Exodus International

[superstring01]

So. . .

Apparently someone thinks I need to "convert" because on my desk at work (yes, at work) yesterday, I found a "brochure" from this organization, directed personally to me.

Exodus International​

Therein I found many a colorful flier, a charitable donation request ("gifts of $100 to $1000", SHIT, for a thousand, I better be banging chicks afterwords!), a list of regional meeting places and events and, of course, a "sign up" sheet (totally anonymous!!!) in case I might need some therapy.

In case you haven't heard, Exodus International is one of those "convert yer queers to christian breeders" organizations. I'm sure there's the requisite handling of serpents and sacrificing of virgins.

I couldn't figure out what was more amusing: the part about converting me to being "straight" or the part about converting me to christianity. Honestly, I'd rather be dead than religious, so I guess the "straight" part is less appealing.

~String

 

[Tiassa]

The Face of a Hateful God

Apparently someone thinks I need to "convert" because on my desk at work (yes, at work) yesterday, I found a "brochure" from this organization, directed personally to me.

Just tell me, please, that you made someone of consequence in HR aware of this; even if you have to lie to me.

In case you haven't heard, Exodus International is one of those "convert yer queers to christian breeders" organizations. I'm sure there's the requisite handling of serpents and sacrificing of virgins.

EI is genuinely insane, in my book. I did rounds with them in ... '93 or '94, when they came to the University of Oregon.

I'll go rooting through the Slog archives; EI has recently popped up on Dan Savage's radar again, for some reason or another. As I recall, it's kind of humorous. Well, in that morbid way that bigotry among genuine idiots can be.

Oh, and you don't have to be straight, per se. Celibate works for them, as long as you pray furiously every time you have a lustful thought.

I agree, though, that death is probably preferable. Indeed, EI is one of the organizations that I would hold responsible for the increased suicide rate among young homosexuals resulting from social and familial alienation. They're killers by proxy, in the name of God.

 

[spidergoat]

That's funny, especially considering that most archeologists now agree the Exodus story is fake.

 

[superstring01]

Just tell me, please, that you made someone of consequence in HR aware of this; even if you have to lie to me.

I was recently moved to a struggling location with the expressed instruction that "things need to change". This fact hasn't gone over well with many. Over the past two months I've gotten a few happy notes. In February, I had one stuck in my passenger side mirror that said "Your [sic] dead". I wanted to get out my red marker and correct the grammar and post it in the lounge. But, alas. No. I'm required to be more political.

As to your question, of course. I'm an HR manager. Not reporting was never even a possibility for me. My direct boss and I had a good laugh. The next rung up was a bit more miffed about the whole thing. We're contemplating having our legal department call / contact them on legal grounds. We're thinking of telling them that I'm a happily married Hassidic Jew. But that might be a stretch.

I'll go rooting through the Slog archives; EI has recently popped up on Dan Savage's radar again, for some reason or another. As I recall, it's kind of humorous. Well, in that morbid way that bigotry among genuine idiots can be.

Would love to read what you've got. Honestly, I thought it was a practical joke from a friend (I have friends of just that ribald-ness). But my dorky friends aren't that creative.

Oh, and you don't have to be straight, per se. Celibate works for them, as long as you pray furiously every time you have a lustful thought.

Yeah, I recently read the statistics about how being gay can be turned into a blessing. "Something. . . something. . . blah. . . blah. . . every characteristic from God is a blessing in that it has given me a unique insight and view of the world. It's up to me to channel. . . . blah blah blah. . . utilize this unique characteristic to further Christ's message."

I agree, though, that death is probably preferable. Indeed, EI is one of the organizations that I would hold responsible for the increased suicide rate among young homosexuals resulting from social and familial alienation. They're killers by proxy, in the name of God.

I need to scan the brochure. I have it sitting next to me right now. Gonna have to break out the scanner.

What's MORE interesting is that some subordinate thought it was either a horrible insult (they obviously don't know me) or that they were "saving my soul" (they obviously don't know me). Seriously, I work in Sandusky, Ohio: Jesus-ville USA. It's VERY conservative and I work with a gaggle of born-again types. There's one such lady who actually has inquired about my personal life lately. She's the one who calls every-fucking-thing a "blessing from god" (like when I severely sprained my ankle this past St. Pat's but didn't break it: that was god looking out for me). Several peers have told me that she's asked about my "salvation" and other such things. I'm betting it was little Miss Bonnie who answers our phones and greets walk-ins. Insipid bitch.

