

If one person doesn’t feel personally threatened by the prospect of two individuals of the same sex tying the knot, then there isn’t much else to talk about, is there? Unless someone else feels threatened by it, in which case it is their problem, and not the other person’s, who is indifferent about the whole matter because it doesn’t really affect him or her anyway.

But there is more than meets the eye to this seemingly innocuous and preemptively defensive response to what is after all a very controversial subject."- Miguel Guanipa, The American Daily, Mar1, 2006

America turns its back to Brokeback

http://www.bpnews.net/bpcolumn.asp?ID=2170

"While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might be all a-twitter over a homosexual cowboy movie, it seems that America’s movie-going public may not be as enamored as we have been led to believe.

“Brokeback Mountain” is in the running for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. But the front-runner in nominations has not received the bump in theater attendance that normally accompanies such Oscar accolades. "- Kelly Boggs, Baptist Press, Mar 3, 2006

Largest Ex-Gay Organization in the World Says Brokeback Mountain Gets it Right, But Gets it Wrong

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=61727

To: National Desk

Contact: Julie Neils or Kathryn Means, both of Exodus International, 407-599-6872 or [email protected]

ORLANDO, Fla. March 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, the largest network of former homosexuals in the world, says that Brokeback Mountain, nominated for eight Oscar nods at this weekend's Academy Award ceremony, is a true reflection of the conflicted emotions and heartache many homosexuals experience, but says that movie's conclusion as to its cause is off base.

Hailed as a fictional love story, Brokeback Mountain, stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys in the 1960s who embark upon a troubled lifelong secret homosexual relationship -- a relationship that spans the course of each of their marriages to women and their eventual divorces. Ang Lee, the director of the film, states that a frequent theme in his movies is "social obligation vs. free will" and this one is no exception. Brokeback Mountain's clear intent is to show that an unaccepting society is to blame for the tragedy that unfolds in the lives of the main characters.

"Brokeback Mountain is a powerful story of painful oppression and unbridled obsession," said Chambers. "The film does an exceptional job painting a picture of the heartbreaking devastation so many endure in gay life."

Chambers says, though, that for the hundreds of thousands of former homosexuals that he represents, the cause for such internal struggle came from an entirely different source. "Our unhappiness and conflict came not as a result of an unreceptive environment, but from believing the culture's 'born-gay' message and resigning ourselves to an unhappy life dominated by unwanted same-sex attractions."

He added, "Through Jesus Christ, we found a path towards change and ultimate peace -- a love story overpowering all others. We share our life stories knowing that others have been changed by this truth and so many more are longing to hear it."

Exodus International is a resource and referral organization with over 130 member ministries across North America. The organization has been in existence for 30 years and offers help to the over 400,000 people who contact the ministry each year.

Alan Chambers is available for interviews on this story. He has been interviewed by numerous mainstream media outlets across North America and Europe including Time magazine, ABC's 20/20, Good Morning America, Nightline and MSNBC's Buchanan & Press.

For commentary following the Academy Awards, please call: 321-217-5669. To learn more about Exodus, go to: http://www.exodus.to.

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http://www.usnewswire.com/

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/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

Golden Globe Awards Hype Gay-Themed Movies

http://.exodus.to

Ex-Gay Organization Says Hollywood’s One-sided Portrayal of Gay Life is Damaging & Harmful

Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the largest evangelical network of former homosexuals in the world, says tonight’s Golden Globe awards is once again pushing the envelope with nominations for Brokeback Mountain and Transamerica — two controversial new movies centered around the issue of homosexuality and transexuality.

Chambers, himself a former homosexual, says that while some of the themes in both movies explore the unhappiness, pain and promiscuity in gay life, the overarching premise sends the wrong message to Americans about culture and sexuality.

“We hear from hurting individuals every day who are looking for answers beyond the culture’s one-sided ‘born-gay’ response to the issue of homosexuality,” said Chambers. “Messages like the ones emphasized these films only further add to their confusion and desperation.”

“Hundreds of thousands of men and women have rejected the notion that life must be dominated by our unwanted same- sex attractions and have found a way out of homosexuality through Jesus Christ,” said Chambers. “Our desire is to empower others with more information and offer the same hope for change that has brought life and freedom to us.”

Exodus International is a resource and referral organization with over 125 member ministries across North America. The organization has been in existence for 30 years and offers help to the over 400,000 people who contact the ministry each year.

Alan Chambers is available for interviews on this story. He is a national spokesperson on the issue of homosexuality and serves as President of Exodus International, the largest network of former homosexuals in the world. He has been interviewed by numerous mainstream media outlets across North America and Europe including Time magazine, ABC’s 20/20, MSNBC’s Buchanan & Press and NBC’s Nightline.

'Brokeback Mountain' is Anti-Family

Don't be fooled by 'Brokeback Mountain's'  seven Golden Globe nominations. What a sad day in America when a movie that glorifies homosexuality, adultery, dangerous and deadly unprotected anal sex and deception is up for Best Picture of the Year. - Stephen Bennett, Straight Talk Radio

Is America Ready for 'Brokeback Mountain'?

"Brokeback Mountain"  is the first gay love story to star A-list Hollywood actors. It is also the first gay cowboy movie. - ABC News

Filmaker, Oliver Stone Upsets Gay Activists

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/stone%20upsets%20gay%20rights%20activists

When Filmaker, Oliver Stone decided to edit out the eight minute portion of his movie Alexander, which depicted Alexander the great as a gay man, for the new directors cut dvd release, gay activists were horrified and instead suggested that the movie would be improved by adding more gay scenes.