What happened at Charisma Magazine? Why would an article by a guest author written in 2004 re-appear front and centre on the Charisma website, with changes, leading the reader to believe it was written in 2012 – without awareness and permission of the author?
The article, Do We Want a Gay America? written in 2004 by Exodus International President Alan Chambers, contained information applicable to 2012, and the discrepencies were quickly noted by several blogs. Right Wing Watch:
Update: Jim Burroway notes that the essay, posted as Charisma‘s headline article under “7/20/2012,” dates back to 2004. However, the article reads, “Six states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage, and legal battles are waging in nearly every other state to accomplish the same,” which was not true until last year.
Update II: It appears Charisma has removed the article from its website, but can be read in its entirety below.
Update III: Chambers now says the article does not reflect his current views and has been edited by Charisma:
I am on the beach, literally, with my family enjoying the dog days of summer. I have no idea why Charisma decided to reach so deep, edit and republish an 8 year old article that I am embarrassed that I ever wrote. Our PR team has asked them to remove the article and not to repost it. When I am back in town I will contact them, as well.
Reprinting an article is one thing, changing and reprinting an article without the author’s knowledge is another.
Exodus International has angered former allies in the ex-gay/reparative therapy industry the past few months, by moving away from some of it’s former beliefs. Not only did several affiliate Exodus ministries jump ship, criticism from the religious right has been loud, as pray away the gay groups and leaders jockey for prominence in the diminishing reparative therapy/ex-gay world and perceived vacuum of Exodus International’s change.
I’m no fan of Exodus International or the equally odious Exodus Global (operating out of Canada) and I commend LGBT sites and others for asking Charisma Magazine for a clear explanation of why the article today disappeared, once attention was drawn to the discrepancies and embellishments of Alan Chambers re-worked article today. Chambers contacted the magazine. Box Turtle Bulletin:
Update: And it’s down, with narry an explanation as to what happened. It seems to me that what happened at Charisma was very deliberate. If they had simply re-published, unaltered, an eight year old commentary, they might have been able to explain it away by citing some kind of a technical glitch or errlr. Not that such an explanation would be believable, but it would have an air of deniability about it. But as we know, that 2004 article was updated with information that wasn’t true in 2004 — that six states and Washington, D.C. now provide marriage equality. Which means that this article’s revision and appearance was deliberate. There is simply no other way to read this. Charisma owes everyone, but especially its readers and Alan Chambers an explanation. A very detailed, thorough, and unequivocal explanation. Something very sinister and underhanded happened at Charisma. That we know. What we don’t know is what Charisma will do to address it.