Bachmann Family 2011
Marcus Bachmann is a man of many deceits and conceits. The husband of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who claims that she is a tax lawyer who studied at the disreputable and unaccredited Oral Roberts University (which has as its motto that it is dedicated to the teaching of “the law from a biblical worldview” (with no allowance for civil law or the laws of a specific nation) at the Coburn School of Law. The Coburn School of Law has had a varied and strange history. It has gone through no fewer than three names including the televangelist Marion G. [Pat] Robertson Christian Broadcasting Network School of Law before its name was changed to Regent University (the law school made headlines when it was learned that sixty percent of its graduates could not pass the bar examination in Virginia (read: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michele-bachmanns-holy-war-20110622); her specialty is tax law—which she claims to hate—but being a dutiful evangelical Christian wife who follows her reading of the scripture from a literal perspective, Michele does as she was ordered by her equally xenophobic husband.
There are many legal challenges (and problems) for the Bachmann family–and for their children. Michele’s police records show a woman out of balance and with an agenda outside of mainstream USA and democracy (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/11/2309801/police-reports-show-different.html). Marcus’ finances are now being scrutinized because of numerous questioned raised about his “practice” of psychology and therapeutic counseling. The main problem is with his alleged education.
Bachmanns campaigning in Minnesota
Marcus Bachmann does not have an earned PhD in psychology. He bought the degree at Union College (Cincinnati, OH), a school that he never attended.
Bachmann’s degree is not a PhD in psychology. It is a certificate in interdisciplinary studies. What few people are told, and less know, is that Bachmann’s “degree” is unaccredited.
The online college’s doctorate in psychology was denounced by the US Department of Education in 2004 as false. The US Department of Education’s condemnation of the degree the school’s administrators passed on to their “graduates”—which Bachmann ignores.
Marcus has never attempted to register his “degree” with the boards of psychology and counseling in Minnesota. To this day Bachmann is not registered with any of the three boards that certify mental health practitioners and professions in the state. The Minnesota Board of Psychology and the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy confirmed to POLITICO that Bachmann is not licensed with them. A search of the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy license database returns no result. (Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58291_Page2.html#ixzz1RRNvTtE3.)
Mr. Bachmann at times has made the claim that he is a “clinical therapist”. Trisha Stark, of the Minnesota Psychological Association, said that the title “clinical therapist” is not widely used in professional circles and that Bachmann is able to operate his clinic because of state rules and loopholes in the law regarding mental health practice. “Minnesota is one of the only states in which you can practice mental health without a license,” Stark said. As various news agencies and reporters have discovered, the Bachmann and Associates office declined to comment on his professional credentials, and the campaign did not respond to requests for comment. (Read: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58291_Page2.html#ixzz1RRO95tN8)
Professional psychologists’ research and record their studies, submit their studies for peer review, and seek out a reputable publisher. Bachman has never done any of this. There is no record that he has ever published or contributed to any scholarly books, journals, or articles. He has no entry in the Library of Congress data base (www.loc.gov), or in the world catalogue of publications (at www.worldcat.org), which organizes and catalogues all publications in the field of psychology and other disciplines.
Reparative Therapy (Minnesota Center)
The illustration above is from http://www.einet.net/review/975022-891738/Reparative_Therapy_A_Pseudo_Science.htm.
There are no verifiable records that Marcus Bachmann practices genuine psychology or psychotherapy. He admits that publicly but not to his patients. Instead Marcus Bachmann practices the long discredited “reparative therapy” (sometimes known as corrective or conversion therapy) to turn gay men and lesbians into heterosexuals (http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/hidden-camera-investigation-bachmann-clinic-practices-ex-gay-therapy/politics/2011/07/09/23388) which the American Psychiatric Association has gone on record denouncing, claiming that such “therapy” does not exist and those who use it do more injury to their patients than help the patients (http://www.psych.org/Departments/EDU/Library/APAOfficialDocumentsandRelated/PositionStatements/200001a.aspx). The second paragraph of the APA’s official statement reads:
As a general principle, a therapist should not determine the goal of treatment either coercively or through subtle influence. Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or “repair” homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of “cures” are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, “reparative” therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals’ sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to First, do no harm.
