THE BRAINTRUST BEHIND THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS INTERFAITH INVASION OF CHRISTIANITY RELATED TO LGBTQ+ / SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY HAS FLOODED CHRISTIAN CAMPUSES VIA TWO RESEARCH PROJECTS.

Rev.Thomas Littleton

3/4/2022

By the time it became clear that Mark Yarhouse interfaith work with the American Psychological Association and it’s “Division 36- Psychology of Religion and Spirituality: had saturated some of the most conservative Christian universities and seminaries in North America – the fruit of it like Revoice Conference and Rethink Apologetics revealed the decay of Biblically grounded institutions had already BEGUN and BIBLICAL TRUTH been eroded beyond recovery.

MARK YARHOUSE, THE CCCU AND THE GOSPEL COALITION

The major shift away from Biblical grounding on human sexuality and God given , created “birth gender ” reality began years ago in mainline movements but manifest in earnest in 2010 among conservative ,especially Reformed theological institutions. It was this same year that Mark Yarhouse drafted a WHITEPAPER for D. A.Carson and The Gospel Coalition for its “Christ on Campus ” initiative. With this move came the full APA synchronization with the influential TGC organization on the Campus of TEDS seminary along with the Institute For Transformational Churches/ the Oikonomia Network /Kern Family Foundation funding /Acton Institute curriculum all promoting the new social justice gospel and victim coalition with accompanying critical theories -the total transformation of Christian institutions of higher learning was under way.

The Council of Christian Colleges and Universities soon signed on to the culture change efforts and brought Mark Yarhouse on as a Senior Fellow.

YARHOUSE BIO

“The foundational research that shapes SGI today began in 1998 when Dr. Yarhouse began conducting research at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. That research lab formally became an institute (referred to as the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity) in 2004. That institute was renamed when it transitioned to Wheaton College in 2019 (The Sexual & Gender Identity Institute or SGI).”

Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D.

Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D., is  the Dr. Arthur P. and Mrs. Jean May Rech Chair in Psychology at Wheaton College.  Dr. Yarhouse has spent several years promoting dialogue between people who view the topic of sexual identity differently. In 2000, he chaired a groundbreaking symposium at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention that brought together gay psychologists and Christian psychologists to discuss common ground in treatment options for those who experience sexual and religious identity conflicts. He chaired similar dialogues at the APA on the many meanings of marriage (among different religions and among various groups within the gay community), services for adolescents experiencing sexual identity concerns, and an approach to services referred to as the sexual identity therapy.”

( NOTE the CCCU and TGC History )

“Dr. Yarhouse is the past recipient of the Gary R. Collins Award for Excellence in Christian Counseling (American Association of Christian Counselors) and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence at Regent University. He was a past participant with the Ethics and Public Policy Center think tank in Washington, DC, and he was named Senior Fellow with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities to conduct a study of students navigating sexual identity concerns at Christian colleges and universities. He has been a consultant to the National Institute of Corrections to address issues facing sexual minorities in corrections, and he was part of a consensus panel from the American Psychological Association on sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts that convened to provide input to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Washington, DC. Dr. Yarhouse is currently the Chair of the task force on LGBT issues for Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association. He was also invited to write the featured white paper on sexual identity for the Christ on Campus Initiative edited by Don A. Carson for The Gospel Coalition.”

“Dr. Yarhouse has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and is author or co-author of several books, including Understanding Sexual Identity: A Resource for Youth Ministers and Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture. His most recent book is Costly Obedience: Listening to and Learning from Celibate Gay Christians.”

REVOICE CONTROVERSY AND YARHOUSE

Lest we forget Yarhouse promoted Revoice and worked along side multiple of its founders before briefly joining Revoice as a speaker and Board member in 2019.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200721205314/https://revoice.us/events/revoice19/revoice19-speakers/mark-yarhouse/

Multiple overlapping collaborations and partnerships remain with Mark Yarhouse and other Revoice leaders like Preston Sprinkle to this day.

CHRISTIAN CAMPUS INVASION VIA “RESEARCH PROJECTS “

Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity-

“Christian Sexual Identity Project and the Christian Gender Identity Project”

AGAIN NOTE: Yarhouse was “named Senior Fellow with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities to conduct a study of students navigating sexual identity concerns at Christian colleges and universities.”

