christians only ... do you believe that gay men and women have a mental disorder?

Question

do Christians believe that gay men and women have a mental disorder that can be cured if they work with the grace of God and become normal. i was taught that as a Christian everyone has their own weaknesses (lusting for sexual desires, pride in themselves, greed, getting angry at people easily, etc.) and that we can cure our weaknesses through prayer, sacrafice, and almsgiving. do you all believe that those who lust after the same sex is a weakness as well, which can be cured through the grace of God?

Answer 1

Mental disorder, no, though it is possible that some might have a mental condition that's loosely related to their sexual preference.

I do agree that we all have our own weaknesses...or perhaps better labeled "temptations". The human body (mind included in this context) is a marevelously complex machine that is influenced by all sorts of internal drives and external forces...some people may be genetically predisposed to certain harmful behaviors while others are conditioned by their experiences to react in a certain way to various stimuli.

Can God "cure" us of our weaknesses...sure, but I don't think that's the point. If he created us then those inherrent weaknesses are there for a reason...perhaps because he knows that we need to learn to overcome temptations in order to grow into what he wants us to become. How can a child learn to obey if he isn't given the opportunity to disobey? Cure, maybe, but I know that he can give us the strength to resist those temptations to his glory.

Answer 2

I am appalled at the abysmal ignorance I've seen in most of these answers. Doesn't anyone make any attempt to learn anything?

First of all, almost all psychiatrist today realize that sexual orientation (gay or straight) is a NORMAL part of a person. It is nothing to be cured. It is a normal part of the diversity of human creation.

Next -- a person does NOT BECOME gay because of abnormal lust or anything like that. And whoever expresses these views is just showing their ignorance. A person does NOT chose their sexual orientation for any reason.

As for "using prayer" etc etc to "cure" being gay. Or any other of these EX-gay ministries -- all these are doing is causing misery, pain, and even suicide.

I was at an ex-gay survivors conference last June and one of the speakers there was one of the actual founders of Exodus International. And after years of seeing failure and what these ex-gay ministries actually do to people he is now totally against what he had once helped to start.

PLEASE. READ! There is a lot out there. Find out for yourselves!

Here are just a few authors:

Mel White
Jeannine Graamick
Andrew Sullivan
Liuis Crompton*
Robert Nugent
Heffrey S. Siker (ed.)
Charles Curran
Mark Jordan
Carlos A. Ball
Dawne Moon
Brian McNaught
Patricia Beattie Jung
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
Ronald E. Long
John Boswell
Bart D. Ehrman
Rev. Jeff Miner
John Tyler Connoley
Robin Scroggs
John J. McNeill
A.W.Richard Sipe
John Shelby Spong*
Michael J. Bayly
Deniel A. Helminiak
Louis E.Newman
Margaret A.Farley
Christopher Hubble
David G. Myers
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
Helen Ellerbe
Richard McCirmuck,S.J.
George Chauncey
Pat Furey
Jack Rogers
Dan O. Via
Heinz J.Vogels
Theodore W. Jennings,Jr.
Francis Mark Mondimore

And there are many more. Please learn!

Answer 3

I'm kind of caught between two schools of thought when it comes to homosexuality.

The first is that although homosexuality isn't what God intended for his children, its no different than anything else that any of us struggle with. I struggle with jealousy. I'll struggle with it to the day I die. The fact that I am a Christian doesn't erase that weakness ... it just gives me a different avenue through which to approach it.

However, there are more and more studies supporting the idea that sexual orientation is established before the age of 5, and could quite possibly be genetic or hormonal in nature -- meaning that it is not a weakness or a choice, but a simple part of who the person is.

Either way, I don't view it as a mental disorder. And I have found that most forms of conversion therapy are harmful and reinforce self-hatred. Ultimately, only God knows the truth. And I'm not going to judge another person's actions.

Answer 4

Well, it is not a mental disorder, but genetic, it is that somehow that they were born with more harmones than thoses of the opposite sex. Be careful when condemning any of god's children, He said what ever you do unto others you do it unto Me? And if there is such a thing as reincarnation, you could come back as one, just so you can know it feels to be ridiculed, not excepted in society and have to hide in a closet. Sounds like fun, huh? How does the saying go, don't judge an Indian until you walk in their shoes? I myself would not put may hand to that one, that's Gods job. I also believe it's someones karma for treating such a one with such contentment.