Bachmann & Associates flier on services
Reparative therapy has long been considered dangerous by the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/policy/ex-gay.pdf), the American Medical Association (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/glbt-advisory-committee/ama-policy-regarding-sexual-orientation.page), the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, and the American Psychiatric Association (http://www.psychiatricnews.org/pnews/99-01-15/therapy.html) and others (http://www.glsenboston.org/JustTheFacts.pdf). Bachmann says that his reparative therapy is “Truth Wins Out” and that one can pray away gay. It is nothing more than a scam or a sting operation to bring him federal money. This in unique as his wife, Michele Bachmann, has made a career denouncing federal government subsidies.
Marcus Bachmann billed Medicare more than $137,000 for prayers
Despite her words, Michele and Marcus Bachmann has accepted over $137,000 in federal aid for the clinic Bachmann & Associates for reparative therapy: a discarded theory that suggests that a homosexual male or female can end gay or lesbian interests and stop sexual desires through prayer. While the Bachmanns were quick to cashier each federal check for the alleged psychological services of the “Christian counselors” who would “pray away the gay”, the Congresswoman serving the sixth district of Minnesota and would-be President of the USA denies that the clinic ever received federal money (http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/bachmann-denies-getting-federal-funds_2011-06-27.html the article is based on the June 27, 2011 Face the Nation television report at http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/27/nation/la-na-michele-bachmann-20110627).
Bachmann & Associates go directly against the standards set by the American Association of Christian Counselors (http://www.aacc.net/about-us/code-of-ethics/). A video of an actual “reparative therapy” (anti-gay) session is at http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/bachmann-ex-gay-counseling-actual-hidden-camera-video-of-a-real-session/politics/2011/07/12/23521. Unfortunately, Marcus Bachmann practiced his “counseling” on 23 foster children, in addition to their five children, who had been put into (and then taken out of) the Bachmann home between 1992 and 2000. All of the foster children were girls and the courts decided that they each needed the psychological support and services being made available due to Dr. Bachmann’s vocational (not educational) background. Their home was legally labeled a treatment home dealing with short term (from a few months to over a year,) rehabilitations (http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/michele-bachmann-her-husband-god-and-anti-gay-bigotry-the-bachmann-effect/politics/2011/07/06/23190). What is unique is that not one of the twenty-three (they were licensed to handle three children at a time; the Bachmann home was “technically considered a treatment home,” which offered a higher level of reimbursement) has ever agreed to be interviewed by anyone or any group, nor would any of them make a public statement concerning the short time they were with the Bachmanns. Speaking to Point of View Radio Talk Show’s right-leaning Christian audience, Bachmann was talking with an authority that he claimed was “backed by God” (as if he were Moses having a face-to-face conversation with the deity and taking instructions on what had to be done; as Genesis 25:1-2: וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר׃ דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבֹּו תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי׃) and that of being a “Doctor” [sic] who was trying to help the “sinful” parts of the nation come into one with their Creator (this is a line from another recognized hate group: Focus on the Family; cf. http://splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners cp. http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2010/11/splc-hate-groups-5-more-anti-gay-groups-to-enter-annals.html).
Evangelical Christians, especially, or those of fundamentalist denominations, are taught to unquestionably follow these perceived authority figures, like Dr. Bachmann, who are placed in such positions of regard to, among other things, lead the way in teaching those on the outside and add confusion to their charges when the young are pushed into a real world where fundamentalism is the exception and not the rule (http://www.huliq.com/10178/mama-bachmanns-23-foster-children-not-immune-press-inquiry). What Bachmann does not discuss is how his wife helped found a charter/sectarian/parochial school that ran afoul of the state when some parents contended that its curriculum was infused with Christian teachings, and her first run for office was a failed bid for the local school board (her own children were enrolled in private Christian school; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/us/politics/22bachmann.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2). Bachmann’s wife’s attitude on foster care comes with a price tag. As a congressional representative, Bachmann’s proposals to shrink government would have profound effects on child welfare services. The House Republican budget, which Bachmann voted for, would cut the program’s spending by $1 trillion over the next decade and give states freedom to lower benefits and raise eligibility requirements (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/the-reviews-are-in—-gops-plans-for-medicare-medicaid-get-an-f-from-advocates-and-experts.php). This led to an interesting quote:
“[F]or all those older Americans who voted GOP last year because those nasty Democrats were going to cut Medicare, I have just one word,” wrote New York Times columnist, and Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman: “suckers!” (Read: the full article published on April 4, 2011, entitled “Privatizing Medicare” at http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/privatizing-medicare/).
