Clockwise: 1970s “gay” recruiting poster; “Playboy” centerfold; Madonna in “Express Yourself; and drag makeup artist Jeffree Star.
For as human nature itself deeply resists these evils, and the lack of sexual difference is abhorrent, it is clearer than light that they never would have dared to engage in such perversities unless evil spirits had fully possessed them as ‘vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction.’ But when they begin to possess them, they pour in the infernal poison of their malignity throughout the invaded that they fill, so that they might now eagerly desire not those things that a natural movement of the body demands, but that which only diabolic haste supplies. For when a man thrusts himself upon another man to commit impure acts, it is not from a natural drive, but only the stimulus of diabolic impulse.”*
LGBT spiritual leader Bob Barzan wrote: “Gay people who come out discover the fundamental goodness of sexuality and loving, by following their inner voice.” [emphasis by Barzan] Closeted “gay” Catholic priest Henry Nouwen wrote an entire book on the “inner voice.” In “The Inner Voice of Love,” under the chapter title “Trust the Inner Voice,” Nouwen recommended: “You have to trust the inner voice that shows you the way. You know that inner voice. You turn to it often.” [emphasis by Nouwen] Yet, although there is no evidence that Nouwen ever broke his vow of celibacy, he was clearly conflicted on the issue:
“My own thoughts and emotions around this subject are very conflicted. Years of Catholic education and seminary training have caused me to internalize the Catholic Church’s position. Still, my emotional development and my friendships with many homosexual people, as well as the recent literature on the subject, have raised many questions for me. There is a huge gap between my internalized homophobia and my increasing conviction that homosexuality is not a curse but a blessing for our society.”
Regardless of his merits, or the importance of his many books, Nouwen and several of his works have been held up by the Christian “gay” community as a sort of all-encompassing road-map to happiness, with a specific emphasis on the “inner voice.” But, what the focus on the “inner voice” does, within the modern “gay” context, is to accentuate an already overly personalized and self-centered experience of what spirituality and religion are – or may not be. This often flowing and entirely relativistic attitude goes part and parcel with the endless discussions and “dialoging” which takes place in many “gay” Christian networks; and, sometimes within the Catholic Church. (see: http://www.josephsciambra.com/2016/01/more-dialogue-living-truth-in-love.html) Only, an emphasis on a sort of personal revelation can be especially dangerous in this population: because, for the most part, we are dealing with a group of people, who by their own propaganda, have suffered as a result of intense social and cultural homophobia, and, according to “gay” Catholic author Eve Tushnet, that they have also been “…deeply damaged by the way their churches addressed homosexuality.” In reality, most of the abuse which has taken place within the “gay” community occurs to the pre-homosexual boy or girl in their own homes – usually as a result of emotional neglect and or physical and sexual abuse. (See: http://www.josephsciambra.com/2014/06/scientific-studies-prove-that.htmland http://www.josephsciambra.com/2016/01/homosexuality-as-universal-untreated.htmland http://www.josephsciambra.com/2015/11/family-lies-why-some-parents-would.html) This sets up a certain situation in which those who have been psychologically and emotionally abandoned and tortured become further insular, often, even as children, attaching themselves to perverse subcultures; hence, the recent story of an 8 year old boy who became so obsessed with tattooed drag makeup artist Jeffree Star that his mother allowed him to be taught the finer points of eye-shadow and lipstick application by a “gay” man; you also see this in the “gay” male obsession, often accompanied by a voluminous knowledge of minute gossip facts, with the false beauty of entertainment: from Rex Reed to Perez Hilton. In a wider, and uglier phenomenon, this transgressive movement is clearly seen in the examples of adolescent transgenderism that sometimes includes pre-sex-op hormone therapy. Where is this all coming from?
Oftentimes, because of same-sex attraction, those experiencing these sometimes unwanted feelings, and, on account of the fact that their family life is perpetually in chaos, a child, in particular, will create an inner fantasy world for themselves. In the internet age, this always includes pornography. Within the pornographic framework, children are submerged into a quasi-ritualistic realm of sexual submission and domination; nevertheless, this sometimes both exists as a thrilling and frightening duel-universe – and, at the same time, perceived as also incredibly welcoming and comforting; for the pre-homosexual boy, the inner gay dreamland becomes a place where unbelievably masculine and seemingly self-assured men want to love you; as “The Village People” sang in YMCA:
“Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you want to be?
I said, young man, you can make real your dreams.
But you got to know this one thing!”
This was done again in the 80s with “Smalltown Boy” from Bronski Beat and then again in 2012 with “Same Love” from Macklemore: all are initiation dirges demanding self-acceptance - or else you will be miserable. Lesbian academic provocateur Camille Paglia said of the most extreme forms of “gay” pornography that they: “…had the solemnity and gloom of a pagan ritual.” Famed “queer” historian Michael Bronski once wrote this about the larger significance of “gay” male commercialized sex-clubs: “…as it always, in some dimension, was – a church. Every night this moment felt, to me, startling and sacred, even holy.” And, this is what often forms and informs the “gay” “inner voice.”