CCCU has promoted the radical Paul Singer (LGBTQ funder) “Fairness for All” which is a temporary legislative option to the sweeping Equality Act. The Equality Act will basically vilify any opposition to the most radical LGBTQ Comprehensive Sexuality Education of Planned Parenthood and SIECUS as well as ban any kind of ex gay counseling and even some preaching as “hate speech”. No Religious exemptions exist in the Equality Act but some temporary ones are allowed in the Fairness For All bill put forth by Mormon legislators. These religious exemptions are considered to be “license to discriminate” and will not be allowed to stand for long as they are a primary target for HRC and other LGBTQ lobby groups. Hence they are understood to only be temporary refuge and will be removed in further legislative actions.

CCCU looks to have taken the bait that it can secure these exemptions but BOTH Fairness for All and the Equality Act are funded by radical money of Paul Singer.

Singers organizations may in fact be funding the CCCU /Yarhouse “Studies”.

HOW SOCIAL CHANGE WORKS -SELLING ONE NEW WORD OR PHRASE AT A TIME

NOTE THE LABLES IN THE YARHOUSE STUDIES

GAY CHRISTIANS

CHRISTIAN SEXUAL MINORITIES

CELIBATE GAY CHRISTIANS

CHRISTIAN TRANSGENDER

GENDER DIVERSE

And the stated goal- “The Christian Gender Identity Project, which is a study of students navigating gender identity and faith on Christian college campuses. (Yarhouse associates ) spearheaded the quantitative analyses for both projects.”

Listening to Transgender and Gender Diverse Students on Christian College Campuses

• September 2021

• Project: The Christian Gender Identity (XGI) Project

“This study was an initial investigation of important areas of interest in the literature on transgender and gender diverse students: psychological health and well-being and campus climate for transgender and gender diverse students in young adulthood. What is unique is that data were obtained from Christian transgender and gender diverse students attending Christian college and universities. A sample of 31 undergraduate transgender students at nine Christian institutions in which staff were affiliated with the Association for Christians in Student Development completed an online survey. Participants reported high levels of religiosity, diversity in their attitudes about gender identity, negative perceptions of campus climate, lower levels of social support for gender identity than in general, moderate to high levels of psychological distress, and low to moderate levels of psychological well-being.”

PRIMARY CONCERN IS THE “STRESSES FOR LGBTQ STUDENTS ON CHRISTIAN CAMPUSES “AND THE IMPACT ON THEM-WITH NO CONCERN FOR THE IMPACT OF THE LGBTQ AGENDA ON OTHER CHRISTIANS OR CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS

BIOLA ON OF THE INVADED INSTITUTIONS AND ITS YARHOUSE HISTORY.

OCTOBER 15TH 2020 INTERVIEW

https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2020/costly-obedience

Costly Obedience

with Mark Yarhouse

Sean McDowell, Scott Rae — October 15, 2020

(NOTE – THE TITLE OF YARHOUSE BOOK “COSTLY OBEDIENCE” IS ALSO PART OF THE ACTIVIST NARRATIVE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE PORTRAYING “CELIBATE GAY CHRISTIANS” AS SPECIAL CROSS BEARERS AND SUBJECTING THEMSELVES TO A “MORE COSLTY ” DISCIPLESHIP THAN HETEROSEXUALS.)

Sean McDowell at Biola University is part of the Apologetics Department on campus and works with Stand To Reason which launched Rethink Apologetics which included a Revoice like narrative LGBTQ based on unchanging “sexual orientation ” by 2015.This was after in 2012 and underground activist group on campus at Biola went public and began making press releases and filing lawsuits for full inclusion. These years of activism resulted in the University making efforts at appeasing the LGBTQ which included Sean MsDowell and other leaders in the Apologetics department meeting with activist Matthew Vines in a “private ” sit down that just happened to result in a NY Times feature complete with photos .

“Evangelicals Open Door to Debate on Gay Rights.”

BIOLA UNIVERSITIES RAPID DESCENT INTO AFFIRMING “GAY CHRISTIANITY”

Sean McDowell seemed prepared to stand against the activist narrative in 2015 but by 2016 was preaching the Yarhouse Rethink version of SOGI.

From the 2015 NYT article

June 8 2015

“LA MIRADA, Calif. — As a young, gay Christian activist, Matthew Vines considered it a victory just to get into a room at a conservative Christian university here with four influential evangelicals who disagreed with him over what the Bible says about homosexuality.”

“He ended up in a polite, heartfelt three-hour debate last month over Scripture passages about topics like celibacy, eunuchs, slavery — and the connections between sex and marriage.”

