Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 29th, 2010
Alan P. Medinger, former Executive Director of Exodus International (the office’s title has now been changed to President) and former Executive Director of Baltimore/Washington-based Regeneration Ministry passed away on Monday morning. He is survived by his wive, Willa, two daughters and a son, and several grandchildren.
Medinger is probably best known for his book, Growth into Manhood: Resuming the Journey
For me, a couple of those factors were decisions that I made quite early in life. I have a vivid memory of lying in bed one night as a young boy, listening to my parents fight, and saying to myself quite smugly, “They can never hurt me. No one will ever hurt me.” I believe that I made a decision that night to never be emotionally vulnerable. As a consequence of that decision, until my conversion years later, I would never be free to truly love anyone.
Medinger claimed to have experienced a sudden, miraculous “healing” from homosexuality on November 26, 1974 as a result of prayer. He started Regeneration in 1979. He was the first Executive Director of Exodus International, and he held that position until 1985.
In Medinger’s writings, he would occasionally reference several of the more unsavory characters in the anti-gay political movement. In Growth into Manhood, he refered to Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively’s book, The Pink Swastika, as source material for evidence of the “super-warrior” type of gay man:
Another type is the man who exalts manhood to the extreme. At the same time, he denigrates womanhood, and as an outgrowth of this, he sees a man (usually a younger man or teenage boy) as a more desirable sexual partner. This type of man seldom shows any deficit in manhood. To the contrary, he may be the warrior or super-man type. This phenomenon was seen in the ancient Greeks and Romans and more recently in the Nazis. There may be an element of love for the younger man who is the object of the older man’s attractions, but the older man seems driven by male idolatry rather than gender emptiness.
The core thesis of Lively’s book is that homosexuality was at the root of the Nazi party, and that the natural consequence of equal rights for LGBT people in society would be the return of violent fascism. This theme, which has been rejected by every reputable historian, is the relentless focus of the entire book.
Medinger also cited discredited “researcher” Paul Cameron, for example, in this Regeneration newsletter of 1994 in which he cited Cameron’s widely discredited “obituary study” to claim that gay men only live, on average, to age 41.
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Dairyqueen
June 29th, 2010
Who Cares, this is news?
Ben in Oakland
June 29th, 2010
“Another type is the man who exalts manhood to the extreme. At the same time, he denigrates womanhood, and as an outgrowth of this, he sees a man (usually a younger man or teenage boy) as a more desirable sexual partner. This type of man seldom shows any deficit in manhood. To the contrary, he may be the warrior or super-man type. ”
So when we’re not silly, weak limp wristed pansies flouncing around, we’re hyper masculine super bullies who don’t like women. It seems they have all their bases covered, and by describing everything, they are describing nothing.
It reminds me of a psychologist– and I think it was bieber or cameron– saying 35 years ago that it is understandable, nay normal, that men in all-male enclosed situations should turn to each other for sexual release. In other words, when heteros have gay sex, it’s normal, but when gay people do it, it’s a problem.
When hetero men are hyper-masculine and don’t like women– something that is extremely common to the point of farce–that’s normal. but if gay men are that way, it’s an indication of our pathology.
Do these people ever think?
MJC
June 29th, 2010
Brilliantly put, Ben!
David
June 29th, 2010
The world just got a tiny bit safer for everyone.
AJD
June 29th, 2010
Oh, how sad…
homogenius
June 29th, 2010
The Medingers were truly frightening. Willa was the quintessential overemoting church lady wanting to smother-mother everyone in sight.
I encountered them at Exodus International conference around 25 years ago. The only thing worse was Andy Comiskey–that man never had an ounce of real honest self-examination in his life–a common trait around Exodus, but Andy raises it to new heights.
My favorite was Andy’s associate at Desert Stream, Tim Smith. He was hot and handsome–a professional dancer whose beautiful wife broke the trend that all ex-gays marry fat homely girls.
It was a complete nightmare.
Swampfox
June 29th, 2010
Just for the record, how old was he?
Christine
June 29th, 2010
His book, Growth into Manhood, says he was born in 1936. Depending on what day he was born, he was around 74.
Christine
June 29th, 2010
This is from the September/October 2009 Regeneration newsletter about Willa Medinger (and following that is more about Alan Medinger’s health in the next newsletter):
http://www.regenerationministries.org/newsletter-200909.pdf
“WILLA MEDINGER’S HEALTH UPDATE
Willa Medinger suffered a massive stroke on June 15, 2009.
Currently, she is residing in a rehabilitation center near
her home. She has regained some movement in her left
leg and her speech is becoming increasingly more
intelligible. Please pray that the Lord will continue to help
her regain strength and that she will be able to return home
to her family soon. To register to post messages and view
updates about Willa’s health, please visit
http://www.carepages.com.”
This is from the November/December 2009 REgeneration newsletter:
http://www.regenerationministries.org/newsletter-200911.pdf
“ALAN MEDINGER’S HEALTH UPDATE
Alan Medinger was hospitalized in November for complications (double pneumonia, kidney/
liver failure) as a result of contracting the H1N1 virus with an already compromised immune system (from Leukemia). Alan is responding to treatment and his prognosis
improves each day. Please pray that the Lord will help Alan regain his strength. Also, please
pray for the Medinger family; that the Lord will
help work out the logistics of caring for both
Alan and Willa. To register to postmessages
and view updates about Alan or Willa’s health,
please visit http://www.carepages.com.”
Aaron
June 29th, 2010
I pray for mercy.
Lindoro Almaviva
June 29th, 2010
May someone have mercy on his soul, cause I have a feeling that he just had a rude awakening…
James Stone
June 30th, 2010
I hope wherever he is now that he realizes how much misery he has caused to so many families. How many young adults committed suicide because of his teachings or have turned to drugs and alcohol? How many gay people have married people of the opposite sex because of him??
I hope all of his “victims” are having a little chat with him right now. Homophobic gay people are dangerous. I hope to see the day when their population declines…
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