Christian Apologist Steps Out in Support of Ex-Gays
by Staff
September 25, 2008
MONROE, Va., (christiansunite.com) -- Debbie Thurman, Christian apologist and author, has come out of the closet' and asks others to follow suit.
A former struggler with same-sex attraction, Thurman has launched a new Web site: TheFormers.com. Called a place of fellowship for those who have overcome same-sex attraction, as well as for strugglers, friends and supporters, the site offers an open forum, news and commentary, answers to tough questions, resources for help, a pastor's corner and testimonies from former homosexuals.
"I saw a need to gather those who are fellow overcomers into a meaningful, edifying and active community," Thurman said. "Our numbers are greater than people realize. We are the red-headed stepchildren of the gay community, feared because we understand it from the inside out and outcasts because we are no longer in bondage to our former brokenness."
Recently, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her home church drew media attention and the ire of gay activists when they learned the church was promoting an "ex-gay" conference (Love Won Out) put on by Focus on the Family.
"Unfortunately, Focus on the Family is relentlessly demonized and the same false statements are continually circulated about their outreach to those desiring to walk away from homosexuality," said Thurman.
Like most who have waged a personal war with homosexuality -- win or lose -- Thurman was reluctant for many years to talk about her past struggles. "That changed when I saw how much gay activism had impacted the culture and I realized the risks to young people who are being indoctrinated into the gay-is- normal lie," she said.
Thurman said she basically thought to herself: If not me, who? If not now, when? "I know there is only one authentic road to wholeness, and that is through Jesus Christ," she said. "It is not through the 'religion' of pro-gay advocacy."
TheFormers.com takes a redemptive approach to homosexuality, drawing a distinction between same- sex orientation and homosexual acts. "The one is temptation, no worse than the many temptations we all face," Thurman maintains, "while the other is sin and something we are compelled to counter with compassionate truth."
