Why my conservative brothers and sisters in Christ, like Donald Trump, do not need forgiveness from God, forgiveness for which the rest of us must urgently pray.
Once again, my fellow Christians have me thinking about the Bible. This time it’s about Genesis.
A generation ago, it was about Exodus. That was when I happened to run across a polemic by Robert Knight of the Family Research Council. Studies had shown that gay sex was unhealthy. It shortened life expectancy. And there was a link to the studies. The National Physicians Center for Family Resources, the International Healing Foundation, the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality all substantiated the research.
One of the founders of the Family Research Council, George Alan Rekers, used those same studies in Florida testifying against gay adoption.
So I traced back the studies. It turned out there were not actual studies. They all traced back to one study. It was by Dr. Paul Cameron. The research involved the examination of the obituary sections of several gay publications. Dr. Cameron counted the number of deaths, added the ages, divided and came up with the life expectancy of all gay people.
Really? That was the research?
Okay, so it was bogus. So were other research papers by Dr. Cameron supposedly proving that gay people were likely abusers of children, and that homosexuality was contagious. In some instances, the good doctor quoted other experts, substituting his own words for theirs.
Professional associations take serious research … well … seriously. The American Sociological Association formally spoke out against his methods, followed by the Canadian Psychological Association. The American Psychological Association and the Nebraska Psychological Association made formal inquiries into ethical lapses involving his extraordinary claims. They eventually expelled him.
That was not enough for conservative Christian publications. The study kept popping up, until, suddenly, it didn’t.
So what happened? Did the Family Research Council or Robert Knight or George Rekers or other Christian groups decide that false witness is indeed wrong?
Well, not exactly.
Continue reading “Trump Followers: Safe from Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Good and Evil”