Net Closing In On UK Faithheads Touting Quack LGBT ‘cures’

A PETITION signed by more than 250,000 people calling for the banning of mainly faith-based therapies that claim to ‘cure’ homosexuality sparked a debate yesterday by Members of Parliament.

Ahead of the debate In Westminster Hall, London, The Christian Institute’s Simon Calvert, above, said that conversion therapy was “a complex” issue.

I’m sure there have been charlatan preachers and quack therapists. But LGBT campaigners are deliberately muddling Christian conversion with conversion therapy.

They are effectively saying Christian preaching and prayer which goes against LGBT theology should be banned.

I sincerely hope MPs recognise that there is a big difference between upholding Christ’s teaching on sexuality and psychologically abusing someone.

Jesus said nothing at all about sexuality. The only clear reference to same-sex sexual activity and same-sex orientation is to be found in Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

Although action against conversion therapy was promised by the government last year, nothing was done. But the BBC reports that there are now strong signs of movement in the right direction.

In response to the petition, the government said it is “committed to ensuring all citizens feel safe and protected from harm” and Ministers have vowed to:

Work to deepen our understanding and consider all options for ending the practice of conversion therapy.

Most practitioners work clandestinely, mainly within church groups, and they will be the hardest to stamp out.

But the the most dangerous operation, Core Issues Trust (CIT), run by “ex-gay” Mike Davidson, maintains a high profile and appears very well-funded, given the slickness of its propaganda.

As the video below shows, it owes its existence to Joseph Nicolosi, an American charlatan who ruined thousands of lives with his quack therapies.

He co-authored a book entitled A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality and wrote several other publications which, in 2019, were removed by Amazon.

The fact that Nicolosi – “who turned self-hatred into a multi-million dollar industry” – joined Jesus in 2017, aged 70, is of little comfort.

For CIT simply picked up his baton, and, from its headquarters in Belfast, continues to propagate the idea that “unwanted” same-sex attractions can be overcome through faith-based interventions by unqualified quacks such as “Dr” Davidson, who holds no membership with any major medical or therapeutic body.

He was previously ejected from a training course with the British Psychodrama Association (BPA) in 2012 after expressing his controversial views on ‘curing’ gay people in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster.

Furthermore, CIT promotes the work of the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity, started by Nicolosi and now run by his son, Joseph Jr.

It will come as no surprise to readers that a certain Andrea Minichiello Williams, head Christian Concern, was once a CIT trustee.

CIT suffered a setback last month when its Facebook page was permanently removed for violating its community standards. A furious Davidson claimed in a statement that:

Since June 2020, the page has received repeated, malicious interference from LGBT activists who will not recognise those who formerly identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. During this time, Facebook did not act in response to the vile language, explicit imagery and threats against the charity and its employees, even though their personal safety has been put at risk.

Our organisation has been bullied consistently and subjected to false allegations that it engages in ‘conversion therapy’, in part the result of careless statements from politicians and activists. This is entirely false.

Davidson is either stupid or a liar. In his video tribute, A True Friend, which makes clear that CIT’S that methods ARE based on Nicolosi’s claims to change gay people straight, Davidson says:

Dr Nicolosi was the founder of reparative therapy … he saw people move out of the false self of homosexual identity and practice into the real self that identified the roots and causes of homosexuality.

Regarding the Facebook ban, Davidson accused Facebook of promoting (albeit indirectly):

A political viewpoint that actively discriminates against persons who are formerly LGBT and the organisations that support them. It’s time that Facebook was called to account in the UK and recognised for what it is: an intolerant publishing house and campaign group.

In a lengthy (609 words), barely-literate explanation of its purpose, published by The Charity Commission, CIT makes clear that the “services” it offers have the aim of “advancing the Christian Faith” by:

Equipping the church to lead others to trust and serve Jesus Christ in the church and in in the world. In advancing the Christian Faith, educatively, the charity promotes tolerance and is respectful of other faith (and no-faith) groups who share similar practices around the Judaic sexual ethic, such as that recognising only natural marriage as defined by the union of one man with one woman. (My emphasis).

It teaches those who engage with its resources, who are not persuaded by the claims of values-neutrality of secularism, to disagree respectfully, and to steadfastly hold to the faith as expressed in the authority of the scriptures, intelligently after reasoned consideration of evidence.

The charity also actively ministers to individuals who are active in practices believed to be contrary to the Christian values enshrined in the organisation. Feedback obtained from those participating in the charity’s outputs will attest to this fact.

Disagreeing with the radical politicisation of sexuality and the sexual political agenda designed to counter the Judeo-Christian foundations of western civilisation, have existed since the great persecutions of Roman times.

The charity’s position will be considered harmful by those promoting the values of radical secular humanism.

Not only “radical secular humanists”. Last December more than 370 religious leaders from around the world called for a ban on conversion therapy. The signatories to the declaration represented all the world’s major faiths.