AntiGay Scientist Thinks Slaves Were "Better Off" in America
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 02:30:56 AM EST
As if the ex-gay therapy movement was not controversial enough, Gerald Schoenewolf a member of the Science Advisory Board of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) widened the controversy last fall when he claimed in a NARTH-published essay, among other things, that Africans kidnapped and sold into slavery in America had been "better off."  The matter caused two other science advisors to resign in protest. And while NARTH has distanced itself from Schoenewolf's views, he remains a NARTH science advisor.  Meanwhile, the silence of organizations on the religious right that promote Christian ex-gay therapies, such as Focus on the Family, has been deafening.
There is a detailed article on the flap in the winter issue of Intelligence Report, the magazine of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Excerpts from the article:

A prominent member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is under fire for publishing an essay in which he argues that Africans were fortunate to have been sold into slavery, and that the civil rights movement was "irrational."

"There is another way, or other ways, to look at the race issue in America," writes Gerald Schoenewolf, a member of NARTH's Science Advisory Committee. "Africa at the time of slavery was still primarily a jungle... . Life there was savage ... and those brought to America, and other countries, were in many ways better off."

Schoenewolf, a psychotherapist who lives in New York City, is the director of The Living Center, an online therapy center for people in the arts. He has authored 14 books, among them The Art of Hating, in which he writes that, "Many people talk about hate, but few know how to hate well."

When interviewed for this article, Schoenewolf stood by his comments on the intellectual inferiority of civil rights movement supporters. "The civil rights movement has from the beginning and today seen itself as good and others are evil, like slaveowners are evil," he said.

During the interview, Schoenewolf lambasted civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights. "All such movements are destructive," he said. He also claimed the American Psychological Association, of which he is a member, "has been taken over by extremist gays."

Read the whole article here.

It's bad enough that Schoenewolf's despicable views were published (later withdrawn by NARTH). What is amazing is that NARTH has retained him on its science advisory board. The entire matter warrants much more attention from people concerned about the religious right. Here we have a signficant orgnization seeking scientific respectability -- and this is how they operate.




Display:
I remember the controversy over Douglas Wilson's apologia for slavery - Southern Slavery, as it Was - which Steve Gilliard blogged against here in 2004.

There's also a book by an African-American pastor named Earl Carter, called No Apology Necessary, which argued that slavery was the only way for God to overcome the demonic power of African traditional religion.

by Richard Bartholomew on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 01:33:10 PM EST

did an detailed report on Wilson a year or two ago. He is a Christian Reconstrucitonist who runs a school in Idaho, and whose books are in circulation in Christian schools and homeschools.

by Frederick Clarkson on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 01:57:28 PM EST
Parent


Schoenewolf is not a fundamentalist preacher from Texas.

He is a psychotherapist with offices in Manhattan.

by Frederick Clarkson on Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 03:39:55 AM EST


This guy would be considered extreme even by most evangelicals.  Just out of wisdom, even if they don't mind this guy harboring such ideas, they should remove him.  In fact, he should remove himself.

The lack of buy-in on ex-gay therapy from other evangelical organizations IS deafening, I never considered that. 



by devilsadvocate on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 07:09:38 PM EST
What I meant was the Focus on the Family, and other religious right groups, that do in fact promote conversion therapy,and are supportive of NARTH have been silent on the twisted views of this NARTH science advisor.

by Frederick Clarkson on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 08:25:45 PM EST
Parent
OK, I see.  Well, I would expect them to be quiet, I mean, why shine the spotlight on someone shameful.  I'm sure they hope narth will just deal with it, or the crazy guy will go away.


by devilsadvocate on Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 01:40:10 AM EST
Parent



.............. hinges any truth on psychotherapy UNLESS Biblically based. They probably would find a way to support this tripe.

As for "Schoenewolf, a psychotherapist" perhaps Schoenewolf could use psychotherapy himself.  

by williambrandes on Sun Jan 21, 2007 at 05:14:13 PM EST



WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (330 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.