Let's tell UK government no on banning conversion therapy

You're NOT on my side and I do not need nor want your support. I will not take up with those who make knee-jerk reactions and inappropriately and disgracefully liken attempts to stop a dangerous psychological practice with the actions of the Nazis.

 

What has this got to do with banning conversion therapy?

 

Said the one man in the corner, after he let everyone else be carted off into the gulags

The good people have often been found guilty of short sightedness

 

I am not alone.

I am not engaging any further with this puerile line of argument. My hand is itching twards the 'Ignore' button.

 

I'm not sure if this has already been said in this thread, but I would prefer it be legal for those who want to go voluntarily. I think that's their business and is often a faith based decision. I think it should be allowed in a private setting, at least, if it is consented to.

 

this is what I have been saying!

 

I've had a more thorough look through and I see the nuances now. I agree with the legislation as it is. No ban on voluntary treatment is what I'm seeing. Especially as this is now such a niche practice in Britain, I'm alright with this.

 

Here is a useful viewpoint on this issue, from a famous Anglican blogger:
https://archbishopcranmer.com/when-...ng-about-sexuality-become-conversion-therapy/

And this article has some pretty strong words on the issue, from perhaps the most influential conservative Christian news site in Great Britain:
https://christianconcern.com/commen...ban-would-put-sexual-minorities-in-harms-way/

I have been edified by these articles, but I do not have local insight on the ground, apart from articles like these.

 

Those are revelatory, thanks.

Generally, parents are supposed to make the tough decisions on their childrens' behalf because the children's brains have not yet fully developed, their knowledge set is lacking, and other reasons. If this law would in effect take the parent's decision-making right and responsibility away from them and hand it to their minors, based on the justification that the minors have the right to make adult decisions for themselves contrary to the parents' best judgment, it would be a major shift of legal principle. I have read that this very thing has already taken place in Canada.

 

There is nothing wrong with seeking advice and counselling voluntarily. However, all too often it is done through coercion, and, I'm afraid to say, all too often by religious groups.

People who are homosexual may struggle with being homosexual. A very good friend of mine was homosexual and he told me if there was an injection that would make him heterosexual he would have been at the front of the queue. Whilst struggling with his sexuality he knew that nothing could change it.

I have no problem with individuals voluntarily seeking professional help. All this can do, and all professional help will do, is help the person to live with it. The person's sexuality cannot be changed. It is not truly voluntary when the individual seeks help because they are abused, discriminated against or harassed because they are homosexual. This can come from family, one's faith group, peers, etc. That is wrong. We should accept and love our fellow humans as they are and not how we think they should be.

 

It is regrettable that today's culture invites people to let themselves be governed and defined by their sexual preferences and desires. Human beings are far more than their sexual activity and urges.

A heterosexual must learn to control or cope with the urges. A heterosexual should abstain from sexual immorality and should not engage in activity with anyone he/she is not married to in God's eyes.

Homosexuals are not exempt from the same constraints as heterosexuals. Homosexuals likewise must learn to control or cope with the urges and abstain from sexual activity outside of God-ordained marriage.

I recall a time, not so many years ago, when sexuality was more or less kept in the privacy of the bedroom, not flaunted or worn as a badge of self-pride.

It strikes me that homosexuals often seem consumed with their sexuality, and they seek additional partners with whom they can engage their desires. They have a strong motivation for increasing the number of practicing homosexuals, because it increases the likelihood of enjoying lust in greater ways and more frequent settings. Thus we can see the reason why the report mentioned in the link @Stalwart provided exhibits bias by ignoring data that would argue against the law and including data that would support it. This is a part of how the gay community works, how it "breeds" more gay people and produces more opportunities for gay sexual encounters. If they can sneak in some law that can later be used against godly parents and principles (in ways the lawmakers didn't foresee), well, "the more the merrier" is their motivation.

 

Evidence?

 

I asked for evidence but you gave me anecdotes. Anecdotes do not count as evidence.

 

Haven't you ever heard of "anecdotal evidence"?

But seriously, the article explains why empirical evidence (the sort you're seeking) is virtually impossible to obtain. You may as well demand a chunk of the planet Jupiter to prove its existance, while turning away the anecdotal evidence of many astronomers who all say they've seen the planet. Sometimes anecdotes are the best (or only) evidence one can get.

 

A person's testimony is not evidence. It's most certainly not anecdotal evidence, which is an oxymoron. Anecdote is not evidence.

I could write an article claiming that I'd seen an apparition of an angel. That's anecdote. It is not evidence.