Foster children, who automatically qualify for Medicaid benefits, make up a tremendously disproportionate amount of its spending, especially on mental health services. Bachmann likely understands these difficulties better than anyone: all 23 of her foster children were teenage girls suffering from psychiatric disorders. In addition, her husband’s therapy clinic took in over $137,000 in Medicaid funds to help treat these low-income patients.
Like Marcus Bachmann, the “counselors” at Bachmann & Associates are not doctors in any form. Men like Timothy Wiertzema introduce themselves as “licensed marriage and family therapist[s]”. They are not. In the case of Wiertzema, he has only a master’s degree from Argosy University (which is very popular with Bachmann & Associates).
Argosy University, like Union college where Marcus was enrolled online, is another online university with neither individual attention. It has been cited by Florida, and other states, and exposed on television on Frontline as an “institute” that uses unfair/deceptive practices, similar to University of Phoenix and is charged with fraud (http://dfw.cbslocal.com/local/argosy.university.student.2.1160973.html and http://myfloridalegal.com/__85256309005085AB.nsf/0/31BC85F3813C963C852577C00072D4CE and http://www.ibhe.state.il.us/newsdigest/newsweekly/022406.pdf pages 15-19; and too many other citations to list; for the PBS transcript of Frontline read: http://www.ibhe.state.il.us/newsdigest/newsweekly/022406.pdf). While Florida received eight complaints against Argosy, it was not highest number, as the University of Phoenix had 22, Keiser University 21, Sanford-Brown Institute 5, MedVance Institute 4; and Concorde Career Institute 3: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-02-10/news/fl-for-profit-attorney-general-compla20110209_1_university-and-kaplan-university-complaints-financial-aid).
Wiertzema’s concept of medical attention (following that of Bachmann and his colleagues) is to call upon the Holy Spirit, citing 2 Corinthians 1:4 which is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1 and 51:12; Isaiah 66:13 refers to a mother comforting a child. No where in the Bible does it cite a Holy Spirit as the term Holy Spirit comes from Hinduism as a Triune god is of recent origin (Wiersbe, Warren W. (2007) The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete New Testament. 2d ed. Colorado Springs, CO : David C. Cook, page 471). The “Holy Spirit” appears only three times in the Old Testament: once in Psalm 51:11 and twice in Isaiah 63:10,11, and in each case is a metonym for God–the Hebrews have never recognized three personas or characteristics in a single monotheistic god. Muslims have a similar “spirit” (الروح القدس ) but it is an action or divine communication; it has nothing in common with contemporary Christianity, and first appears in the Nicene Creed (but then only as the “Eternal Love of the Father and the Son”, it had not yet become a distinct being or characteristic; St. Thomas Aquinas names the Holy Spirit “Love”” http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1037.htm following the writing of St. Augustine of Hippo: St. Augustine (1987). De Trinitate (On The Trinity): Book V – Chapter 15.— Whether the Holy Spirit Was a Gift Before as Well as After He Was Given. (From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3 ed. at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130105.htm). It is not until the Inquisition and the fifteenth century when it became a cult of its own and in many places rivaled the worship of Jesus and Father. The later writings of Martin Luther has the Holy Spirit as the Teacher and forgiver of sins (Small Catechism, BC, Tappert 345) a function originally reserved for Jesus, but with Luther more in keeping with the theology of seventeenth century BCE Egypt (cp. Luther, Martin, Werk 33:24).
