Straight to Jesus. Tanya Erzen

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ As Andrea Smith has argued in her work on the Christian Right and racial reconciliation, Exodus, like many conservative evangelical groups, views racism as an individual problem of prejudice that can be solved through evangelism and personal healing rather than attention to the structural or institutional practices that maintain racism.²⁷ The Exodus strategy of racial reconciliation is only applied to groups who are deemed sufficiently Christian, and Smith argues that outreach to people of color is a strategy to expand the organization rather than address a socioeconomic platform of racial justice. Instead, the movement pours resources into missionary efforts in places like the Philippines, Singapore, and South America, where movement leaders intend to replicate the structures and teachings of ex-gay ministries in the United States. In 2002 Alan Chambers made efforts to coordinate work with African American evangelical and Christian churches in the United States by meeting with prominent African American church leaders. Every year, in honor of Black History Month, the Exodus newsletter for February features an African American man who has come out of homosexuality. Exodus consistently showcases men and women of all races in its promotional materials, but those who attend the conference events and make up the program are still predominantly white.

      Speaking engagements have become a crucial part of Exodus's work, and Chambers has also cultivated relationships with more prominent religious and political organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ, Strang Communications, Teen Missions International, Cornerstone Music Festival, Promise Keepers, and Focus on the Family. In April 2004 Chambers took part in a debate on gay marriage at the University of California, Berkeley, and he travels constantly to speak at churches, policy seminars, and other events. In August 2005, Charisma magazine, an evangelical publication, named Chambers as one of the thirty top emerging leaders under the age of forty in the American church who will lead evangelicalism into the next decade. Focus on the Family now employs two graduates of the New Hope program in its gender and sexuality division to run ex-gay conferences and seminars, called Love Won Out, throughout the country. Exodus has established partnerships with prominent religious organizations like the National Association of Evangelicals. In the fall of 2003, Exodus had exhibits at the Southern Baptist Convention and the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Randy Thomas, the media manager, represented Exodus at former attorney general John Ashcroft's banquet in Washington, D.C., and Alan Chambers writes of having had the opportunity to meet President Bush at a Washington, D.C., churches' conference.²⁸

      The upgrade of Exodus's public image has been expensive. The individual ex-gay ministries function mainly through the fees that program members pay each month, but Exodus relies on donations from individuals and organizations. It is recognized by the IRS as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, and it is a member in good standing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), a Christian financial monitoring organization which has strict guidelines for membership, including undergoing an annual independent audit. Under Chambers, the fundraising aspect of the ministry is more evident, and there are now multiple ways to give money to the organization, including donating stock, supporting AmeriVision (a Christian phone company that donates 10 percent of an individual's long-distance bill to Exodus), making Exodus a beneficiary in a will, matching grants, and transferring frequent flyer miles to Exodus. Despite these new channels for potential financial support, Chambers has written as recently as 2003 that the organization owes

100,000 to vendors because fewer attendees than expected appeared at the 2003 annual conference.²⁹ According to the newsletter, operating expenses are 15,000 a month over revenues. In 2002 Exodus cut six full-time staff employees to half time and put all plans for Exodus Youth activities on hold.³⁰ Perhaps for this reason, Exodus also has a specific section on its Web site called “Prayer Requests” where it asks supporters to pray for the ministries and their work. “Your prayers are vital to the success of Exodus. We believe that there is great power in prayer.…Exodus ministries worldwide covet your prayers.” In the newsletter, writers continue to ask for money for computers, travel, brochures, Web site upgrades, conference displays, and the newsletter. “Twice a week when the staff processes donations, we pray over every check that comes in. We are [as] grateful for the female prisoner who faithfully sends us in her 1.00 every month as we are for the 5,000 check that came in from a man who tithed on the sale of his parents' farm.…Would you join us prayerfully, financially and purposefully?”³¹ In his personal appeal in the newsletter, called “From Alan's Desk,” Chambers writes, “I leave you much the same way I hope to always leave you: utterly desperate. I am desperate for the Lord to do exceedingly abundantly above what I can ask or imagine.” However, according to the ECFA, Exodus had a surplus of funds at the end of the 2004 fiscal year. The organization's total income was 925,315 in 2004, and it spent 658, 637 on administration, fund-raising, and program services.³²

      Despite Exodus's financial issues, the ex-gay movement has continued to expand into a network of organizations with overlapping but not necessarily coordinated agendas, including Jewish and Catholic groups, psychoanalytic organizations, and independent therapists throughout the world. These include Homosexuals Anonymous; Sexaholics Anonymous; JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality) in Jersey City, NJ; Courage, a Catholic organization in New York City; Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays in Washington, D.C.; and the National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH) in Encino, California. Non-Protestant and non-Christian ex-gay ministries like Courage and JONAH have aligned themselves with NARTH rather than Exodus because of radical differences in religious style, goals, and theology.

      Courage is a Catholic organization, with chapters throughout the United States, which was founded and is run by Father John Harvey, a Catholic priest. I met with Father Harvey several times at the headquarters on 46th Street in Manhattan, a run-down church with frayed carpet on the stairs, an office overflowing with piles of paper, and one good-natured but harried assistant named Tracey. As we sat knee to knee in a cramped prayer room, Father Harvey, who is eighty-five and stooped but still lively, explained that while teaching theology in the 1950s, he began reading Freud and found that the priests in his class knew nothing about homosexuality. After publishing several articles, he began informally counseling priests, and in 1978 Cardinal Terrence Cook of New York invited him to establish a spiritual support system for men and women with homosexual inclinations in the New York archdiocese. Father Harvey began the first Courage meeting in 1980, and the archdiocese of New York continues to sponsor him. Initially, he organized five-day retreats in northern Virginia for priests, which he called Retreat, Renewal, and Recreation, to help them address their own homosexuality, and he recalled that from 1978 to 1990 he counseled over 250 priests who struggled with homosexuality. After 1990 he devoted himself to working solely with laity, although priests still lead Courage support groups all over the country. Father Harvey makes use of NARTH, which will refer people to a therapist and a priest, and the relationship is strong because Joseph Nicolosi, the director of NARTH, is Catholic and attends many Courage events.

      Courage adheres to the Catholic idea that the solution to homosexuality is chastity and community. The Catholic ex-gay movement emphasizes celibacy over heterosexual marriage because celibacy signifies a spiritual and sacrificial path that is in line with Catholic theology. Courage's official goals are

      To live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.

      To foster a spirit of fellowship in which all may share thoughts and experiences, and so ensure that no one will have to face the problems of homosexuality alone.

      To be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in a celibate Christian life and in doing so provide encouragement to one СКАЧАТЬ