The new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has been airing a new documentary series featuring journalist extraordinaire Lisa Ling called Our America. Her first show on February 15 followed a man in a wheel chair who attended faith healing revivals in search for his miracle, while another profiled sex offenders and their victims.
I’m a long time fan of Ling and was really excited when I heard Oprah was giving her a show, but I must say I think she’s headed for a misstep with her upcoming March 8 episode “Pray the Gay Away?”
According to promo descriptions the episode will discuss “one of the most polarizing debates in Christianity today: whether or not it’s possible to be gay and Christian at the same time.”
First of all, the ex-gay movement has been covered and covered and covered by many American journalist and the mainstream media over the years. I”m not sure how she’s going to discover anything new on this subject. Second, based on the preview videos (see below) it looks like she’s just covering the story from the angle of the ex-gay ministries and I’d even go as far as saying she’s glorifying them a little, by featuring these men who are “happily on the other side” or “happily heading to the other side,” when that’s definitely not always the case.
However, I ‘m going to give Ling the benefit of the doubt and hope that she also talked to a psychologist licensed by the American Psychological Association, who’s gone on record calling ex-gay ministries mentally damaging; and the many gays and lesbians who’ve come out on the other end saying they were mentally damaged and have discovered that being open with themselves and others has actually helped their mental stability.
But like I said, we’ll see.
