The alternative is to accept that God would allow people to be born with natural, irrevocable desires for something forbidden.Īnd while many gays have been the victims of bigotry and hatred in the Christian church, many believers are sympathetic to the stories and struggles of individual gays and lesbians, but feel bound by the long-held view that the Bible clearly forbids homosexuality. Throckmorton is unique because he has scientific credentials on the origins of sexual orientation, which conservative Christians regard as central.Įvangelicals have believed that homosexuality, like other sins, is a choice. He has also emerged as a scourge of many on the Christian right, such as antigay activists who supported the movement in Uganda to criminalize homosexuality, as well as prominent authors like David Barton and Eric Metaxas. Today he no longer promotes sexual reorientation in light of the scientific evidence that most gays are born that way. Twenty years ago, Warren Throckmorton, a psychologist and evangelical Christian, was a leading voice in the “sexual reorientation” movement, which sought to turn homosexuals straight.
The first installment, a profile of Jemar Tisby, is here. This is second in a series of portraits of American evangelical Christians in the age of Donald Trump, examining the changes, tensions and challenges in this group through individual stories.
Over the past decade, however, the psychology professor at a small Christian college in Western Pennsylvania has changed his mind about the effectiveness of so-called reparative therapy and is struggling with how to interpret the Bible’s teachings on sexuality. Twenty years ago, he became an influential advocate for the idea that LGBT people could change their orientation if they wanted to. “This is where a lot of blog posts get written,” said Warren Throckmorton, who has had an outsize impact on evangelicalism through his blog posts written in the local McDonald’s in Grove City, Pa.