“Every single system you have within your body — whether it’s your respiratory system, your excretory system, your muscular system — can be completed as an individual,” said Sean McDowell, a professor here at Biola University and a well-known Christian author and speaker. “But there’s only one system in which male and female have half and become a united whole, and that’s in reproduction.”

BIOLA HAS NO OBJECTION TO YARHOUSE FULL NARRATIVE BY 2020

NOTE : THE INTERVIEW PROMOTES THE APA CONCEPT OF “GAY CHRISTIAN AND GENDER DIVERGENT CHRISTIAN AS IF THESE ARE BIBLICAL,NORMAL ,HEALTHY AND SCIENTIFICLY AUTHENTIC.

EVEN IN THE CONTEXT OF AFFIRMING VS NON AFFIRMING “CONVERSATION” AS SEAN MCDOWELL ATTEMPTS TO FRAME THE BIOLA YARHOUSE INTERVIEW- THE NEW NORMAL FROM APA FOR CHRISTIAN “ACCEPTANCE” COMES THROUGH.

NOT A SINGLE VERSE OF THE WORD OF GOD IS REFERENCED OR DISCUSSED AT ALL.

FROM THE “COSTLY OBEDIENCE” INTERVIEW

“Gay men and women who desire to be faithful to Scripture and thus choose a life of celibacy have chosen a difficult path and have much to teach the church. Psychologist Mark Yarhouse led a study of these men and women and some fascinating conclusions emerged from this study. Join Sean and Scott as they interview Dr. Yarhouse, on his new book, Costly Obedience: What We Can Learn from the Celibate Gay Christian Community.”

More About Our Guest

“Dr. Mark Yarhouse is the Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Chair in Psychology and oversees the Sexual & Gender Identity Institute at Wheaton College. He is chair of the task force on LGBT+ issues for Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association. He is the author of numerous books on LGBT issues and Christian faith.”

Episode Transcript

Scott Rae: Welcome to the podcast Think Biblically, conversations on faith and culture. I’m your host, Scott Rae, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Christian Ethics at Talbot School of Theology here at Biola University.

Sean McDowell: And I’m your cohost Sean McDowell, Professor of Apologetics at Talbot school of Theology, Biola University.

Scott Rae: We’re here with our special guest today, Dr. Mark Yarhouse, who holds an endowed chair in psychology at Wheaton College, served for several years in an endowed chair at Regent University. He also has the Center for Sexuality and Gender at Wheaton, speaks and writes widely in areas related to sexuality and gender identity and Mark and his colleague… And Mark, I’m going to let you pronounce the name of your colleague so I don’t butcher her name.

Mark Yarhouse: Yes, it’s Dr. Ola Zuporzits.

Scott Rae: Their new book is based on a study of the gay Christian community entitled Costly Obedience and advertised as the most comprehensive study to date of this particular community. Mark, we’re so glad you’ve written this book and engaged in this study, and I’m really anxious to hear about some of the findings that you’ve written about. Some of the findings that the study has made manifest.

So thanks so much for being with us. We look forward to this conversation.

Mark Yarhouse: Yeah. Thank you for just inviting me and giving me a chance to talk a little bit about, I think, what’s a really important topic and a challenging one in the church today.

Scott Rae: So maybe we’ll start with this. How would you describe the change in the way the church has addressed LGBT men and women in the last, say the last 30, 40 years?

Mark Yarhouse: Yeah, so I think the change, I think one of the greatest shifts, has probably been around the ex gay storyline. So the idea of people moving from gay to straight, that was a much more prominent narrative for a long time, I think, in evangelical circles. And it began to diminish several years ago with a number of different factors. Culturally, of course you have the rise of the mainstream LGBTQ community, and you have people within Christian ministries who didn’t experience as much of the change that they had hoped for, that they thought was possible.

And that’s not to say that others didn’t report different experiences than that, but there were more people saying that they didn’t experience that or that they said that they did, and didn’t really. And you also had… So there would be gay individuals, there would be ex gay individuals and there would be ex, ex gay individuals saying that, what I said back then wasn’t sustained. Or it wasn’t what I thought it was. And you also had, then, a group of people who never really went down that path, but because they were more conservative Christians, they went down a path of celibacy and they also didn’t feel like the change narrative, the ex gay narrative was a good fit for them because of the assumptions, sort of within that narrative, about how people become homosexual and what it means to change and some of those debates that were going on.

So there were many different voices, I think, that perhaps led to a diminished ex gay narrative. And then you have, in a sense, a rise of voices that are saying, “We’re celibate, we’re also gay and we’re also people of faith.” And so that’s really, this book is kind of their story in some ways.

