Tag Archives: Conversion therapy

The unbearable incoherence of the Church of England

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The Church of England is cheering on the UK’s banning of conversion therapy:

The General Synod has voted overwhelmingly to reject coercive Conversion Therapies so we welcome the Government’s commitment to explore these matters further with a view to enshrining that position in law.

Notice that the word “coercive” has been slipped in, whereas the Queen’s speech left it out:

Measures will be brought forward to address racial and ethnic disparities and ban conversion therapy.

I’m sure that no one is under any illusion that, once the law has passed, the banning of conversion therapy will be confined to the coercive variety. If that were so, there would be no need for a new law: it is already illegal to coerce someone into being something she is not by kidnapping her, confining her and subjecting her to uninvited brainwashing.

Come to think of it, that is a moderately accurate description of what we are doing to our children in school: brainwashing them into believing that boys can be girls and vice-versa. This non-binary conversion therapy is a heinous corruption of innocence that the church should be denouncing but isn’t.

Once the law is passed it will be illegal for a person who experiences unwanted same-sex attraction to seek help in combatting it. The best she can hope for from the Anglican church is to have it affirmed.

The church’s incoherence intensifies on reading the motion agreed by General Synod in July 2017:

That this Synod: (a) endorse the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK of November 2015, signed by The Royal College of Psychiatrists and others, that the practice of gay conversion therapy has no place in the modern world, is unethical, potentially harmful and not supported by evidence; and 3 (b) call upon the Church to be sensitive to, and to listen to, contemporary expressions of gender identity; (c) and call on the government to ban the practice of Conversion Therapy.

Note that there is no mention of coercion. Moreover, the church is going to listen to contemporary expressions of gender identity. That means the church will nod sympathetically when a man comes to a priest to declare he is a woman, is taking hormones to grow breasts and will soon have surgery to remove the parts God gave him but are now unwanted. In short, the church will approve his conversion therapy.

No wonder no one takes the church seriously.

Anglican Primate Linda Nicholls urges Government of Canada to ban conversion therapy

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Primate Linda Nicholls has written to Canada’s Minister of Justice to voice her support for Bill C-6, a bill which would criminalise conversion therapy.

If passed, a counsellor who agrees to help someone resist or be free of unwanted same-sex attraction would be committing a criminal act. A person who experiences same-sex attraction should have no choice but to accept his unwanted inclinations. Let me repeat: no choice. The reason for this, the Primate tells us, is because to allow the person a choice would be an affront to his dignity, even abusive.

At the same time, the Primate has, in her multi-letter rainbow spectrum, a letter “T” secreted between the letters “B” and “Q”. “T” stands for “Transgender”, a person who chooses to assert that his sex differs from the category imposed on him by his chromosomes. We are all expected to go along with this choice, this fantasy: to do otherwise would be an affront to his dignity and possibly a criminal act. The Primate fully supports, welcomes, applauds and embraces this choice.

Do you see the problem?

From here:

The Honourable David Lametti
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca

Dear Minister Lametti:

I am writing on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) to express support for Bill C-6 to ban conversion therapy in Canada.

Our faith tradition affirms the dignity of all persons, including those persons across the LGBTQ2SIA+ spectrum. We recognize that members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ communities continue to disproportionately experience marginalization, family estrangement, and exclusion in a predominantly heterosexual and gender-binary culture, negating this dignity which we know God to have given to all. Conversion therapy seeks to change core elements of individuals by attempting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. The ACC does not support this dangerous and abusive practice.

In 2010 the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada passed a resolution calling on the church at all levels to “embrace the outcast and stand against the abuse and torment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.” It is in the spirit of this resolution that today we stand against the harmful practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ2SIA+ persons in Canada. Such practices are hostile to a person’s identity and an affront to their dignity.

I recognize the proposed Bill C-6 as an important step in protecting Canadians from the damaging effects of conversion therapy and strongly encourage the passing of this important legislation.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls
Primate, The Anglican Church of Canada