Gus
2013-06-23 14:11:50 UTC
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA—Addressing supporters Monday from the hospital bed
where he is being treated for a recurring lung infection, former South
African president Nelson Mandela admitted that the millions of thoughts,
prayers, and well-wishes he has received have played absolutely no role in
his improving health, and that his recovery has been 100 percent dependent
on doctors. “In these past days of struggle, I have seen messages of hope
and love from citizens around the world, which, while nice, weren’t going to
help remove the excess fluid from my lungs. Doctors do that,” Mandela told
reporters. “The capacity of gentle souls to unite their voices in a message
of peace and strength is certainly the greatest gift of mankind—I’m not
denying any of that. But when you’re a 94-year-old man with a horrible lung
infection, you need trained medical professionals. That’s really most
important. All that prayer stuff is, frankly, pretty useless.” Mandela said
that while his doctors were compassionate and thoughtful human beings of
unflinching character, that’s not going to do anyone any good if they “don’t
give me some codeine.”
Regarding Mandela and the efficacy of prayer to resolve physical and mental
problems, and disease.... The group Exodus has concluded that "pray the gay
away" does not work, and actually harms people. How many "pray away the
______" things is that true for, I wonder?
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-exodus-international-from-pray-away-the-gay-to-acceptance-20130620,0,5763754.story
"It’s really worth watching the heartfelt speech that Alan Manning Chambers
gave Wednesday as he announced the demise of Exodus International, the
controversial Christian ministry founded 38 years ago in Anaheim to — as one
often hears — "pray away the gay."
Chambers, who has led the Orlando, Fla.-based group for 11 years, said he
thinks the church is becoming a more welcoming place for gays, and that
Exodus, founded as a refuge for Christians battling their same-sex
attractions, has simply done more harm than good.
“While there has been so much good at Exodus,” said Chambers, who credited
the ministry for saving his life at 19 when he was a suicidal because he
could not reconcile his sexuality with church teachings, “there have been
people that we’ve hurt. There are horror stories.”
Still, he opened the Irvine conference by reminding people of whom Exodus
International serves: “Most of us … are here as Christians with same-sex
attractions. We’re believers, like me, who believe sexual expression is
reserved for one man and one woman in marriage. Or we’re here as Christians
with gay and lesbian loved ones who desperately want to love without
conditions.”
I take Chambers at his word when he said that he and his wife, Leslie, are
“more in love than ever.”
He did, however, acknowledge that “99% of the people that I have met [at
Exodus] continue to struggle with or have same-sex attractions. For the
majority of people, those things don’t go away...”
where he is being treated for a recurring lung infection, former South
African president Nelson Mandela admitted that the millions of thoughts,
prayers, and well-wishes he has received have played absolutely no role in
his improving health, and that his recovery has been 100 percent dependent
on doctors. “In these past days of struggle, I have seen messages of hope
and love from citizens around the world, which, while nice, weren’t going to
help remove the excess fluid from my lungs. Doctors do that,” Mandela told
reporters. “The capacity of gentle souls to unite their voices in a message
of peace and strength is certainly the greatest gift of mankind—I’m not
denying any of that. But when you’re a 94-year-old man with a horrible lung
infection, you need trained medical professionals. That’s really most
important. All that prayer stuff is, frankly, pretty useless.” Mandela said
that while his doctors were compassionate and thoughtful human beings of
unflinching character, that’s not going to do anyone any good if they “don’t
give me some codeine.”
Regarding Mandela and the efficacy of prayer to resolve physical and mental
problems, and disease.... The group Exodus has concluded that "pray the gay
away" does not work, and actually harms people. How many "pray away the
______" things is that true for, I wonder?
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-exodus-international-from-pray-away-the-gay-to-acceptance-20130620,0,5763754.story
"It’s really worth watching the heartfelt speech that Alan Manning Chambers
gave Wednesday as he announced the demise of Exodus International, the
controversial Christian ministry founded 38 years ago in Anaheim to — as one
often hears — "pray away the gay."
Chambers, who has led the Orlando, Fla.-based group for 11 years, said he
thinks the church is becoming a more welcoming place for gays, and that
Exodus, founded as a refuge for Christians battling their same-sex
attractions, has simply done more harm than good.
“While there has been so much good at Exodus,” said Chambers, who credited
the ministry for saving his life at 19 when he was a suicidal because he
could not reconcile his sexuality with church teachings, “there have been
people that we’ve hurt. There are horror stories.”
Still, he opened the Irvine conference by reminding people of whom Exodus
International serves: “Most of us … are here as Christians with same-sex
attractions. We’re believers, like me, who believe sexual expression is
reserved for one man and one woman in marriage. Or we’re here as Christians
with gay and lesbian loved ones who desperately want to love without
conditions.”
I take Chambers at his word when he said that he and his wife, Leslie, are
“more in love than ever.”
He did, however, acknowledge that “99% of the people that I have met [at
Exodus] continue to struggle with or have same-sex attractions. For the
majority of people, those things don’t go away...”