As a lonely and disturbed little boy of the 1970s, I can testify how this process is even able to take place through the seemingly innocuous pages of a “Playboy” magazine. For instance, when you are being mercilessly teased at school, finding few friends to huddle with, and your parents are too busy to take notice – a beautiful man (or woman) looking at you from the glossy surface of a centerfold quickly becomes your personal muse; for, they beckon, plead, and promise. In a very real sense, it becomes your “inner voice.” For others, born a little later than me, the “inner voice” is something even more devious. One of my very earliest friends in the “gay” commune of the Castro, was a semi-overly effeminate Mid-Western hick who traveled to San Francisco out of necessity, as he was the only “gay” guy in his puny hometown. Growing up in the 1980s, he constantly flounced about the house – dancing to Madonna music – with a jacket tied about his waste and wearing his mother’s costume jewelry: trying desperately to imitate the flouncy skirts and rosary beads worn by the singer. In no uncertain terms, he told me, as we both loved Madonna and never tired of talking endlessly about her, he felt that her songs, at the time, distinctly spoke to him: she told the boy to simply “Express Yourself.” As I learned, his experience was not unusual. Now, what was then a semi-private proclivity of a few confused boys has become a major industry through the introduction of mass-marketed trashy “Katy Perry” Halloween costumes for girls…and boys, the acceptance of male homecoming queens, and Catholic schools sued for not allowing a boy to bring his boyfriend to the school dance; taken to the extreme, the television show “My Strange Addiction” recently profiled a man who endured 19 plastic surgeries in order to look like Madonna.
It is my argument that this has occurred because there is a collective phenomenon of diabolical possession taking place, in particular within the “gay” community, through the influences of the media: music, television, and, most pervasively through the internet. The means in which the possession takes place is by way of the introduction and the dominance of the “inner voice;” or more precisely the naive, unformed, and or corrupted “inner voice.” While in someone, like Henry Nouwen, who are highly educated and spiritually mature, the “inner voice” is simultaneously fully formed and perhaps, truly emerging from a place of holiness; but, in the average homosexual, no one can make that assumption. For the most part, their “inner voice” will be derived from those “gay” icons within pop-culture: following a direct line from Madonna through Britney Spears and down to Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande; all who are larger than life women with enormous “gay” male followings; to seal the deal, the songs, music videos, and concerts of these performers often include pseudo-spiritual imagery: the ultimate examples being the landmark “Like a Prayer” from Madonna; “Wild Horses” from Katy Perry; and “Born this Way” from Lady Gaga. In most sectors of “gay” culture – such songs have become so-called “gay anthems:” bewitching future generations by their seemingly innocent call for understanding and contentment. But, with all demonic deceptions, the glamour thinly covers over the truth of what you are actually buying into; in the case of male homosexuality: it is despair, disease and ultimately death.
Possible solutions: At least, in the beginning, those just getting out of homosexuality need to not listen so attentively, or not at all, to their “inner voice” – since, it was that “inner voice” that got you into the “gay” lifestyle in the first place. In this situation, I was completely blessed – after being rescued from that hellish existence, the Lord sent me a spiritual director: whereas I was overly emotional, wounded, and completely convinced of my self-reliance, he was even-tempered, a whole man, and continuously humbled before God; whereas I wanted to go in this or that route, he almost always steered in me in the opposite direction; sometimes, I kind of hated his advice, because I knew best; and, sometimes I listened, and sometimes – I didn’t – when I didn’t, it ended disastrously. But, I needed further trying and testing in order to even approach the edges of humility. Then, my spiritual director was not of the feminized chit-chat sort; we never “dialogued” or “discoursed.” When I wanted to impose my will – by endlessly explaining me reasons: which was actually an attempt to convince him, and myself – he would cut me off: “NO!” “This is what you must do.” Almost universally, “gay” men need men such as these: stout, clear-thinking, and confident (in Christ). Slowly, my “inner voice” was transformed.
And, this is where I think Nouwen becomes a tragic figure, because, towards the end of his life, the “gay” “inner voice” became “the voice” – hence his statement: “Years of Catholic education and seminary training have caused me to internalize the Catholic Church’s position;” and, hence that internalization caused “my internalized homophobia.” This mantra of so-called “internalized” homophobia has really become the group think answer by modern psychologists and “gay” apologists to explain everything from high rates of mental illness to the skyrocketing number of HIV infections within the “gay” community. (See: http://www.josephsciambra.com/2016/01/homosexuality-as-universal-untreated.html) And, herein lies the tragedy, that Nouwen changed his position, not because the Church did, but because of: “…my emotional development and my friendships with many homosexual people, as well as the recent literature on the subject…” Again, this sort of “discourse” is influencing current Catholic and Christian thinking about how to approach homosexuality which emphasis “listening” and “dialogue.” Yet, inexorably tied with the “inner voice” is the conscience, St. John Paul said:
“To claim that one has a right to act according to conscience, but without at the same time acknowledging the duty to conform one’s conscience to the truth and to the law which God himself has written on our hearts, in the end, means nothing more than imposing one’s limited personal opinion.”