Bachmann & Associates reject modern science and medicine, arguing that the Bible is the sole source of all knowledge and healing. When questioning their use of reparative therapy that all licensed psychologists and psychiatrist discarded long ago, Bachmann & Associates stated that the rejection of reparative (“ex-gay”) therapy was totally unsupported by research—in the Bible, and claim that the Bible could never be questioned. Bachmann and his colleagues cite the bible as the absolute authority in life in the same manner as Muslims cite the Koran/Qur’an is the final word for Islam—but the evangelical Bachmanns fail to see the similarity.
The continuing lie of Bachmann & Associates is that they can cure homosexuality—which is neither a disease nor an infirmity—has been proven repeatedly under different difficult situations. Their zeal in “rooting out sin” (by banning and destroying “pornography” in much the same way as Pope Pius IX hammered off the penises of ancient statuary in the Vatican in 1857; http://shkrobius.livejournal.com/100154.html) has long a favored past time by such charlatans as Colin Cook (read: Ide, Arthur Frederick (1987). Homosexuals anonymous: a psychoanalytic & theological analysis of Colin Cook & his cure for homosexuality. Garland, TX: Tangelwüld), Jimmy Swaggart (Read: Ide, Arthur Frederick (1988). Heaven’s hustler: the rise & fall of Jimmy Swaggart. Dallas, TX: Monument Press), Scott Lively (cf. http://www.towleroad.com/2010/01/watch-scott-lively-delivers-antigay-nuclear-bomb-to-uganda.html) and his partisan philistines: Caleb Lee
Ugandans for "Kill the Gays" led by Scott Lively (2d L), Caleb Lee Brundage (C), and Don Schmierer (R)
Brundidge (cf. http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/tag/caleb-lee-brundidge and http://www.truthwinsout.org/tag/caleb-lee-brundidge/), Don Schmierer (http://www.truthwinsout.org/tag/don-schmierer/)—a board member of the extremist Exodus International who claims that his mission is to mobilize “the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality”(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html)–who run the scam Abiding Truth Ministries located in Temecula, California; and Rick Warren (http://www.queerty.com/what-rick-warren-scott-lively-don-schmierer-did-in-uganda-is-nothing-new-heres-why-thats-horrifying-20100104/), demanding the death penalty for gays in Uganda and throughout Africa and the use of “corrective rape” of lesbians (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13908662 and http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa).
Peter Lucas Moses Jr
The absurdity of the evangelical movement, and of
Jadon Higganbothan age 4
the Jehovah’s Witnesses who have little knowledge of what the Bible really says and preach such fantasies as Jesus is the archangel Michael (who is the only archangel in this cult), reached a nadir point when self-style evangelist Peter Lucas Moses, a religious leader in North Carolina who shot to death his four-year old step son because he thought the boy, Jadon Higganbotham, might be gay (http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/religious-leader-shoots-4-year-old-boy-to-death-because-he-might-be-gay/news/2011/07/08/23361) as all that can be said about him and Marcus Bachmann is that they are bigots.
Mike Jones with newspaper on Rev. Ted Haggard (he has converted to heterosexuality again and reopened his evangelical temple in a barn)
There are plenty of people who take stands similar to Bachmann and claim themselves to be heterosexuals, but expose themselves ultimately as homosexuals, such as Ted Haggard (an evangelical pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO; he now defines himself as bi-sexual, who hired Mike Jones of Denver to give him “massages and methamphetamines, but Jones noted that Haggard was a hypocrite; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263/ns/us_news-life/t/haggard-admits-sexual-immorality-apologizes/), George Alan Rekers a psychologist
Rev. George Alan Rekers and his baggage handler
and Southern Baptist Minister who brought a male prostitute to the USA (claiming he could cure homosexuality with full body nude massages, but the youth claimed he came as a “call boy”, Jo-Vanni Roman [a.k.a. Lucian], and was hired for sex and not to carry the University of South Carolina professor’s luggage. Rekers is a founder of the Family Research Council (now a recognized organized hate group in the USA), a former board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), and he testified as an expert witness in favor of gay adoption bans in both Arkansas and Florida. In both states, the courts deemed Reker’s testimony biased and untrustworthy; http://www.liftmyluggage.org/about-reckers.html), Bishop
Bishop Eddie Long and his "Four Gospel Connoisseurs"
Eddie Long (senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in DeKalb, GA, having sex with four young males after lavishing gifts on them; see: http://www.christianpost.com/news/bishop-eddie-long-reaches-settlement-out-of-court-50561/), and so forth. The Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) are even further out of touch with the Christian Bible and have little claim to being Christians, reciting Genesis 1:27 as if it were written by a god rather than by the men and women who wrote the Bible (read: http://lds.about.com/od/apologetics/a/same_sex_marriage.htm and http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1aba862384d20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1&contentLocale=0 as the Mormon bible continues to expand as each president becomes the next prophet after Jesus). Here the problem is misquoting/mistranslating and misinterpreting a single book that is approximately 1700 years old (the Bible) or 1200 years old (the Koran), and so forth.
