Comments left for the above news entry, "
Documentary Alleges Gay Teen Kidnapped, Sent to Evangelical Boot Camp" (by Dave Rattigan; February 6th, 2012; ExGayWatch.com):
David Roberts · February 6th, 2012 at 11:42 | #1Any parent who would subject their kids to such terror, so drastic and disgusting that it has to be done offshore to avoid US jurisdiction, really should be charged with abuse and child endangerment —
at the very least. And yes, Alan, this is part of your legacy — own it.
Culture shock is a form of psychological disorientation produced by a sudden and complete change in one's cultural environment. ...
[It tends] to make adolescents remarkably more dependent upon our Christian staff for direction and emotional support, while also rendering them more malleable and capable of new perspectives.[/list][/size]Brainwashing 101.[/list]
Steve · February 6th, 2012 at 16:08 | #2Lifeline and New Horizons don't appear to be affiliated with Exodus or other ex-gay ministries, and they don't seem to market specifically for gay or questioning youth. So I asked the YouTube poster of the trailer (director/producer Kate Logan?) if they met other GLBT students at the school. The reply:
"There were at least a few students down there while we were filming who were sent primarily because they were gay, however teenagers were sent to this school for a variety of reasons ranging from drug abuse, mental illness, to just not getting along with their parents."It's bad enough parents think their gay or questioning kid would be 'straightened out' by spending the summer at a wilderness adventure camp or enrolling for a year at a remote Christian boarding school that offers computer labs and community service projects, if all parents know about these programs is what they read on Lifeline/New Horizons websites.
But the administrators of these programs know what
behavioral modification techniques the residents are actually subjected to (e.g. military-style discipline, corporal punishment, humiliation, hard labor, physical abuse, isolation from family and friends, communications silence, cultural disorientation).
Why would educators – like Dr. Charles Redwine of Wesley Seminary (Marion IN), who was program director of New Horizons Ministries for 25 years and until recently its COO – or Lifeline CEO Mark Terrell or VP of Residential Services Tony Fingerle think that their kind of 'scared straight' youth prison (for this is the best analogy) would be appropriate for any kid, much less one whose only 'maladjustment' is that they're gay?
It's time evangelicals stopped treating their gay children like criminals or mental patients. Will Lifeline Youth and Family Services disavow this activity and promise not to enroll youth to their programs simply because of their real or perceived sexual orientation?[/list]
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