Sean McDowell: One of the things that I appreciate about Costly Obedience is that it’s not just reflection and experience, while that has its place. It’s based upon a study. Can you tell us about the nature of the study and maybe some of the 30,000 foot view, big findings that emerged from it?

Mark Yarhouse: Yes. The book Costly Obedience actually has several studies woven throughout it, but the major study is a study of 300 celibate gay Christians who shared their experiences with us. And that group can be broken down into people who are celibate from all relationships and they don’t anticipate entering into a relationship. They see themselves, maybe what I thought of as what celibacy is. And then there was a group of people who were celibate but they said they were open to a relationship with someone of the opposite sex. So that was kind of an interesting thing I hadn’t thought about.

And then there was a group of people who were in a mixed orientation marriage, by which, I mean, if the one person’s orientation is gay or homosexual, the other person in the marriage, their orientation is heterosexual. And so they saw themselves as celibate because they were refraining from same-sex behavior and relationships, but they were in a relationship with a person of the opposite sex.

So we decided, at that moment, as researchers, we would listen to the people who were completing the survey and what they were telling us celibacy meant to them, even though I had my own understanding of what that was going into the study. And so we reported data on all of their experiences, broke it down. You asked, what are some of the major findings? I should say too, that the other studies that are kind of in this book would be a study where we did more interviews with a smaller number of celibate gay Christians. We also did interviews with a group of friends who function as family to celibate gay Christians. Some of them actually live together or live in close proximity to each other. We thought that was kind of a fascinating angle of entry into the conversation.

And then we had another study that was of seminary graduates from Protestant, mostly evangelical seminaries, where we were asking them about their experiences with people who are gay as well. So biggest, biggest surprise to me had to be the mental health issues because the prevailing view is that people who walk out a path of celibacy must be deeply depressed, deeply anxious, just in a really difficult position. And that’s kind of how I thought about it. That’s kind of many of the people that I know who were walking this out, will talk about some of the unique challenges that they face. And so we reported the data and we found that people, in a sense, weren’t as bad off as we thought they were on normed measures of distress and anxiety and depression. Many of them were doing as good as other people in the norm sample.

Now that doesn’t mean don’t take away at all from people who are struggling, but that was a surprise. We also had an interesting measure of attachment and attachment sort of the way that a young child attaches to the primary caregivers around them. And then as an adult, they have relationships that might activate a way of sort of relating to people around them. It’s called an adult attachment style that can get activated. And this group of folks, their highest percentage was in a kind of preoccupied attachment style, which means they really want relationships, but they’re anxious about losing them, which makes sense if somebody is walking out a life of celibacy and they’re not in a marriage relationship, and they’re wondering about what that life’s going to look like, how their emotional needs and needs for intimacy will be met, they cannot afford to be cavalier about friendships and relationships. So it’s going to occupy a bit of bandwidth for them, and they’re going to be more anxious about the possibility of losing them.

Now, I don’t want to make too much of that. The very next highest percentage was a secure attachment style where they also are invested and care about relationships. And they’re low on anxiety about that. But I would say those were probably two of the most interesting findings that we had that I think could help the church respond in ways that are loving and supportive of these brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sean McDowell: Mark, I want to make sure you can really unpack this finding because it surprised me too. I’ve been in so many conversations with affirming and non affirming positions on this. And like you say, the prevailing assumption is that an exposure to non affirming theology itself is what causes sexual minorities to suffer mental health. And what you found is that that’s just not where the evidence points. So can you really highlight why that’s so important and maybe kind of the bigger dynamic that’s going on with that claim?”

SOME TOPICS AND EXCERPTS FROM THE YARHOUSE CAMPUSES STUDIES

INTERSECTION OF RELIGION AND GENDER IDENTITY

“Intersection of Religion and Gender Identity Despite these potential points of conflict, many LGBTQ + persons identify (or at one point identified) as religious (Marin, 2016 ). The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey asked nearly 28,000 respondents about their experiences with religious communities (e.g., churches, synagogues, mosques, and so on) at some point in their lives, and 66% of respondents indicated lifetime rates of involvement with a religious faith community (James et al., 2016 ). Fear of rejection led 39% of respondents who had been part of a faith community to leave that faith community, and 19% of the sample who had been part of a religious faith community at one point left that community because of their experience of actual rejection. Transgender persons of color reported rejection by their religious faith communities at
higher rates, particularly those who identified as American Indian, Black, and Middle Eastern. Of those who had experienced rejection, fewer than half (42%) ended up in a more supportive religious community.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF TRANSGENDERED STUDENTS

