Question 3 of the Public Consultation on #ConversionTherapy is also very important, especially for anyone approaching legislation from an abolitionist view point. There are proposals that target organisations above people, which are the ones I would personally support more than
- Criminalisation of individuals, especially knowing that Criminalisation and imprisonment etc disproportionately affects minority groups.
In the event of the legislation pulling a bait and switch it is important that we choose the right things to support and not support.
Removing profits, preventing CT folk from holding office in charities and protection for people being sent overseas for #conversiontherapy are - to me - far more important in tackling the lasting presence of Conversion Therapy in the UK, than Criminalisation of individuals.
Looking at these questions it is important to remember that the Charity Commission examined a Christian Refuge in Sheffield who were forcing their service users into conversion therapy, but allowed the charity to continue with minor adjustments.
Providing ROBUST support for people who are survivors is key to actually tackling the effects of Conversion Therapy.
These are some of the questions that will be asked of individuals responding to the Public Consultation on #ConversionTherapy.
Please stay safe as you revisit your memories of your experiences.
It is important to talk any the places it happens, the tools used, and to be
A year ago, Living Out dropped a secret project - - now they are ready to roll it out.
"For over a year, the Emerging Generations team here at Living Out have been beavering away on a top-secret project..."
That project was Keleidoscope - an explicitly anti-gay kids project...
If you don't know, Living Out is a Christian organisation in the UK which is based on the "celibacy" model of Conversion Therapy Practices, encouraging people to suppress their same-sex attraction in order to follow "God's" design for marriage
They used to be endorsed by Mike Pilavachi, including a quote from him on their website. Mike modelled their celibacy model. They swiftly removed his endorsement after his fall from grace, as they explained to me, they were coincidentally thinning the website at that time
I'm back because I want to do a long form here on Mountain of Fire and Miracles and talk about Conversion Therapy Practices not being just a white story with white survivors, white queer culture and Church of England assumptions
I was recently sent this horrific book of Healing and Deliverance Prayers for Gays and Lesbians (@ The Midnight Gate) by Anthony O. Akerele. Also known as:
Homosexuals: People Paying for what They Did Not Buy!
This anti-gay book is published (2011) by Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries Virginia. But I've been shown evidence of it being used in the UK as a form on Conversion Therapy Practice in MoFM churches
A very brief history of Megachurch Branding, given by Lizzie, in the LESSER LIGHT, Boxing Day chapters:
"It was branding, wasn’t it? All of it. Morgan needed a theory of Christianity he could brand as his own. Christianity is always being rebranded...
... About every forty years the whole system changes. Did you know, in the early 1900s, there were streams of Christanity laser focused on maintaining white supremacy by any means, and a bunch of proof texts were dragged out of context to ‘protect’ against interracial marriage.”
She made air quotes. “Preachers and politicians greased each others palms with arguments that backed one another up. In America, being antisegregation was considered anti-church...
I'm reading the Makin Report. I'm not planning a detailed live read after the Soul Survivor Report tweets really took it out of me. I will make comment as I go. I'm confident the report speaks for itself, and recommend reading in full and digesting the implications for all
The opening points 1.1-1.12 alone are enough to lead to mass resignations. This Report is truely heartbreaking and I'm on page 2 of over 200.
Calls for an independent organisation, if only one had already been set up and not disbanded by the House of Bishops, hmmmmm
"...the development of a wholly independent body, free from direct influence by senior Church officers..."
When we were last here, we were looking at the nature of the report and the nature of the organisations, and noting the writers had made choices which minimised the Active choices made by Mike Pilavachi, and implied a Passive oopsydaisey things happen approach to Spiritual Abuse.
"He was ebullient, generous-hearted, kind to many, and an inspirational figure. But alongside that, hiding in plain sight, was someone who manipulated and controlled others, bullied and sought to abuse his power over those whom he worked alongside in the church"
"That abuse of power has caused deep psychological harm to many with whom he worked closely over 30 years."