As The Advocate reported, one “patient” (unwilling to go, but forced by his father after he revealed and accepted his homosexuality while in high school) noted that his “counselor” told him that “being gay was not an acceptable lifestyle in God’s eyes” and prescribed prayer and reading the Bible as part of the cure (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/07/09/Hidden_Camera_Sting_Finds_Reparative_Therapy_at_Bachmann_s_Clinics/).
John M. Becker
The same situation happened with John M. Becker, Director of Communications & Development for Truth Wins Out (TWO), an organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism and the “ex-gay” myth, volunteered to go to the Bachmann & Associates clinic and be “cured” of his homosexuality. After paying for his sessions in cash (he did not want his identity known by using his Human Rights Campaign credit card or exposing his American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) card and hid his out-of-state debit card and library card, took the photo of Michael and himself out of his wallet along with the copy of their marriage certificate that he always kept close, and began his sessions. The sessions were so startling, so unprofessional, that they seemed like a theater for fundamentalist conversion, inspiring Becker to write: “there can no longer be any doubt that Marcus Bachmann’s state- and federally-funded clinic endorses and practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person’s sexual orientation, despite the fact that such ‘therapy’ is widely discredited by the scientific and medical communities” (Read: http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2011/07/17519/) This is fraud, for Marcus Bachmann seeks federal funds for a discredited program, and should be jailed.
The Bible, however, does not condemn homosexuality as the word “homosexual” did not even exist; the condemnation is over “effeminacy” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9: η ουκ οιδατε οτι αδικοι βασιλειαν θεου ου κληρονομησουσιν μη πλανασθε ουτε πορνοι ουτε ειδωλολατραι ουτε μοιχοι ουτε μαλακοι ουτε αρσενοκοιται) which is a genetic trait. The word “homosexual” does not even appear in the world’s literature until the late nineteenth century CE. The Bachmanns, like other evangelists, have an unusual way of handling and using the Bible, and the Bachmanns like the staff at Bachmann & Associates are illiterate in any and all biblical languages, making them dangerous since they quote a book they have at best a limited knowledge. 1 Corinthians 6:9 is a parallel to Leviticus 18:20, Deuteronomy 22:22, Ezekiel 18:11, and similar references to a man who “sleeps with” (commits adultery) with his neighbor’s wife; the word is wrongly translated as homosexual in the New International Version, New Living Translation, Standard English Version (copyright 2001) and are disreputable at best. Effeminate is θηλυπρεπής and homosexual is ομοφυλοφιλικός and ομοφυλοφιλικός appears nowhere in the Bible.
Waterloo (Blackhawk County) Iowa
When in Waterloo, Iowa, Michelle Bachmann stated that she was a Lutheran at First Lutheran Church of Waterloo (it was not built or incorporated until 1995), but was not a Christian until she was sixteen years of age—meaning that the Lutheran church (she now belongs to the obstreperous Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) was not a Christian church nor a Christian community (http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137467894/weekly-standard-from-waterloo-to-the-white-house?ps=rs and http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/27/nation/la-na-michele-bachmann-20110627 and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e72ca464-a2b8-11e0-83fc-00144feabdc0.html and http://www.kare11.com/news/article/928306/391/Bachmann-reminisces-about-Waterloo-childhood-days; on First Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Iowa, read: http://www.manta.com/c/mmdwspt/first-lutheran-church).