~String

 

[superstring01]

That's funny, especially considering that most archeologists now agree the Exodus story is fake.

OH, NO Spider.

IT's all believable: A deity with long white beard, supposedly perfect (though, desperately needing little people to worship him) creating the world in 6 days, surly wives turning to salt, trumpets toppling walls of wicked cities, angels of death killing the first born of Egypt, trios of men standing in hot furnaces unharmed, snotty men getting gobbled by giant trout--remaining gastronomically bound for a few days--and returned to the earth unharmed, any number of people being raised from the dead, hair cutting draining one's super powers, global-genocidal floods, boats big enough to contain TWO OF EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL, EVERYWHERE, ON PLANET EARTH, people with life spans just under millennium, giant hands writing foreboding messages on walls of cities, messiahs strolling on water, chatty asses (not your butt: donkeys speaking Aramaic), parting of seas, stopping of rivers, plagues too numerous to name, magical golden arks that contain a place to sit when god gets tired feet, feeding of THOUSANDS with a pair of fish and five loaves of bread (the ultimate weight loss program), OH YEAH, and the stopping of the Sun so that god's chosen people could--once again--slaughter their enemies. Meanwhile, the earth is only a few thousand years old.

What's there to doubt?

~String

 

[Tiassa]

With a chuckle-chuck here, and a chortle-chort there ....

Would love to read what you've got.

It would be the iPhone app that Apple recently pulled; apparently EI had the thought to minister to gays via mobile phone. That would be what put EI back on my radar. But this one, from Savage, just slays me:

The head of Exodus, which promises to "change" gay people, has admitted more than once that his organization can't actually turn gay people into straight people. The head of Exodus admits that he's not straight after more than twenty years with the organization. What Exodus does is turn gay people into celibates by heaping on the guilt, Leviticus, and spiritual abuse. And once a gay person stops having gay sex—poof!—he's "ex-gay," according to Exodus ....​

I don't remember who it was, but EI sent a speaker to the University of Oregon while I was there, and I remember very few people could take what he was saying seriously. Some local Christian high school even bused in a bunch of students to support EI, and it was very ... uh ... strange. Children shouting to put on your armor, raising their hands to Jesus, dancing around and shaking and falling over in rapturous spirit. A spectacle for the ages.

I should, however, note the kindly gentleman who allowed me to borrow his Bible in order to question EI's position on the physically disabled. He damn well knew the score.

But for those who fear the "gay agenda", a certain unfortunate fact gets in the way: While being gay is unacceptable in many schools, being a hatemonger is perfectly okay. Or, as Savage explained last week:

Say you're a gay kid and you get online at school—let's say you're looking for LGBT scholarships to help pay for your education because your parents cut you off when you came out—so you get online at school and start Googling around. You quickly discover that every LGBT organization's website is blocked. HRC is blocked, NGLTF, GLSEN, Trevor, It Gets Better, all the gay blogs, every gay publication, and every gay organization that offers scholarships to LGBT students. All blocked. But no anti-gay websites are blocked. PFOX, American Family Association, Exodus International, reparative therapists—every last anti-gay website, the website of every last officially certified anti-gay hate organization, is unblocked.​

And, of course, it's probably not the same at every school, but it shouldn't be that way at any public school. There's even a pretty funny video going with that one.

We should not be surprised that the homophobes need the kind of equality that comes with silencing those who disagree with them. It's the only fair way, you know?

What's there to doubt?

You know how every once in a while ... er ... well, okay. It's a writer in character. The punch line is the important part:

The reader will, we hope, forgive us if, before we continue, we say two words about the writing of history, as this will serve to explain why we make certain of the decisions we have made in describing the events we have taken it upon ourselves to relate.
...The renowned musician and composer, Lord Levhas, has stated that music consists of the notes played and spaces between them, each of them being equally important. In the same way, the narration of history consists of what is told and what is omitted. History is as much of a science as physics, mathematics, or sorcery; the narration of history is as much of an art as music, psiprint, or sculpture. The art, then, consists in the selection of the events to be included and those to be excluded that will most effectively lay bare the scientific laws in operation.
...The undeducatd but alert reader will, at this point, worry that the historian may, by the careful selection of events, attempt to "prove" a set of pre-conceived notions that do not, in fact, correspond to the truth. We cannot deny that this may happen, as those who are familiar with the "history" written by certain desert-born mystics can testify.

