Tennessee teen blogs ex-gay ministry

[imageownershipproblem]

Remember Niemöller? "...then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me."

 

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First they came for the Homosexuals,

then they came for the Communists,

then they came for the Jews,

then they came for the Catholics,

then they came for the Protestants,

and then they came for me, and then there was no one left to speak out.

[Purple Rhino]

First they came for the Homosexuals,

then they came for the Communists,

then they came for the Jews,

then they came for the Catholics,

then they came for the Protestants,

and then they came for me, and then there was no one left to speak out.

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And today in the good old USA it is

 

First they come for the Homosexuals,

then they come for the Muslims,

then they come for the Atheists,

then they come for the Jews,

then they come for all non-evangelicals

and then they'll come for me, and then there will be no one left to speak out.

 

PR

[Alice]

As far as, "Has anything been done" if you go to page 4 of this kid's (Zach is his name) Kudos page, you'll see the following post:

I responded to this that I would be contacting the media, which I did (CNN & ABC...feel free to join suit, anyone).  I haven't had a chance to read the next 2 or 3 pages of Kudos people have left, but I have a feeling that this won't just be ignored.  Unfortunately, as much as many of us would love to go take him away from that situation, we are powerless to do so.  We would be charged with kidnapping and probably taking a minor across state lines (an additional charge that carries a hefty sentence).  Our system moves slow here, but it does move.  If someone (preferably local) can get a hold of CPS, it might help.  As far as having the place shut down, I don't think that would be possible.  Unless there are physical or sexual abuses taking place, it has a right to be there.  If anyone knows of a loophole, let's throw it and perhaps tighten the "noose."

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Well - feel a bit of an idiot now - because somehow I hadn't gotten access to the responses to the blog! The only responses I'd seen were the ones on here. But I'm really relieved this has been done - just hope that someone has responded to the referral.

 

What response have you had from the media?

 

In the UK our child protection measures include 'emotional abuse' - along with physical and sexual abuse and neglect. There must surely be a way of exposing the emotional and psychological abusiveness of this Project?

[Thurisaz]

Hesitant, that is a very good question!

 

I think the best way to approach your question would be for me to personify the United States for a moment. [...]

 

Long and (sadly...) brilliant posting!

Some four hours ago I read an article in Telepolis (that German online magazine I linked to some times before) that says pretty much the same. "The US are manic through and out - they must not fail!"

 

It boggles the mind to see all that happen to the nation I considered for so long to be our trusted friend and big brother (in the positive sense of the word)...

[Thurisaz]

Work makes free?

 

Yep. This slogan was found on the gates of most nazi concentration camps. Hard to top that amount of cynism, no?

 

(The picture shows the entrance of cc Sachsenhausen, today - like most cc's who haven't been thoroughly leveled - a memorial to the slaughtered)

[Lilith]

What response have you had from the media?

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None yet...If more people write, there might be some sort of response from the media...but no guarantees.

[Caretaker]

None yet...If more people write, there might be some sort of response from the media...but no guarantees.

It seems a local station has covered the story.

 

Above link is Windows Media Format

[Lilith]

It seems a local station has covered the story.

 

Above link is Windows Media Format

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Thankyouthankyouthankyou. Do you know when this was originally aired?

[Caretaker]

Thankyouthankyouthankyou.  Do you know when this was originally aired?

I dunno, but I just shot off an email to Tom Leykis.

[imageownershipproblem]

Google is Zach's friend

 

Daily Kos

 

nirrti, there are protests in the Memphis area if you're up for that sort of thing.

[Amethyst]

What it means is that they regulate when you wake, when you sleep, when you speak, whom you speak to, what you say, what you wear, what you read, where you go, whom you're with and on and on.

They go as far as to instruct women to shave their armpits and legs, men to give priority to women (haha but only when it's about cafeteria lines and opening doors and offering chairs) and parents to limit the amount of time their children have in the bathroom on their own.

 

Holy crap. If this isn't the return of the NAZIs, I don't know what is. When are people going to stand up and say that this kind of crap is wrong???

[Godless Dave]

Sorry if this has already been answered, I have to post and run.

 

You answered my 'what has happened to the states' question - is the answer to my other questions contained within it? - I mean the practical 'haven't you got  social services departments that would intervene - don't you have child rights groups - gay rights groups - human rights groups that can seek some kind of injunction and stop it from happening?' questions.  Is the answer to these questions 'no - we haven't got these things'?

