Religious right using Exodus/Apple controversy to make money, settle old scores

Actress Olivia DeHavilland once remarked in a movie that "you just can't keep hogs away from the trough."

That statement is definitely one which sprung in my mind during the Exodus International/Apple controversy.

Last week, the organization Truth Wins Out led the charge to get Apple to dump Exodus International's "gay cure" phone app through a petition which over 150,000 people signed.

Now there has been some controversy over this, including in the lgbt community, because some felt that Truth Wins Out violated Exodus's International's free speech.

Nonsense. Apple is a private company and freely chose to remove that app after the complaints. Also, Apple shouldn't have approved the app in the first place. The ex-gay methodology is junk science and leads folks to down a primrose path of lies in thinking that their God-given sexual orientation is something they should be ashamed of. That sort of thing causes more harm than good by sowing self-hatred and repression.

If Apple wants to approve apps for junk science, then why not one for lobotomy or phrenology?

Naturally the reactions to controversy have been varied. The Family Research Council wasn't even involved, but has the temerity to raise money from the situation:

A story in the news this week proves once again what we’ve been saying for years. Liberals want to silence pro-family conservatives like you and me. In a stunning decision, Apple withered under pressure from homosexual activists and censored an application that offers help to people struggling with homosexuality. The app for ex-gays was created by Exodus International–and before this week, it had a 4+ rating from the iTunes store. Exodus is another victim of the growing campaign to silence Christianity in America. As a reader of my emails, you know that the Southern Poverty Law Center falsely labeled FRC a “hate group” for standing for biblical norms regarding sexuality. Liberal activists use this label and demand that media outlets censor FRC staff and research.

We are honored to serve on these frontlines, but we need your help. Please help us stand for marriage and healthy human sexuality with your gift today.

Does the Family Research really want to remind people of its hate group designation, especially in light of the fact that the organization has yet to come up with a detailed response as to how can comparing gays to pedophiles, telling lies about the supposed short gay life span, and claiming that gay parents hurt children (all of which FRC has done) can  be seen as "biblical norms."

But as for religious right responses, none takes the cake like Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth:

In an interview with the American Family Association's One News Now, LaBarbera said the following:

"Major corporations are now openly discriminating against people of faith at the hands of radical homosexual groups like Truth Wins Out -- and don't be fooled by the name. Truth Wins Out is one of the most hateful, extremist homosexual organizations on the planet, and they're targeting ex-gays for their persecution."

And then on his own webpage, LaBarbera, who obviously never misses a chance to milk a situation, went a bit farther with a dig against Exodus International:

There are some interesting side stories and ironies to this second of two Apple cave-ins to LGBT pressure-campaigns. One is that Exodus International — a leading umbrella group for people desiring to abandon homosexual practice or resist unwanted same-sex desires – has gone out of its way (too far, in our view) NOT to offend homosexual activists. And look where it got them. In fact, a while back Exodus declared that it was disengaging from the ”Culture War” over homosexuality (in favor of ministry pursuits) – yet now it is thrust right back into it. This is a lesson for all naive Christians who think that by somehow sidestepping the cultural battle over homosexuality, it won’t rage on, with homosexual activists attempting to muzzle the Gospel.

LaBarbera's snide comment no doubt stems from a situation in 2009 when he and Exodus Vice President Randy Thomas had a very public feud over a vulgar comment made by the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber about lgbts.

Exodus International raised an objection to the following comment made by Barber, which LaBarbera published on his webpage:

It boils down to this: there is nothing “conservative” about — as Barber inimitably puts it — “one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love.’” Or two women awkwardly mimicking natural procreative relations or raising a child together in an intentionally fatherless home.

Exodus's objection led to an amusing flame war on Exodus's webpage between Thomas and LaBarbera which allowed us to gain a peek at the pettiness of the so-called Christian personalities fighting against the alleged gay agenda.

No doubt, LaBarbera felt the need to settle old scores in his response to the the Apple situation by, with Christian love of course, kicking Exodus International when they are down.

So the way I look at it, the Exodus/Apple controversy is a win for the lgbt community.

We demonstrated what we can get accomplished when we all are on the same wavelength and two entities who fight hard against our equality have been exposed for being money-hungry and calculating (FRC) and vindictive (Peter LaBarbera).