The Evangelical Blackout of Research on Sexual Orientation

Dr. Warren Throckmorten, an evangelical professor of psychology at Grove City College is probably the most well versed professor on the intersection of conservative Christianity, sexual orientation, and psychology in the country!

His recent blog post titled "The Evangelical Blackout of Research on Sexual Orientation" is quite fascinating. Throckmorten (though he doesn't fully agree with me) is the type of Evangelical Christian that I can actually respect. He is informed and thoughtful. When he talkes about "defending truth is the name of Jesus" he does so with the best data available on "the truth", not merely conservative talking points that fit nicely into his narrow view of the world. I find it ironic that many Evangelicals shun one of their own because he reports the facts and the studies and calls them on their anti-gay animus.

Many evangelicals get their information from NARTH through groups like Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Exodus International, etc. Others get information from Christian media. However, these [recent] studies are not reported in these places. No wonder most evangelicals approach sexual orientation with a 1990s mindset. It is as if the evangelical world is in blackout mode when it comes to current studies on sexual orientation.

I suspect the culture war is to blame. It cannot be because sexual orientation is not news. The issue comes up in the Presidential campaigns and other news all the time. However, evangelicals are quite unprepared to discuss this very current topic with the most recent and best scholarship.

In my view, Christian media and organizations have a responsibility to provide this information to their readers and consumers. Given the backlog of unreported studies, there is plenty of material for their reporting.