There is fraud rampant throughout Bachmann & Associates that could lead to federal charges against Marcus Bachmann and his Christian counselors. For example:
(1) if he has a religious test (he advertises that all 27 counselors are “Christian” and “Christ-centered, very strong in out understanding of who the Almighty Counselor is, and we rely on god’s [Christian] word and the Almighty Counselor” Bachmann is breaking all EEO rules on discrimination.
(2) Bachmann has claimed that his oath is “first do no harm” from the Greek ἐπὶ δηλήσει δὲ καὶ ἀδικίῃ εἴρξειν (that Bachmann does not know) and is a part of the Hippocratic Corpus (http://www.eastridges.com/wesley/primum.html) and then makes broad statements that gays and lesbians are “barbarians [who] need to be educated, need to be disciplined” implying the use of torture be it spanking, deprivation of food, sleep, and so forth.
(3) Michele Bachmann has gone on record noting that any person who receives state and federal funds are engaged in a socialistic system, yet both Marcus and Michele have received such government subsides.
(4) There are numerous other questions including about licensing, regulatory inspections, insurance and what happens if a patient is harmed, how young the patients are when they come to the clinic, and so forth (an excellent list is at http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/10-questions-bachmanns-husband-must-answer-about-christian-counseling/politics/2011/07/07/23180).
Arthur Frederick Ide's Blog 
I am neither a fan of Michelle Bachman or a graduate of Union Institiute. I also find the type of therapy discussed here to be pseudo therapy and a violation of personhood. Unfortunately, any truth in this article is made questionable by some errors and statements like “he bought his degree.” Union Institute is an fully accredited university with typical requirements. Even though the psychology PhD in fact did not meet the standards of one credentialing body in 2004, it has responded to the concerns and has met and continues to meet the requirements. The US Department of Education does NOT accredit or “denounce” institutions of higher learning. Other bodies do that.
see this page at Union http://www.myunion.edu/about/accreditation-meaning.html
Medicare is for the elderly or certain disabled persons. I somehow don’t see these folks needing this kind of treatment. If billing did occur it was most likely with the medicaid program.
The reference is to Marcus Bachmann claiming that he has a PhD in psychology (that was not awarded in 2004, and the program was not accredited by the APA); Marcus never visited the campus (and it was not yet built in Eagan MN) so “bought his degree” over the internet as Union was (and still is in part) online education. The US Department of Education warned the school that it did not meet sufficient standards to qualify for assistance.
While it is true that medicare is (basically) restricted to people age 65 or more, a person can qualify for medicare hospital insurance by paying a monthly premium. According to the Medicare website (http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10043.html#part3): Before age 65, you are eligible for free Medicare hospital insurance if:
•You have been entitled to Social Security disability benefits for 24 months; or
•You receive a disability pension from the railroad retirement board and meet certain conditions; or
•If you receive Social Security disability benefits because you have Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis); or
•You worked long enough in a government job where Medicare taxes were paid and you meet the requirements of the Social Security disability program; or
•You are the child or widow(er) age 50 or older, including a divorced widow(er), of someone who has worked long enough in a government job where Medicare taxes were paid and you meet the requirements of the Social Security disability program.
•You have permanent kidney failure and you receive maintenance dialysis or a kidney transplant and:
◦You are eligible for or receive monthly benefits under Social Security or the railroad retirement system; or
◦You have worked long enough in a Medicare-covered government job; or
◦You are the child or spouse (including a divorced spouse) of a worker (living or deceased) who has worked long enough under Social Security or in a Medicare-covered government job.
I stand behind my article. I will be happy to provide additional information at your request.
You’re completely wrong about Argosy University — it’s a bricks and mortar institution right here in Eagan, MN and its program is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Such unfounded efforts at disparaging Bachmann undermines the credibility of your entire thesis. I simply can’t trust your other assertions, and don’t have time to peresonally verify them. Next time, check your facts!
