May Reading

Jen and I pack up for a week of vacation in Southern California this weekend, and I'm excited. Before, we leave, however, I'm wading through some heady reading. I hope to finish Ex Gays? before Saturday, and to bring some slightly less academic reading for vacation.

However, the book is a good read, and I'd like to recommend it. This is the second book by Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse that I've read. Back in 2001, I read their book entitled Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate. That was an excellent and objective review of the literature and research regarding the causation/origins of homosexual orientation, and how it relates to the traditional Christian moral stance on homosexual behavior.

This new book is the presentation of their longitudinal study on the controversial topic of whether or not sexual orientation is something that can be changed. I have not yet gotten to the results of their study, but I did read the last page (cheater). But, that's not why I'm recommending this book. The first two chapters are worth the price of the book, as the authors present compelling arguments for the necessity and benefit of dialogue and interplay between religion and science, and expose the most egregious examples of unscientific bias in previous studies, psychological and psychiatric literature, and from the APA regarding this subject.