Televangelist Pat Robertson offered a simple solution Wednesday to gays who want to be straight: just 'un-acquire' homosexuality.
A viewer named "Tommy" asked Robertson how he could show his gay son "the love of Jesus when you know his sexual preference is an abomination?"
"You want to say, ‘look I don’t agree with what you’re doing but I love you, you’re my son, you came from my body, you’re part of me and I’m with you but I’d like you to get out of this,’" Robertson advised. "I know people disagree with the question of homosexuality; is it something that they’re born with or is it something that’s acquired? I think a lot of it is acquired, I don’t know all the genes or the genetics that’s in your son as to what is causing him to do whatever he’s doing, you’ll have to figure that one out."
"But normally speaking, a person who has acquired this can un-acquire it. We’ve had many people who have indeed left the homosexual lifestyle and gone into a heterosexual relationship and have been very, very happy," he added.
As Right Wing Watch noted, Robertson's Regent University found (PDF) earlier this year that homosexuals did not stop being attracted to the same sex just because they engaged in heterosexual behavior as "reparative therapy" recommends.
"When we look at the sexual minorities specifically, it is noteworthy that the findings from the Kinsey scale suggest that they did report significant behavioral change," the report said. "This likely reflected the commitment to their heterosexual marriage and the decrease in frequency of same-sex behavior."
"However, when the Kinsey expanded scale was administered, sexual minorities did not report a statistically significant change in the combination of behaviors, attraction, fantasy, and emotional attachment – the combination meant to convey sexual orientation rather than just behavior."