 

Yes, we do have those things, but they can only intervene where there is child abuse. Unless actual abuse can be documented at this camp (and maybe it could, but you'd have to get a social worker in there first) there is nothing they can do. The parents do not seem to be breaking the law. Stupid rules about how long you can spend in the bathroom and who you can associate with are not currently considered child abuse.

 

Camps and private schools like this have sort of a loophole as far as enforcement goes. Law enforcement can only act if they have evidence, and these schools are very effective in getting staff and inmates not to talk to anybody.

 

don't you have legislation that outlaws discrimination and protects the human rights of everyone irrespective of their sexual orientation?

 

No. There is nothing in the federal constitution or federal law that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation. Some states do, but I don't think Tenessee is one of them. It's not clear that the boy's human rights are being violated; because he is a minor his parents have a lot of legal power over where he goes and who he associates with.

[Guest Thanatos]

Does anyone know if this kid has gotten out yet?

[Godless Dave]

That was a very good answer. I think you're right. The pendulum will swing back.

Hopefully not to far in the future.

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It's also worth remembering that even at our inception there were many Americans who did not share the ideals of the writers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Some prominent political leaders lamented that the new federal constitution did not require a religious test - indeed, forbade a religious test - to hold office, and many states kept one (Texas still has one on paper; it's a violation of Texas law to hold political office if you don't believe in a deity). And much of the country definitely did not agree with the idea that "all men are created equal". The country may have been founded on that idea, but non-whites were legally unequal until the 1960s.

 

Remember, the American armies that defeated Hitler's racist ideology were segregated by race.

[Caretaker]

We now have a fundy named Nick spewing his hate and thumping his Bible over on Zach's Blog comments.

[euphgeek]

According to the story, this guy named Zach came out to his parents who then turned around and sent him to Camp Refuge, an ex-gay camp associated with Love In Action. Here's the story from the Washington Blade.

 

Here's a blog about the blog.

 

And here's Zach's blog.

[Caretaker]

More info in This Thread.

[euphgeek]

Ah, I didn't see that other thread. Thanks for pointing me there.

[♦ nivek ♦]

Topics merged...

 

kL

[nirrti]

I tried to open up that link to the television news story but my Media Player is out-of-date. I've been trying to find out the status of this situation but I keep getting the back story, not anything current. Is Zack in the camp now and are there people outside protesting? If they are, where is it located?

[Curtdude]

So sad. To have parents who would do this. His survival will be tested. The only good to come out of it is that he is seeing the true face of this religion, and that he'll never, ever forget what his folks did to him. They are going to lose a son, and probably forever. If my family ever did that to me, that would have been it. Finito.

 

Grrrrr and arghhh (all at the same time).

 

I just hope he isn't scarred too badly by these ex-gay wackos. I went to a meeting of Menanoia (sp?) Ministries in about 1980. They really believe all this stuff about "changing." They were more perverted than anything I could come up with on my own (a real S/M scene of self loathing).

[Caretaker]

Zach's father speaks

 

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050713a.asp

[Guest JP1283]

Zach's father speaks

 

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050713a.asp

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Wow. I hate Christians on a whole new level after reading that shit. HEAR ME CHRISTIANS, YOU ARE THE ENEMY!!!! WE ARE NOT WITH YOU, WE ARE AGAINST YOU, YOU STUPID FUCKHEADS!!!!

 

/rant

[nirrti]

So as long as Zack is under the age of 18, his parents still feel they can control everything he does. What they don't understand is that they can take away his priviliges, they can take away activities and close him off to the outside world to make him "communicate" with them, but they can't take away Zacks brain.

 

In less than 2 years, he will be of legal age and most likely choose to get as far away from his parents as possible and the parents will have lost their son because of all their efforts to punish him for coming out. And for what? Some book that was written by middle eastern nomads 4000 years ago? The stupidity and heartlessness of people truly ceases to amaze me.

[Biggles7268]

But according to Rev. John Smid, homosexuals do have a choice – and his life is a perfect example. Smid is “Love in Action's” executive director, and he left the homosexual lifestyle in 1984. He's been happily married since 1988, and he wants others like him who have struggled with homosexual feelings to know that they do not have to act on their same-sex attractions.

 

“I just see so many people who want to discount my life,” Smid said. “My story, my life, my experience, counts. And I have found tremendous freedom from homosexuality and a deep level of change in my life that would have never occurred had I never been given the opportunity to leave homosexuality.”

 

20 bucks he gets caught molesting children within 5 years. dirty sick fucker.