For other people’s view, see http://local.yahoo.com/info-16999204-argosy-university-twin-cities-eagan?tab=reviews#reviews; the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota (BBB) did find that Argosy was accredited in 2009 (I write about 2004) at http://www.bbb.org/minnesota/business-reviews/schools-academic-colleges-and-universities/argosy-university-twin-cities-campus-in-eagan-mn-1561 however the Argosy campus in Dallas is still not accredited (http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=18044) and the Florida investigation (no criminal charges yet) is still being reviewed in Florida (http://myfloridalegal.com/__85256309005085AB.nsf/0/31BC85F3813C963C852577C00072D4CE).
ArgosyOnline University (which I am writing about) is at http://lp.argosyonline.info/search/tm/?med=ppc&src=BINGPS&ven=Search&keyword=6048155016&pcrid=632571390&tmcampid=101&tmad=c&kid=YRXF0wLb
Argosy Universty in the Twin Cities does have a new 90,000-square-foot campus located south of Minneapolis in suburban Eagan, Minnesota.
A scholar takes time to review all citations, and a student does present opinions and objections. You do meet the latter criteria, and I am grateful, but I do stand behind my scholarship and research and the article. Thank you for writing.
Wow, and this is the GOP best hope, a lying hypocrite who says one thing and does another. We’ve had enough of this kind of politician, for that matter we’ve had enough republican leadership for a lifetime
Excellent overview. Now, if only the MSM would pick up on everything you wrote…
You have confused Union Institute (which is in Ohio and is accredited, http://www.myunion.edu/) with Union College (which is in Schenectady NY: http://www.union.edu/ ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Institute_%26_University
My alma mater was Vermont College, which was sold by Norwich to Union, but their programs are still accredited.
Union Institute and University is in Cincinnati (although it has five branches)–and can be seen at http://www.myunion.edu/. Be careful when using wikipedia as it is not always correct (I furnish a few facts to them to correct articles). It was not accredited in psychology in 2004, and the Secretary of Education told it to shut down its doctorate program (that offered a PsycD–not a PhD, as Marcus Bachmann claims). Today it is accredited, but that is seven years after the fact, and Bachmann is still claiming an accredited degree–but neither the American Psychiatric Association nor the American Psychological Association or any in Minnesota recognize his “degree” or those of his 23/27 (varies depending on who is cataloging whom), and he is considered a “therapist” since Minnesota has no formal or firm foundation to base accreditation for “therapists”.
Unfortunately Vermont College was sold, but many struggling campuses are sold to for-profit irresponsible institutions (such as Phoenix University that has been sued repeatedly, been heavily fined by the US Department of Education, etc. Years ago, when I taught at Mauna Olu College (a private college) it was sole to the Dole interests and became a pineapple patch, and the students moved to Maui Community College that offered a marginal education. I left Mauna Olu (I was Assistant Professor of History and Philosophy) and went on to Arizona State, etc. The problem is that most industries and businesses do not see that their failure to support quality education will ultimately affect their businesses; and today, with 7000 high school students dropping out of high school every day, the quality of learning has diminished as students do not like to read, are disinterested in classes that are taught by “facilitators” rather than subject matter experts, and find that memorizing is effective and fall back into the fantasy of make-believe, accepting such nonsense as Intelligent Design as creationism requires no study or insight, while evolution requires individual mental work and reasoning.
Powerful! Not only is she a ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian who is also an anti-government far right-wing Tea Party republican Representative in the US Congress running for President of the United States; but she is a lyer and a fraud. Now I will see her “get government out of our lives” mantra as a logical consequence of protecting her and her husband’s quasi-illegal, definitely immoral and unethical conduct of psychological counseling without a license.
It’s obvious that they are trying to protect their lifestyle by making it impossible for government to question much less regulate the scam they call a business. They are taking advantage of desparate people practicing a clearly non-sensical therapy to “pray out the gay.” To add injury to insult, they are not above taking advantage of the taxpayers by taking Medicare funds fo pay for the phony treatments that actually may do harm.
These people should not only be voted out of office, but they should be indicted for Medicare Fraud, practicing psychology without a license, and using fraudulent practices to lure the disadvantaged into economically and psychologically damaging transactions from which the Bachmann’s are unjustly enriched.