(Brust, 254-255)​

____________________

Notes:

Savage, Dan. "Exodus International is a Hate Group". Slog. March 21, 2011. Slog.TheStranger.com. April 5, 2011. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/03/21/exodus-international-is-a-hate-group

—————. "Don't Filter Me". Slog. March 29, 2011. Slog.TheStranger.com. April 5, 2011. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/03/29/dont-filter-me

Brust, Steven. Tiassa. New York: Tor, 2011.

See Also:

Savage, Dan. "'The opposite of homosexuality isn’t heterosexuality. It’s holiness.'" Slog. July 28, 2009. Slog.TheStranger.com. April 5, 2011. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/ar...mosexuality-isnt-heterosexuality-its-holiness

 

[S.A.M.]

I was recently moved to a struggling location with the expressed instruction that "things need to change".

Are you being harassed for your sexual orientation? Can you complain or does it stink all the way to the top?

 

[chimpkin]

In February, I had one stuck in my passenger side mirror that said "Your [sic] dead". I wanted to get out my red marker and correct the grammar and post it in the lounge. But, alas. No. I'm required to be more political

Hmm...

I'd say you should have filed a report with the police. Not that you know who the perp is, but that if you get another, well, there's a report on file.

But correcting a xerox copy for grammar and posting it in the lounge...along with a copy of said police report...

Well, things like that make people think...

If I had free rein and worked in HR (and someday when I get the degree, that's a serious possibility...) I'd do it in a heartbeat.

And carry concealed, and a digital recorder-a good one-and some spare batteries-in my pockets if the law in my state allowed me to record surreptitiously.

Because the next step is catching you alone and saying or doing something...

I already had the fun of a coworker threatening to kick my ass, so I've at least done the recorder part. You want to have the capability to swap out those batteries for a fresh pair.

I dunno. The way security and the way HR handle death threats...:shrug: Someone called in and said they'd rigged my car to explode, but she wasn't credible. Nonetheless, I did take a really good look at my car before I cranked it.

 

[S.A.M.]

Someone called in and said they'd rigged my car to explode, but she wasn't credible

Because you're gay? Why do they care? Its really creepy to hear shit like this.

 

[chimpkin]

Oh, I think she was just drunk, and possibly a crazy ex of the other guard...I'm only out to a few people up here...

We have way too good a perimeter here for me to be concerned.

But security? basically are job is to deal with...the weird stuff that is nobody else's detailed job description...

If it's not explicitly runny (therefore housekeeping or...ambulance services...or body transport) and it might be dangerous, well, it's security's job. Yep.

 

[superstring01]

Are you being harassed for your sexual orientation? Can you complain or does it stink all the way to the top?

I don't do well playing the victim. This whole thread is more about EI, because I was certain that someone here would have some interesting info on them. The back-story is. . . well. . . it's there for motivation.

The word "harass" has a well defined meaning in the work place. One of the things I must feel is powerless. That's hard when you're the one with the pen, making the decisions. I could, for example, relocate back to Cleveland in about five minutes if it "got to me". It's not. But, there is always the possibility of a worsening of events (which is why Tiassa was right to admonish me to report the incident).

~String

 

[chimpkin]

Hmm...it appears that one branch of Exodus ministries had some abuse of gay teens going on that went way beyond the psychological abuse you'd expect:

On March 8, Comiskey wrote a blog post entitled “Falling Mercies” where he says DSM had been, “cast out of our home church”, Vineyard Anaheim, as a result of “a darker strain of sin in our own ranks.” He goes onto reveal that this sin was, “a longstanding staff person from Desert Stream had sexually abused at least one teenager who had sought help from us.

This is not the first time Desert Stream has been in trouble. In 1998, The Los Angeles Times reported that one family sued Desert Stream alleging that a minister had sexually abused a teenager while the youth was undergoing therapy to turn him heterosexual.

http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/03/7561/

Greaaaat.