Joe Dallas

Joe Dallas (* 1954 ) is an American evangelical, founder and director of Genesis Counseling, an evangelical organization affiliated with Exodus International that advocates the belief that homosexuality can be changed and "cured" and sex addicts men, gays , and Christians Advises churches and leaders on how to deal with relationship problems and their problems with certain forms of sexuality. Dallas used to be a member of the lesbian and gay movement before becoming a leader in the ex-gay movementhas been. He was President of Exodus International for three years in the early 1990s. He has authored several books and has often made his point in the media.

Life

Even before he was 16, Dallas had sexual experiences with both men and women. Dallas claims to have converted to Christianity at the age of 16 in Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and was ordained a clergyman there . Seven years later he began to engage in homosexual contacts again. When this became known, Calvary Chapel stripped him of his ministry. Thereupon he started a relationship with the owner of a gay bar who had a steady relationship with another man and was drunk almost every night.

In 1978 he joined the Metropolitan Community Church , played the piano in church services and completed a two-year training program with the aim of becoming a licensed minister of the Metropolitan Community Church. He preached, ministered, and evangelized among students.

In 1984, he saw a friend from the Calvary Chapel era on television talking about his long-time secret alcoholism and encouraging others to bring to light the hidden sins they were struggling with. He felt transported back to his time at Calvary Chapel, when he had kept his homosexual tendencies a secret. He wondered insecurely whether his homosexual feelings were created by God or whether they were an expression of the fallen world and he came to the conclusion that his coming out was not God's will, but his own wishes.

He separated from the Metropolitan Community Church and began building Genesis Counseling over the next few years.

Joe Dallas married in 1988 and has two sons.

Positions

Dallas advocates a conservative evangelical theology and traditional biblical morality that rejects any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. With regard to certain biblical statements, homosexual acts are fundamentally to be understood as "sin". In Desires in Conflict , Dallas takes the position that it is possible that homosexuals can become completely free from homosexuality, but that there is no guarantee of a complete change in sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Realistically, changes can be expected on four levels:

• Change in behavior up to sexual abstinence. Dallas compares this to a "dry" alcoholic who has gained control of his behavior, which despite further temptation is concrete progress.
• Reduction in the frequency of homosexual desire: According to Dallas, this is the case for 70% of his followers and is often one of the first noticeable changes.
• Reduction of the intensity of homosexual desire: homosexual impulses would become less dominant and could more easily go unnoticed.
• Change of perspective: homosexuality is no longer seen as a central point in life, the desire to live out homosexual tendencies is no longer a goal in life, but a desire among many others.

According to Dallas, change is usually a process of progression and relapse: anyone who has had intense homosexual experiences can, under certain circumstances, be "tried" homosexually again, and it is unrealistic to expect anything else, since sexual experiences are part of human memory are. From a Dallas perspective, it is important to fully recognize the many good qualities of lesbians and gays and their worth as individuals. For him, however, that does not mean that their sexual behavior must also be viewed as correct. On the other hand, Dallas advises Christians not to try to view any homosexual work colleague or friend as an "object of the Reformation", but rather advises treating them with the same courtesy and respect as any other people. In particular, one should listen to them. Dallas is of the opinion that large parts of society are dominated by what he calls a “gay lobby”, which should be combated: “I'm not sure that we can defeat the pro-gay lobby or prevent theirs Goals are achieved. But win or lose, I don't want to stand before God and say that I did nothing when I had the opportunity to fight. "

Dallas is convinced that the conservative position on homosexuality represents a narrow majority in society, but that cultural hegemony strengthens the attitude of the revisionists: “There is a widening chasm regarding homosexuality between traditionalists (those who believe the moral standard is heterosexuality) and revisionists (those who believe the moral standard should be revised to legitimize homosexuality). Traditionalists are, as of this writing, a slim majority ... those who hold the microphones (reporters, actors, talk show hosts, and university professors) unapologetically tend to be revisionist. "Joe Dallas takes a public stand against every form of theology, regards homosexuality as a gift from God or an equivalent variant of creation. This is what he calls pro-gay theology. "When gays claim that homosexuality is God's gift and bring that claim into our churches, then confrontation is a mandate for three reasons. ... First, the church's integrity is compromised when professing Christians misrepresent Christianity. ... Second, confrontation is necessary because the gay Christian movement asks us to confirm its members in their sin, when we are commanded to do just the opposite. ... Finally unrepentant sin among believers is a disease; Eventually it will spread and affect the entire body. "Dallas sees the responsibility of the churches to take active action against these tendencies:" [...] the pro-gay theology and the gay rights movement that it represents is growing daily and their area of ​​influence. With the love that Christ showed when he mourned Jerusalem and with the anger he showed when he cleansed the temple, the Church must respond. "

According to Dallas, Christian communities should distance themselves from parishioners who have homosexual relationships ( see excommunication or avoidance ). Dallas admits to the Metropolitan Community Church that God's presence can be felt there, but says, referring to 1 Corinthians, that God's love for a person and his presence in his life should not be equated with an unconditional approval of his lifestyle.

criticism

Critics accuse Dallas and other prominent ex-gay representatives that their way of interpreting the Bible is wrong and hurtful towards lesbians and gays. He is also accused of improper handling of statistical data. Rembert Truluck writes :

• "The statistics Joe Dallas uses in his book to link homosexuality to child abuse and the destruction of family values ​​are ridiculous and of no value."
• “Like many others who abuse the Bible in a homophobic manner, Joe Dallas uses the tiresome old argument that Christian homosexuals have edited and distorted the Bible to teach acceptance and respect for homosexuals and homosexuality. The truth is just the opposite. In the last few years alone the Bible has been translated in a homophobic manner, so that violence has been inflicted on the original text and the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words. Nowhere does the Bible say that lesbians and gays should or could change their sexual orientation. Nowhere does the Bible speak of (and even less condemn) romantic love between people of the same sex. "

Works

• The gay gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible , Harvest House, 2008, ISBN 978-0736918343
• Desires in Conflict: Hope for Men Who Struggle with Sexual Identity , Harvest House, 2003, ISBN 978-0736912112
• When Homosexuality Hits Home: What to Do When a Loved One Says They're Gay , Harvest House, 2004, ISBN 978-0736912013
• The Game Plan: The Men's 30-Day Strategy for Attaining Sexual Integrity , Thomas Nelson, 2005, ISBN 978-0849906336

Web links

• Genesis Counseling website
• Joe Dallas: Responding to Pro-Gay Theology
• The Ex-Gay Fraud ( dt The ex-gay dizziness. ) - English criticism of Dallas' book A Strong Delusion

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Joe Dallas: Speaking of Homosexuality: A Christian Response to the Arguments of the Gay Rights Movement , Christian Research Journal, volume 29, number 6 (2006) (PDF; 283 kB)
2. ↑ Joe Dallas, Desires in Conflict , chapter To the Church
3. ↑ Joe Dallas in the April (2005) issue of The Exodus Impact , Exodus International's newsletter .
4. ↑ Dallas, The Gay Gospel , Chapter A Time to Speak
5. ↑ Joe Dallas: Responding to Pro-Gay Theology ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2002) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Joe Dallas: Answering the "Gay Christian" Position , Christian Research Journal, volume 23, number 1, (2000) (PDF; 211 kB)
7. ↑ The Ex-Gay Fraud by Rembert Truluck http://www.whosoever.org/v3i4/book2.html
8. ↑ ibid.