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He says, "There are many kids out there being subjected to these treatments that are potentially harmful and I think it's our responsibility to do something about it." And he plans to act on his assumed responsibility.
But first. The Seattle Times published a story with this headline:
Hutchison elected to lead ‘ragtag army’ of state GOP
Former KIRO-TV news anchor Susan Hutchison was elected Saturday to chair the state GOP, with a pledge to turn around years of Republican decline.
I'll be talking a little about this on the radio this morning, live at 9AM, PDT and rebroadcast at 7:30 PM PDT.
You may listen from anywhere in the world. Here's how.
Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law last Monday a ban on counseling young people who experience same sex attractions or have become involved in same sex behavior and want help.
And want out of the lifestyle.
I mentioned Christie's new law on the radio and published it a Blog.
So far, no bill has been introduced in Washington to ban what is often called "conversion therapy," however, Liias did sponsor a bill last session that would have directed the Department of Health to review the matter.
The bill proposal failed in committee.
But Rep. Liias (D-Mukilteo) says it's now time to have a similar law in Washington State and will likely introduce it in the upcoming 2014 legislative session.
Liias says when "California passed a ban it raised an issue I thought Washington should address."
He says, "I think its time to take a fresh look at the issue."
All people of faith and conservatives should also take a look at the issue. An honest look.
And guess what motivated Liaas to take this issue to the next level?
I am profoundly concerned about this new law. It strikes at the heart of The First Amendment, the core teaching of biblical Christianity and the public expression of biblical Christianity.
Liaas told KOMO News, "Having another state ban it---particularly one with a conservative governor---makes me want to see if we should take the step to actually prohibit it."
His motivation to press on in Washington State comes from a Republican governor who will most likely run for president in the next election.
People of faith and conservatives do not need that kind of leadership from the Republican Party. Or the White House. We already have that kind of leadership in place.
Dr. David Breland, who runs the transgender health clinic at Seattle Children's Hospital, told KOMO that he also opposes "conversion therapy" for kids caught in homosexual behavior. He says, "Sending them to reparative therapy is devaluing who they are."
This law undermines parental authority.
Matt Barber with Liberty Counsel says there are many experts outraged over this gross overreach by Christie and other New Jersey liberals.
He says, Dr. Nicholas Cummings, former president of the American Psychological Association, wrote in USA Today, “Contending that all same-sex attraction is immutable is a distortion of reality. Attempting to characterize all sexual reorientation therapy as ‘unethical’ violates patient choice and gives an outside party a veto over patients’ goals for their own treatment. A political agenda shouldn’t prevent gays and lesbians who desire to change from making their own decisions.”
Dr. Cummings has testified to personally helping hundreds of formerly homosexual clients achieve the change they desired.
Barber says, "On Wednesday, New Jersey Assemblyman Tim Eustace, who sponsored the bill and is openly homosexual, bombastically compared change therapy to 'beating a child' and suggested that the government take children seeking change away from their parents."
Assemblyman Eustace told a local radio station, “What this does is prevent things that are harmful to people. If a parent were beating their child on a regular basis we would step in and remove that child from the house. If you pay somebody to beat your child or abuse your child, what’s the difference?”
Mat Staver, with Liberty, was also on the radio program. He responded with this, “It is shocking to hear the law’s sponsor threaten parents that the state will remove their children from them if they provide the counsel they need and which helps them. This is the ultimate nanny state."
Indeed it is. Perhaps more than any other social issue, the so-called "homosexual rights" agenda consistently seeks to undermine parental authority. Their agenda is predatory in many respects, and violates parental rights and The First Amendment rights of all individuals.
This kind of law is also necessary for homosexual activists to affirm that homosexual behavior is immutable---they are "born that way"---which is at the core of their claim of civil rights status. Those advancing the agenda will do most anything to enshrine this kind of legislation into law, thus affirming the immutability of their behavior.
We will follow Rep. Liias on this matter in the 2014 legislative session and will keep you informed.
This law violates the freedom of religious expression and strikes at the heart of Christian, gospel message.
KOMO tells the tragic story of a Bellevue mother whose son was involved in homosexual behavior, went to their church for counseling and had a very bad experience. She said, "He felt he had to choose between God and being gay."
"It created this false hope," she said of the counseling. The mother said her son felt "that only if he prayed hard enough he would become straight."
Finally, she said, "He felt betrayed by God."
He died in 2009 at the age of 19 from an accidental drug overdose.
A tragic story, but it isn't typical. Most gay kids who take their own lives, or attempt to do so, are not reacting to any church program or ministry.
The activists and the media consistently try to link gay teen suicide to some kind of suppression by conservatives and biblical Christian teaching.
Suicide among homosexuals is significantly higher than the rest of society---about 4 times as high among teenagers--- and is not related to church or "conversion counseling". KOMO News knows that.
Most all bible based churches and church ministries who minister to those wanting deliverance from this behavior do not teach the kids if they pray hard enough they'll be straight. These ministry programs are usually based on biblical truth and are dependant upon appropriate counseling and the power of God to restore a life.
God's love, deliverance, restoration and redemption are at the heart of the biblical Christian message.
This law stands in direct contradiction to biblical teaching on the matter of homosexual relations and God's forgiveness and redemption.
The Bible condemns that behavior and teaches that it is sin. The Bible also teaches that there is forgiveness for that and all sin through the redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible further teaches that there is restoration and deliverance from sin and sinful behavior through the power of God working in our lives.
This law cannot only undermine parental authority, but also undermine the Great Commission of Christianity.
If a Christian shares their faith with a homosexual and claims that the Lord can deliver them from the behavior and lifestyle, what is to keep the authorities from taking action and claiming that the Christian was exercising a form of "reparative counseling" or "conversion counseling"?
We have seen the expanding attack against military personnel sharing their faith with their peers, now a further attack from a different point of view, with the same potential results: To silence the biblical voice.
Gov. Christie said when signing his bill, "Government should tread carefully into this area and I do so here reluctantly." Perhaps the Governor should have also washed his hands.
The Christian faith and those who hold to biblical teaching are in a time of trial and testing in the American culture.
1 Peter 1:6-7
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ"
Be Encouraged. Be Informed. Be Active. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.