my complaint to DBS
I am writing to voice my objection to the your company's support of Focus on the Family (FOTF).
James Dobson, the founder of FOTF has proclaimed in his books and other publications that homosexuality is a mental disorder caused by family problems and bad parenting, and that gay people are out to destroy marriage and the family.
Such unfounded allegations are untrue and deeply hurtful to me, my family and many of my friends. I see the bank's support of FOTF this festive season as an endorsement of its stand. As a gesture of my objection, I will leave my DBS card out of my wallet this entire festive season, and shall urge my friends to do the same.
http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2344&viewarticle=1&nextrecord=0¤tpageno=1&searchtype=all&pageno=2
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 | Hello
(Anonymous)
2008-11-30 10:32
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Dear Jun Feng
I am Yu Heng. I attended the film screening organised by the LaSalle College of the Arts at Cathay Picturehouse. I congratulate you for being the pioneering batch of graduates from the Puttnam Film School. I saw your film Tanjong Rhu and I thought it was beautiful. I like it very much indeed. You are indeed a talented film maker and I hope you will continue to make more good films and do Singapore proud.
I am leaving a comment here in response to this journal entry. You wrote that James Dobson's "unfounded allegations are untrue and deeply hurtful to me, my family and many of my friends." I am very sorry that whatever James Dobson claims is offensive to you. However, I would like to say that homosexuality is a developmental disorder.
Some psychiatrists and psychologists would also call homosexuality as gender-nonconformity or, for more serious cases, gender identity disorder. The American Psychological Association (APA) used to consider homosexuality as a psychological disorder before 1973. But due to pressure from the gay activists and lobby in America, the APA decide to remove homosexuality from its directory of diseases altogether. Subsequently, a small circle of psychiatrists and psychologists, who were discontented and disagreed with APA's move, went on to set up the National Association for Therapy & Research of Homosexuality (NARTH). It is a non-religious organisation set up to find out more about homosexuality and to offer help and hope for homosexuals who want to change, but do not know how to. You can visit the website http://www.narth.com if you are interested.
Homosexuality may not necessarily come about because of bad parenting. A child is a candidate for future homosexuality when he is born with an emotionally sensitive predisposition. Of course, there are also other biological and environmental factors involved in the development of homosexuality. It is a complex process. The prehomosexual boy may not perceive that his father loves, affirms and approves of him though the father may be sincere and affectionate in dealing with the boy. So it is not so much about bad parenting but primarily on the perception of the child --- how and whether he can interpret the dealings of the father as loving, and also if the child is affirmed and approved by his male role model.
A homosexual is a person who may not be comfortable with his masculinity and is likely to suffer from gender inferiority complex. He does not feel complete as a male, and there is always this void inside to be filled. So a homosexual may also be addicted to wallowing in self pity (e.g. feeling always being lonely etc.). And as mentioned before, because homosexuals tend to be emotionally sensitive, they also excel in the arts and are creative individuals. So they sing, write, act, make films etc.
For more information, do visit the following links. They are very insightful and they are not Christian or religious in nature. The following are essays written by secular scientists:
How Might Homosexuality Develop?
http://thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com/how-might-homosexuality-develop/
Atypical Cases to Development of Homosexuality
http://thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com/atypical-cases-to-development-of-homosexuality/
Homosexuality: An Overview
http://thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com/homosexuality-an-overview/
Homosexual Drives
http://thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com/homosexual-drives/
The Limitations of Homosexual Love
http://thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com/the-limitations-of-homosexual-love/
All the best for your future endeavours!(Reply to this) (Thread) |
|  Re: Hello
 witheringtravis
2008-12-01 12:40
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Hi Yu Heng,
I believe the "help and hope for homosexuals" that you mentioned refers to the reparative therapy, sometimes known as "conversion" therapy. It has been condemned not only by the American Psychological Association, but also a long list of other mental health professional, educational and inter-religious bodies, such as the American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, The Interfaith Alliance, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals and National Education Association. They have deemed reparative therapy to be unnecessary, ineffective, and warn of potentially dangerous side-effects.
The only professional mental health organisation that endorses such therapy is the NARTH, whose Executive Director is Joseph Nicolosi, a conservative Roman Catholic who coined the term "reparative therapy". Nicolosi claims that of the patients at the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic, of which he is founding director,
- One third experience "significant improvement -- they understand their homosexuality and have some sense of control." However, they may engage in same-sex sexual behavior.
- Another third are "cured" they refrain from same-sex behavior and the strength and frequency of their same-sex desires is diminished, but not necessarily gone.
- The other third fail to change.
Basically, even he concedes that there is almost a 100% failure rate in terms of "converting" an individual's sexual orientation. Its only success is in curbing sexual desires, which brings to question where such a pressure on an individual comes from. Friends? Family? Church mates?
You pointed out that homosexuals are emotionally sensitive, creative individuals who have a tendency of wallowing in self-pity and (in a gay man's case) uncomfortable with his masculinity and lacked fatherly love as a child (whether real or perceived). These perceptions parallel some of NARTH's beliefs, which also include the idea that homosexuality is often caused by abuse in childhood. These, to me, are nothing more than outdated stereotypes coming from an ideological perspective on sexual orientation, which has contributed to the stigmatisation of gay people in many societies.
All of the links you sent me are from thetruthsetsyoufree.wordpress.com, which quotes Jesus Christ on its main page. Insightful, they may be, but certainly not secular.
On a more personal note, I have friends with homosexual orientations but have decided to "go straight" - meaning they have found themselves a partner in the opposite sex and possibly going to get married and have children. They have made these decisions largely due to societal pressures which I can empathise with. A friend of mine, when confronted by another close friend, stated a painful rhetoric "I am the only child. How can I be gay?" Even though his priorities are different from mine, he continues to have my love and support because all he is looking for is a happiness we all seek.
However, I cannot tolerate those who perpetuate ignorance by disguising a bigoted ideology as the "truth". This is the reason why I have written to DBS to object to its choice of charity this festive season.
For truly secular information on NARTH and reparative therapy, I urge you to read:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_nart.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_expr.htm
http://www.truthwinsout.org/narth/
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