“Psychological Health and Well-Being of Transgender Students Transgender and gender diverse persons appear to be at greater risk than cisgender persons for psychological health disparities and threats to their well-being (e.g., Messman & Leslie, 2019; Oswalt & Lederer, 2017 ). This is often understood with reference to minority stress theory (Perez-Brumer et al., 2017 ). Recent research (Puckett et al., 2019 ) suggests that family social support can foster resilience among transgender persons, which may function as a protective factor to some degree. Regarding potential mental health disparities among college students, Oswalt and Lederer (2017 ) found that 33.4% of transgender students reported symptoms of anxiety, 34.3% depression, and 16.5% panic attacks, among other mental health concerns, and that all of the mental health concerns were reported at significantly higher rates than what was reported by cisgender students. Messman and Leslie (2019) similarly found that transgender students reported more mental health diagnoses, trauma, and suicidality than their cisgender peers. Transgender students also experienced more violence and tended to report higher rates of negative coping behaviors, such as substance use (including nonprescription and illicit drug use) and binge drinking.”

CAMPUS CLIMATE WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CHRISTIAN CAMPUSES

“Recent research on the experiences of sexual minority students at Christian colleges and universities suggested that they perceived campuses as difficult settings for those navigating questions of sexual identity and religious identity (Author). Post hoc analyses suggested that diverse experiences of gender identity may be related to greater psychological distress”

Campus Climate
Thompson et al. (2019) reported that transgender and gender diverse students had less favorable perceptions of campus climate and experienced more behaviors classified as discriminatory than did students who did not identify as transgender. Transgender students of color were also significantly more likely than cisgender students of color to perceive harassment”

“The Present Investigation”
“The current study is a cross-sectional survey of transgender and gender diverse students who attend Christian colleges or universities in the United States. We investigated the experiences of transgender and gender diverse students in terms of their gender and sexual identity, faith, campus climate experience, perceptions of resources, attitudes and values associated with gender identity, and psychological distress and well-being. Responses were analysed primarily with descriptive and correlational statistics, highlighting some group and within participants differences where possible.”

CONCLUSION

THESE STUDIES SERVE AS GREAT TOOLS ENCOURAGING NORMALIZATION OF THE LGBTQ LANGUAGE, IDENTITIES , AND RIGHTS AMONG CHRISTIAN STUDENTS ON CHRISTIAN CAMPUSES.

THE YARHOUSE STUDIES PROMOTE CONVERSATIONS ON CHRISTIANS CAMPUSES AND OWN THE GOAL OF “MOVING THEM FORWARD FOR TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND TRUSTEES IN OUR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS …FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE BENEFIT OF GODS BELOVED LGBT+ CHILDREN.”

FROM COSTLY OBEDIENCE SEXUAL MINORITIES AND VICTIMS TO SPECIAL BELOVED STATUS

Confirmation -FROM YARHOUSE INSTITUTE RESEARCHER Julia Smith’s paper

Sexual and Gender Identity Questions in Christian Schools: A Broader Approach

Julia Smith, Calvin College. June 6, 2019

“The sex/gender domain is replete with opportunities for Christian educators to promote student safety, success, and flourishing in challenging times. The work requires sensitivity, patience, energy, compassion, and courage as we seek to live honestly with tensions that are unlikely to resolve in the foreseeable future. But it is dignifying, life-affirming, and potentially life-saving work that flows from love of God and neighbor and from the core virtue commitments of the Christian faith. My prayer is that the broader approach discussed in this paper will help move the conversation forward for teachers, administrators, and trustees in our Christian schools for the glory of God and the benefit of Gods beloved LGBT+ children.”

THE MISSING LINK TO REAL DISCIPLESHIP

THE ONE GLARING THING ABOUT YARHOUSE, HIS INSTITUTE, THE CCCU, THE BIOLA CONSTLY OBEDIENCE INTERVIEW AND THE CAMPUS RESEARCH IS THE WORD OF GOD.

THE ONE THING THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT AND OBEYED AND PROMOTED ON CHRISTIAN CAMPUSES IS THE WORD ….NOT APA STANDARDS OR CRITICAL THEORIES BUT ALAS THIS IS THE NEW “NORMAL” FOR CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THESE INSTITUTIONS PLEASE.

GIVE THEM THE LIVING WORD OF THE LIVING GOD.

2 TIMOTHY 3:

The Man of God and the Word of God

¹⁰ But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for ^[c]instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”