Answer 5

In my religion we believe that gender is an essential characteristic in the eternities. We don't believe it is in anyway right. God does not make mistakes. I think they are just confused. Some may have a mental disorder, some might not. I don't know. But I don't think a mental disorder is what made them Gay. They chose that. It's a weakness just like anything else.

Answer 6

I do not think that being Gay makes you have any more or less of a mental disorder then being straight.

Who are we as people to judge anyone else? Do we not all fall short of the Glory of God?

There are only two options in every decision we make. (Right and Wrong).

You cant judge some body for making a wrong decision or a right one.

Because you dint always make right decisions.

When you judge others for there decisions you judge yourself.

Every man is Equal.

Answer 7

<---- straight heterosexual male...the answer is no. Looking at this from a "Freudian" stand of human development you will note that at a certain age all children tend to favor others of their own sex. If at some point that level of development is hampered, it's likely the child will end up with homosexual tendencies.

Look at it from the standpoint of childhood trauma. If a child is molested frequently by either same sex or opposite sex, depending on which sex has the most influence on the child, then it is possible the child could grow up with homosexual tendencies.

Look at it from the genetic standpoint. If a female child is born to a mother who has a higher than normal level of testosterone, and the childs body produces higher than normal levels, it's likely that female child will tend to be more masculine. If a male child is born to a mother who has a higher than normal level of estrogen, and the childs body produces higher than normal levels, it's likely that the male child will be more feminine.

Answer 8

I read about half of this before loosing interest. I don't know if i would fall into your category of Christians but heres the thing, We are supposed to be children. We are supposed to be taking God at His word rather than presenting our own thoughts onto the subject and presenting them as Gods word. The new testament affirms that we are saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Now Jesus could certainly save anyone He chooses. He could indeed use something else to save someone but we don't know about that. Jesus has not revealed this to us. But as St. Augustine rightly says, "If you do not believe in the whole Bible and only accept the parts that you like, then it is not God that you believe in but yourself."

Answer 9

I am (not being able to find a better word to describe it) a "formerly gay", or "ex-gay" Christian, and I do not believe that homosexuality is a mental disorder, in the sense that it is any more "disordered" than being straight. Yes, you were taught correctly, I believe, that everyone has there own weaknesses, and homosexuality is just one among the many, and is not to be diagnosed as more of a disorder nor labeled as the most grievous sin, in comparison with others. This is psychological and spiritual scapegoating. According to the Bible, those who were gay, straight, bi, or trans-whatever and then become Christians are not to identify themselves any longer by what their broken sexual and gender incongruous desires were telling them they are. No, even when these feelings still remain, we are to exercise our faith in Christ by behaving according to His will and associating with those who do as well, and no longer those of like propensities. I still do at times and don't consider them as a guide and direction towards my conduct in life.

I liken this to those who sexually-identified as straight, then become a Christian. Are they still straight? I think not, in the very sense that we are not be identified by labels involving our old lives. They are now to be reckoned as "dead", so why would I want to give life to a label that really no longer even describes me? Would you still call a Christian man who's been happily married for 20 years "straight"? To me, to call him this is to imply that although he has been hopefully faithful to his wife all those years, he must still be identified with desires for other women, other than his wife? That just doesn't make any good common spiritual sense to me. In the same way, since I am committed to the Lord in my celibacy, for the last umteen years, how could it be correct to say that I'm a "gay" Christian? The Bible makes it clear that we are not only to identify ourselves by whom and with whom we associate ourselves, but also by our personal conduct in life,both private and public, and not some lame sexual desire that has its roots in the Adamic fallen nature!

And no, we cannot cure our weaknesses through prayer, or any other means. But, yes, it is done through God's grace. It is through our obedience to His will in our lives that we place ourselves in a position of receiving the healing and growth needed to continue to live even more consistently and affectively our new identity in Christ. Let me make it clear that it isn't the obedience, per se, but God's grace and power that comes along with it. May I say alot of the obedience for me required being open and brutily honest with my fellow brothers in Christ about my past and present at the time, and they withn me. I have found more healing and growth than I could even describe by doing so. Spending alot of time in various activities with male mentors has been really helpful too.

Answer 10

Not sure if i'd phrase it that way but more a failure to establish correct sexual identity.
Not the childs fault.. but not born that way either. You are what you are.. either a man or a woman. The grace of God can change anything.