Boy Erased

[shnarkle]

I just finished watching "Boy Erased", starring Russell Crowe, and Nicole Kidman. It's based upon the true story of the son of a Baptist preacher who is raped by a fellow freshman in his college dorm room, and discovers that he's gay.

The movie is a bit of a propaganda piece, and doesn't just make Christianity look bad, but differing forms of Christianity as well. The baptist preacher is a traditional Christian unable to approach the subject except to consult the Mosaic law which, if their son is unwilling to change; requires banishment from their home.

The church elders all view this young man as if he were possessed by a demon, and send him to a conversion therapy program which is also portrayed as a bit backward and inept in its methods.

The fellow freshman who rapes the preacher's son is a sociopathic predator who attends the local Christian church which is at the other end of the spectrum. It's one of those modern, contemporary churches with the rock band and the "easy believism" grace message. He's already raped a few of the other young men in the congregation, and right after raping this young man, immediately, with tears of self condemnation in his eyes, asks for forgiveness. He then calls his victim's mother, and posing as a counselor at the college, proceeds to inform her that her son is having some mental problems, etc. This is what forces the issue of conversion therapy onto the preacher's son.

There are innumerable success stories of conversion therapies leading young men and women to live normal lives, which makes this issue all the more controversial. If the methods depicted in the movie are accurate, it is quite disturbing that this kind of thing is still happening. I suspect that all conversion therapies are not alike.

The movie's main objective was to spotlight the backward thinking of Christianity as well as how dangerous it truly can be. Too many children are subjected to these therapies and the results are seen to be catastrophic mental problems including suicide. The obvious conclusion is more transparency and access to the Church as well as the State stepping in to stop the church from injuring the State's property.

I'm not sure I buy much of that. It's hard to tell from a Hollywood movie with an agenda. However, the thing that did occur to me was the double standard that exists within Christianity. This wasn't a theme of the movie, except perhaps in passing when the preacher's son rejects the advances of his girlfriend, and the father talks about how much he's looking forward to being a grandfather.

So why is it that these conversion therapies don't include heterosexual fornication? This is no less severe a violation of God's law, and according to Paul, leaves one exposed to certain damnation.

Modern day Christianity doesn't seem to have a problem with their sons and daughters fornicating. For some reason this is looked upon with complicit resignation if not blissful acceptance. One has to wonder how most Christians are unable to see themselves as modern day Pharisees, coming up with methodologies and therapies to deal with the sins of others while excusing their own.

[Tcg]

The movie is a bit of a propaganda piece, and doesn't just make Christianity look bad, but differing forms of Christianity as well. The baptist preacher is a traditional Christian unable to approach the subject except to consult the Mosaic law which, if their son is unwilling to change; requires banishment from their home.

There is no need to make Christianity look bad, it is bad. It's homophobic roots and current homophobic actions reveal that fact.


Tcg

[shnarkle]

The movie is a bit of a propaganda piece, and doesn't just make Christianity look bad, but differing forms of Christianity as well. The baptist preacher is a traditional Christian unable to approach the subject except to consult the Mosaic law which, if their son is unwilling to change; requires banishment from their home.

There is no need to make Christianity look bad, it is bad. It's homophobic roots and current homophobic actions reveal that fact.


Tcg

And yet there are those who are incapable of doing anything but trying to make Christianity look bad. Some people just assume that we're all a bunch of ignorant morons that need to have this pointed out to us continuously. It's become their mission in life to wake up the population to this obvious reality which apparently they believe isn't as obvious as it should be.

How about addressing the main point of the post(':?:')

The real fear is coming not from Christianity, but from those who view it as a threat. for them it is truly a matter of their own Christo-phobia.

[Aetixintro]

[Replying to post 1 by shnarkle]

In terms of any true conversion at all, we're speaking about psychiatric restoration of true self by Best practice psychiatry and the 3-step method of ECT (scientific), Olanzepine (Zyprexa) and medical sleep assistance (morphine or other granting 8 hrs of sleep every night).

This may speak wonders for "conversion" and all sorts of addictions, also to alcohol as treatment of any schizophrenia under the Schizophrenia Category, 2 category system.

Note: the patient may need 5 to 10 years under this program, but positive effects should be witnessed after the first 24 hours.

[shnarkle]

[Replying to post 1 by shnarkle]

In terms of any true conversion at all,

The True Scotsman Fallacy.

we're speaking about psychiatric restoration of true self by Best practice psychiatry and the 3-step method of ECT (scientific), Olanzepine (Zyprexa) and medical sleep assistance (morphine or other granting 8 hrs of sleep every night).

Sounds like you're working for Big Pharma. I seriously doubt playing around with people's brain chemistry is going to do much of anything to help their underlying problem; it only deals with superficial symptoms, and that's not real conversion at all.

[Aetixintro]

[Replying to post 5 by shnarkle]

I doubt you know what you are talking about. For instance, let's assume you're close to either side of depression or schizophrenia and try out some for yourself. Let's have the result of that, please.

The effect of medicine of magnitude such that a bedridden depressed person can become fully functional and social within hours of taking the best medication there is for depression.

