The Really Scary Thing About Gay Exorcisms

by Michael Jones · 2009-06-26 05:15:00 UTC
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The Internet is hopping over a shocking video (covered in the news report above) out of Bridgeport, Connecticut that shows a group of elders at the Manifested Glory Ministries Church performing an exorcism on a teenage boy, to cast out homosexual spirits inside him.  It's a disgusting scene, with church leaders pinning the teenager on the floor, pushing down on his stomach and chest, and screaming in his face, “Rip it from his throat! Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer! Come out of his belly...It's in the belly - push!”

During this process, the teenager even throws up...which, frankly, you really can't blame him for, given what his "spiritual leaders" are doing to him.

But here's the scary part: for those who think this scene is isolated, it's not.  "Ex-gay therapies," like this gay exorcism, are quite common and spread throughout this country.  And it's high time that people see these programs, which destroy the lives of children and youth each and every day, for their true selves.

Ex-gay ministries, like Exodus International (which has yet to take a position on the perverted "exorcism" above) and Love Won Out, regularly engage in crazy behavior to try and change people from homosexual to heterosexual.  Tactics of the ex-gay movement have been documented by many, including Truth Wins Out.  Among the more ludicrous tactics used by ex-gay movements, beyond exorcisms?

- Hypnosis.

- Encouraging people to gain weight so that they're less attractive to people of the same-sex.

- Putting rubber bands around their body and snapping them whenever they find themselves attracted to someone of the same-sex.

- Faith healing and prayer to cure homosexuality (not unlike, perhaps, the exorcism covered in the news story above).

In short, ex-gay ministries are damaging beyond belief, and as many suggest, straddle that fine line between psychotic and child abuse.  The troubling video out of Connecticut ought to be a wake up call for folks that ex-gay ministries are doing things like this on a day-to-day basis.  And that's ultimately the scariest part about this news story.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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