19 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent, thorough, honest, disturbingly insightful, July 28, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Shadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America (Paperback)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. What Really Causes Homosexuality? I. The Storming of the APA II. Contemporary Explanations of Homosexuality A. Theories That View Homosexuality as Inherited 1. Genetic Theories 2. Hormonal Factors at Birth 3. Levels of Testosterone B. Theories That View Homosexuality as Acquired Behavior 1. Homosexuality as Illness
2. Homosexuality and the Law I. The "Hate Crimes" Bill II. AIDS Litigation
3. The Religious Issue I. What Orthodox People Are Being Asked to Give Up A. Biblical Authority B. The Authority of the Historical Church C. Free Will II. Homosexuals and the Established Churches Dignity Integrity Other Denominations III. The Homosexual Church IV. The Religious Dilemma V. What Can Religious People Do about Homosexuality?
4. The Politics of Homosexuality I. The Homosexual Movement: 1960 to the Present A. The Transformation of the Rhetoric 1. "Gay" 2. "Homophobe" and "Homophobic" 3. "Sexual Orientation", Formerly "Sexual Preference" 4. "Alternate Life-Style" 5. "Discovering or Exploring One's Sexuality" 6. "Family Partner" B. The Redefinition of Homosexuality C. Focusing on What They Are Rather Than What They Do D. The Organization of Public Demonstrations 1. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 2. The Human Rights Campaign Fund E. Getting Uncle Sam to Help F. What Must Be Done to Stop the Homosexual Movement?
5. The New Sex Education: Homosexuality I. "About Your Sexuality" by Deryk Calderwood II. "Sexuality: A Divine Gift" III. "Mutual Caring, Mutual Sharing
6. AIDS and Public Policy I. Widespread Testing A. Persons Convicted of Intravenous Drug use, Prostitution, or Sexual Assault B. Persons Receiving Treatment or Services for Family Planning, Tuberculosis, Drug Abuse, or Sexually Transmitted Disease C. Premarital Applicants D. Hospital Admittees between the Ages of Fifteen and Forty-nine II. Reporting III. Contact Tracing IV. The Restoration of Laws against Sodomy V. The Rejection of Antidiscrimination Laws
Index
"The Storming of the APA" p. 24-39
"The story of how homosexuality was declared 'normal' by the American Psychiatric Association is one of the most depressing narratives in the annals of modern medicine. Indeed, it is difficult to contemplate the details without wondering if our society is not in a state of advanced deterioration. In brief, a group of homosexuals stormed the APA annual convention on successive years and with deliberately disruptive tactics actually forced the psychiatrists to accede to their demands and declare homosexuality a 'normal condition'. In effect the nature of medical opinion was altered by strong-arm tactics.
This is not an event you will see memorialized on '60 Minutes' or in the New York Times. The liberal press is silent on the subject, because, although they are embarrassed by what happened, they are pleased enough by the outcome. Thus have they condoned this politicalization of the medical profession, this defiance of the very idea of thoughtful deliberation and civilized discourse.
A few of the people who were victimized by this unprecedented activity have written on the subject, but perhaps the most detailed account of what happened is to be found in Ronal Bayer's remarkable book 'Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis' (pp. 101-54).
I say 'remarkable' because Bayer's study is a highly sympathetic narrative of these events, yet one that looks unblinkingly at the violence and irrationality that lie at the heart of the homosexual movement, its essentially anarchic impulse. If you doubt that homosexuality should have remained on the list of mental illnesses, you have only to read the account of how it was removed.
What follows is my own summary of the events, a summary derived in large part from Bayer's narrative." ...
IV. The Religious Dilemma p.105-107
Dannemeyer summarizes homosexual political message/aspirations:
"... 1. Henceforth homosexuality will be spoken of in your churches and synagogues as an 'honorable estate'.
2. You can either let us marry people of the same sex or better yet abolish marriage altogether, since it will give the lie to everything you have said and done in the past about sexuality.
3. You will also be expected to offer ceremonies that bless our sexual arrangements, whether or not you retain marriage as something to be celebrated in your churches.
4. You will also instruct your young people in homosexual as well as heterosexual behavior, and you will go out of your way to make certain that homosexual youths are allowed to date, attend religious functions together, openly display affection, and enjoy each other's sexuality without embarrassment or guilt.
5. If any of the older people in your midst object, you will deal with them sternly, making certain they renounce their ugly and ignorant homophobia or suffer public humiliation.
6. You will also make certain that all of the prestige and resources of your institutions are brought to bear on the community, so that laws are passed forbidding discrimination against homosexuals and heavy punishments are assessed. We expect and demand the same commitment to us that you made to Blacks and to women, though their suffering has not been as great as ours.
7. Finally, we will in all likelihood want to expunge a number of passages from your Scriptures and rewrite others, eliminating preferential treatment of marriage and using words that will allow for homosexual interpretations of passages describing biblical lovers such as Ruth and Boaz or Solomon and the Queen of Sheba."
"Warning: If all of these things do not come to pass quickly, we will subject orthodox Jews and Christians to the most sustained hatred and vilification in recent memory. We have captured the liberal establishment and the press. We have already beaten you on a number of battlefields. And we have the spirit of the age on our side. You have neither the faith nor the strength to fight us, so you might as well surrender now."
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