Similarly, the schizophrenic can be all closed down to oneself and nowhere to remove oneself than under the bed or so, wherever a dark corner is. Then, within the first 12 hours of medical treatment, totally changes behaviour in such a fashion that they now have social abilities and work well with other people, not fixated with some crazy ideas.

Certainly, you can't leave out the external circumstances so there must be a place for this to work, like a hospital "where the first steps can be taken" so as to grow a sense of confidence in surroundings and a sense of security and trust in other people who are really there for them!

When these things happen, it seems a failure to buy the argument that "I do not believe in it!" It is science, surely! The other side is failure and death for people with mental illnesses. It's gravely serious.

[Aetixintro]

[Replying to post 6 by Aetixintro]

To doubt the science of psychiatry in 2019, you can start to doubt these as well:
1. Antibiotics
2. Soaps, especially the effective ones, the best

[Menotu]

[Replying to post 1 by shnarkle]

conversion therapies leading young men and women to live normal lives

Not normal lives. Lives some in society wants them to live. There's an enormous difference there.

It's hard to tell from a Hollywood movie with an agenda.

Movies shouldn't be seen as documentaries IMO. That creates a whole load of problems.

So why is it that these conversion therapies don't include heterosexual fornication?

Because gay = bad and not gay = good in the eyes of Christianity (my ex's brother lived with his girlfriend for years and that was OK but his gay brother, who didn't live with anyone, was bad) which moves past hypocrisy on to selective belief and reasoning.

One has to wonder how most Christians are unable to see themselves as modern day Pharisees, coming up with methodologies and therapies to deal with the sins of others while excusing their own.

I did for a while then I realized modern Christianity is all about the individual's social club that's only accepting to those who believe as they do and do as they do. Most Christians, while debatable as to rather or not they are real Christians, are very un-Jesus like. And that's the way they like it because they've convinced themselves that they're right, everyone else is wrong and their heaven awaits for them. It also allows them to hate while hiding being their (in many places) protected religion.

[Menotu]

[Replying to post 3 by shnarkle]

And yet there are those who are incapable of doing anything but trying to make Christianity look bad. Some people just assume that we're all a bunch of ignorant morons that need to have this pointed out to us continuously.

That's humanity for ya'. Make note that there are many Christians that are incapable of doing anything but trying to make non-believers look bad. Some of them just assume we're all a bunch of hellions that have no moral compass because we don't give money, time and energy to an invisible man in the sky that can't even talk to his own creations enough to eliminate the need for faith and replace it with fact.

[Icey]

I just finished watching "Boy Erased", starring Russell Crowe, and Nicole Kidman. It's based upon the true story of the son of a Baptist preacher who is raped by a fellow freshman in his college dorm room, and discovers that he's gay.

The movie is a bit of a propaganda piece, and doesn't just make Christianity look bad, but differing forms of Christianity as well. The baptist preacher is a traditional Christian unable to approach the subject except to consult the Mosaic law which, if their son is unwilling to change; requires banishment from their home.

The church elders all view this young man as if he were possessed by a demon, and send him to a conversion therapy program which is also portrayed as a bit backward and inept in its methods.

The fellow freshman who rapes the preacher's son is a sociopathic predator who attends the local Christian church which is at the other end of the spectrum. It's one of those modern, contemporary churches with the rock band and the "easy believism" grace message. He's already raped a few of the other young men in the congregation, and right after raping this young man, immediately, with tears of self condemnation in his eyes, asks for forgiveness. He then calls his victim's mother, and posing as a counselor at the college, proceeds to inform her that her son is having some mental problems, etc. This is what forces the issue of conversion therapy onto the preacher's son.

There are innumerable success stories of conversion therapies leading young men and women to live normal lives, which makes this issue all the more controversial. If the methods depicted in the movie are accurate, it is quite disturbing that this kind of thing is still happening. I suspect that all conversion therapies are not alike.

The movie's main objective was to spotlight the backward thinking of Christianity as well as how dangerous it truly can be. Too many children are subjected to these therapies and the results are seen to be catastrophic mental problems including suicide. The obvious conclusion is more transparency and access to the Church as well as the State stepping in to stop the church from injuring the State's property.

I'm not sure I buy much of that. It's hard to tell from a Hollywood movie with an agenda. However, the thing that did occur to me was the double standard that exists within Christianity. This wasn't a theme of the movie, except perhaps in passing when the preacher's son rejects the advances of his girlfriend, and the father talks about how much he's looking forward to being a grandfather.

So why is it that these conversion therapies don't include heterosexual fornication? This is no less severe a violation of God's law, and according to Paul, leaves one exposed to certain damnation.

Modern day Christianity doesn't seem to have a problem with their sons and daughters fornicating. For some reason this is looked upon with complicit resignation if not blissful acceptance. One has to wonder how most Christians are unable to see themselves as modern day Pharisees, coming up with methodologies and therapies to deal with the sins of others while excusing their own.

I know many Christians. And they tend to fall in to specific categories:
1) honest and respectful and try (at their hardest) to follow all their rules and be a good person
2) those that are Christian in name only (aka hypocrites) &
3) somewhere in the middle (which I find odd but the best are in which I can place them)

It's group #2 that would be, as you call it, modern day Pharisees. They know what they're doing is wrong, they don't care as it's all about keeping up appearances.
Human nature I suppose