UPDATED: [Following some further background reading into the situation I have felt it pertinent to make a couple of additional comments contained within the square brackets.]
Iris Robinson is an elected MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly and MP at Westminster. As such such she is elected to represent all the people of Strangford irrespective of race, gender, religion, political preference or sexual orientation.
However, her comment on Radio Ulster on Friday morning that homosexual should seek psychiatric counselling "to turn away from what they are engaged in" shows a great disrespect for her elected position as well as grave concerns for her position as Chair of the NI Assembly's Health Committee, [especially as the issue arose from a question about a man being attacked because of his homosexuality.]
If believing that homosexuality is a psychiatric condition is she any better than the Nazi's who also considered them inferior and along with the Jews executed homosexual at concentration camps. Or the Iranian who deny the existence of homosexuality in their country to the extent that when they find someone who is they have them executed.
Now I fully accept that these are strongly held personal and religious beliefs of Mrs Robinson as she said she would happily put any homosexual in tough with a lovely Christian psychiatrist she works with. However, they should never have been make publicly considering her position. While such a position may well be held in private in her public position and role it presents a clear conflict in her abilty to perform that role objectively. [It should especially be true when the position had nothing whatsoever to do with the question raised, and therefore had not right to appear in a reasoned response.] In fact I can fully understand that position as it was one I myself was brought up with, which would have been fine and dandy until I realised that I myself was homosexual.
Now I'm not sure what Mrs Robinson's church and Christian life is like. However, I do know that while mine was based on staunch Presbyterianism it moved as I grew into the charismatic end of experiences and I have taken part and witness the full pallet of the spiritual gifts. So I was brought up as many of my University colleagues said as one of the most knowledgeable in the scriptures, but then was willing to experience my Christianity in all its aspects. Therefore as Mrs Robinson suggested I did seek the counselling and prayer for what like her I thought was a condition that I might be able to get over. In fact on all three occasions it was through prophetic intervention that I was compelled to go and seek this.
Well Mrs Robinson it is not a condition I have got over by the means you suggest, nor is it something I now would seek to do nor encourage others to seek to do. It is not psychiatric nor could anybody claim in my case that it is the effect of nurture. It is who I am. Just as it is who many of Iris Robinson's constituents are, she should get on with looking after their actual health needs rather than creating one which even Royal College of Psychiatrists plainly states is not a psychiatric disorder.
Hat tip to Paul Walter @ Liberal Burblings.
Also for reference see blogs by stroppybird @ Liberal Conspiracy and Lynne Featherstone.
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