Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote:
> Thanks for your thoughtful analysis, Paul. Along the same lines I'm
wondering about the distinction between identity change and behavior
> change. Change is always hard but it seems that it would be more doable to
focus on behavior change. Therapy (in general) can help people > change
their behaviors. So is there something fundamentally different or special
about same-sex activity that would make it impossible to
> imagine that some individuals would be able to successfully change their
behaviors and perhaps be happier than they were before? Perhaps > these
subjects were largely bisexuals who through standard behavior and cognitive
therapy were able to move from same-sex to opposite sex > behaviors? It does
not seem impossible (as Paul said) that therapy could help some people
although I'm not sure this study is a convincing
> example of that (it is still not clear to me if they were trying to change
identity or behaviors).
I'm not convinced that it makes any sense to refer to these people as
bisexuals or homosexuals or heterosexuals at all, in light of all of the
discomfort they report concerning their sexual behavior. If I knew nothing
about any controversy about homosexuality, and I read the descriptors in the
NARTH version of the report, I think I'd conclude that we were talking about
some group of people whose sexuality _in general_ was at odds with their
religious beliefs and values, and describe their problem in those terms.
It's not just a matter of homosexual behavior or desires - a good number of
these people reported never having had consensual heterosexual sex (despite
being married, in some cases at least), and a not insignificant number (of
the men, at least) reported never having had consensual homosexual sex.
It seems to me that what we have here is a report about the success of
efforts to bring people's sexual behavior in line with their own religious
values, with a population for whom that was a serious issue. That seems like
an admirable goal, though changing the behavior is only one of two ways to
meet that goal (is there also therapy aimed at changing the religious
values? Can it be effective as well?). Anyway, it doesn't seem to have much
to do with the morality of homosexuality, unless you impose that from
outside of the study.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
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