Christians accept the Bible as truth, including its denunciation of homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27:
“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
The Bible makes clear in this and other passages that homosexuality is a behavior God does not approve. But He also does not approve of domestic violence, shoplifting, alcoholism, laziness, infidelity, and other behaviors. Thankfully, for each of these, the Bible provides guidance for how to live a lifestyle that God will bless.
This is what Christian counseling is all about: addressing various problems or challenges in order to align our thinking and lifestyle to produce blessings in our lives as well as those around us. Such counseling provides genuine help for all those dissatisfied or confused by various behaviors and who want help with change.
So, if someone believes that a homosexual attraction is wrong and finds himself struggling with it, should he be denied access to the kind of counseling for which he is searching? In Tampa, Florida (and other cities) the answer is “Yes!” The city actually passed an ordinance that bans Biblical counseling on homosexuality, prohibiting minors with unwanted same-sex attraction from seeking non-invasive “talk therapy,” or what the city and LGBTQ advocates call “conversion therapy.”[1] Amazing! The city so strongly supports homosexuality that it actually bans counseling that might cause someone to “convert” away from being homosexual!
Colorado passed a similar law, adding the stipulation that therapists are required to provide “acceptance, support, and understanding” of an LGBT lifestyle under all circumstances, even if a patient is struggling with unwanted impulses.[2]
This law therefore compels all therapists to affirm the LGBTQ lifestyle, even if it goes against their own religious beliefs or that of their patients.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech as well as religious belief, and these current policies violate both. Benjamin Franklin wisely observed:
“Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom—and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.”[3]
The laws against “conversion therapy” (that is, against Christian counselors offering Biblical guidance to those struggling with the LGBTQ lifestyle) are coercive and deny therapists and patients their constitutionally guaranteed liberties of freedom of thought, speech, and faith. For those who love liberty above coercion, such laws must be opposed and overturned.
Foundations of Truth hereby waives all claim of copyright (economic and moral) in this work and immediately places it in the public domain; it may be used, published, edited, and distributed in any manner whatsoever without any attribution or notice to Foundations of Truth.
[1] D'Ann Lawrence White, “Liberty Counsel Challenges Tampa's Conversion Therapy Ban,” Tampa, Florida Patch (September 3, 2019), https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/liberty-counsel-challenges-tampas-codnversion-therapy-ban
[2] “House Bill 19-1129,” Colorado General Assembly (May 31, 2019), https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf
[3] “Silence Dogood: Benjamin Franklin in the New-England Courant,” The Massachusetts Historical Society, https://www.masshist.org/online/silence_dogood/doc-viewer.php?item_id=646&pid=6
