Conversion therapy criticized

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2022 (1517 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In early January, the federal government unanimously passed Bill C-4, making it illegal to perform or promote the practice of conversion therapy.

One week after the bill passed, a reported 4,000 churches in this country and the U.S. used their Sunday service to protest the new legislation.

The protest was organized by Liberty Coalition Canada, a conservative Christian organization. It was endorsed by conservative U.S. church leaders including Franklin Graham.

The coalition urged “Bible believing churches” to “publicly preach a sermon that specifically proclaims the Biblical truth that homosexuality and transgenderism are serious sins condemned by the law of God.”

This bill, the coalition went on to say, “while purporting to protect individuals from coercion and abuse in the form of ‘conversion therapy,’ will instead criminalize Christianity in our country.”

An attempt to get confirmation of the number of churches that participated in the protest went unanswered by the coalition, which also promotes “religious freedom from vaccination coercion,” has issued a call to end lockdowns, and has posted support for the protest convoy in Ottawa.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada did not participate or promote the protest. But it has some concerns about the new law.

While supporting the government’s intent of addressing coercive and abusive practices through conversion therapy, the EFC is concerned the definition of conversion therapy in the bill was too broad and that it risks criminalizing legitimate, sincere religious teaching and practice, said Julia Beazley, director of public policy for the organization.

“It’s not clear how the bill may be applied to programs offered by religious organizations on matters of human sexuality and human flourishing, or pastoral help for those seeking to align their sexual expression and behaviour with their deeply held religious beliefs,” Beazley said.

At the same time, she believes it is important for churches to “carefully consider our ministry practices and how we journey alongside those who are questioning their sexual and gender identity.”

(As an aside, some news outlets reported that the catalyst for Erin O’Toole’s ouster as leader of the Conservative party was his decision to give unanimous consent to ban conversion therapy, which reportedly riled a faction of Tories known as “the conversion crew.”)

I asked two psychologists for their opinion about the practice of conversion therapy. Both said it doesn’t work.

“Research says it is harmful to the individual and not successful at creating change over time,” said Jason Ediger, who attends River East Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation.

“If conversion therapy worked, it should also be able to make straight people gay,” he said.

Same-sex oriented young people who are part of faith communities where being gay is condemned can also suffer harm, he said. “They may come to believe that their feelings and interests make them bad people. It can create huge distress and confusion for the individual.”

The premise behind conversion therapy is also wrong, he said. “It’s an attempt to fix something that isn’t a problem. There are millions of happy, healthy gay people in the world.”

For him, the practice “goes against the belief in a God who calls us to love all people. So it’s failing twice — against science, and against God.”

If clergy are approached by someone who is struggling with sexual identity, “I would encourage involving a professional with experience and qualifications in mental health,” Ediger said, and not to try to deal with it themselves.

Robin Westmacott is a Unitarian Universalist who works with people who want to transition their gender medically.

When religious leaders try to change them through a process like conversion therapy, it can cause them to “internalize the criticism and rejection and hate themselves,” she said.

“It communicates you are not OK as you are and you need to be changed to be accepted by others. There is also fear of God’s disapproval and punishment.”

For her, conversion therapy is “very damaging and demoralizing, serving only to increase shame. It can take years of therapy to undo that damage, if it is even possible to undo it.”

“We have to create safer spaces for sexually diverse people, especially if we mean it when we say we welcome all,” she said.

In the 19th century, when the Indian Residential Schools were created, their goal was to “kill the Indian to save the child” by forcibly changing them into something they were not — assimilated Christians.

Back then, Christians used their understanding of the Bible to support their actions. Today, however, no church leader in Canada would think it was ever a good policy or practice. Instead, they are united in lamenting the terrible damage it caused for tens of thousands of children.

So why would anyone think something like conversion therapy — an effort to kill the gay in a person — would be acceptable or effective today? And yet some still do.

Perhaps in the future all Christians will feel the same way about conversion therapy as they now do about residential schools — including those 4,000 pastors who protested the law banning it last month.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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