Excellent work! I’ve been doing research on the Bachmanns and much of I have uncovered so far is your piece. This clinic is religion masquerading as a therapy. It needs to be shut down.
Wow… lots of stuff in this article… the fact-checking, alone, would take me more time than I’m willing to give it.
I should say, before I write the primary thing that I’m now posting here to write, that I’m no fan of either of the Bachmanns; that I’m a socially, politically and theologically fairly far left-wing, lifelong Democrat and liberal/progressive; and most days I’d like to see at least one of the Bachmanns get, at minimum, a pie in the face. And though I’m not gay, I am squarly in the LGBT community’s corner on nearly all things; that I view same sex marriage as a constitutional right; and that the whole notion of reparative therapy, and the whole ex-gay thing is just ludicrous. It’s worthy of further note that I am a progressive, ecumenical, radically-inclusive Christian, with a ministry of agency/advocacy to the homeless, the elderly, disabled vets, the prostituted, recent parolees, and others similarly in need; a Christian of deep and abiding faith who is deeply saddened by how the religious right has co-opted the word “Christianity.”
One of my management consulting firm’s areas of expertise is education, generally; higher-education more specifically; and accredited distance learning and legitimate higher education accreditation most specifically. I am also an avid anti-diploma/degree-mill activist who deplores people with fake credentials; and I have gone out of my way, in life, to “out” those with them, whether in employment situations, or in church organization or, in particular, in politics. I’ve cost more than one local politician an election in the past decade or so, making sure that the voters knew what a fraud s/he was over his/her fake degree(s).
I felt I needed to explain all that just in case anyone thinks that my finding fault with any part of this article is motivated by my being a Republican or a Bachmann supporter or anything nutty like that.
One of the sad consequences of “degree mills” and “diploma mills” becoming something more in the news in recent years is that people often misuse the terms by using them to refer to any school which is of poor quality… sometimes even when said school is, indeed, accredited by an agency approved by either the US Department of Education (USDE) and/or the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Those are the only two US entities which can approved legitimate educational accreditation agencies (commonly called “accreditors”); and, by definition, any school which is accredited by a USDE- and/or CHEA-approved agency cannot possibly be either a “degree mill” or a “diploma mill.”
This article refers to the “disreputable and unaccredited Oral Roberts University.” While I can certainly see the use of the word “disreputable,” there is no question that it is inaccurate to say that Oral Roberts University is “unaccredited.” Since 1971, Oral Roberts University has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) in Chicago… one of the so-called “big six” USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditors known as “regional” (as opposed to “national” or “programmatic”) accreditors… the very same six “regional” accreditors which accredit the public elementary, middle and high schools which most Americans attended; and the very same six “regional” accreditors which accredit most states’ junior and/or community colleges, state college systems, state university systems, and private colleges, universities, technical schools and many seminaries.
Among accreditors, the six “regional” accreditors are generally considered to represent the so-called “gold standard” of accreditation… the highest possible quality. Whether or not that’s actually true, in practice, is a completely unrelated argument which we can all have at another time; but there is no question that “regional” accreditation of the type which Oral Roberts University indeed has is the most respected of all in the United States.
It’s important to understand, however, that accreditation is a MINIMUM standard, not a maximal or optimal one. A school’s being accredited by a USDE- and/or CHEA-approved agency simply means that it at least meets the dead minimum standards of overal quality and rigor which make its students eligible for federal financial aid; which make its course credits transferable to other accredited schools; and which make its degree requisite for entry into higher-level degree programs at other accredited schools. A school’s being accredited does not speak to the upper-end of the quality spectrum; after all, both Harvard and Yale have the exact same kind of “regional” accreditation as one’s local community college, and no one would argue that one’s local community college is as good as either Harvard or Yale. Rather, accreditation speaks only to MINIMUM standards of acceptability. Some accredited schools are better than others…
…hence the ability of any of us to consider that Oral Roberts University could possibly be considered “disreputable” (along with a host of other negative adjectives), despite its being accredited.
Oral Roberts’s now-closed Coburn School of Law was also accredited by a USDE- and CHEA-approved agency: The American Bar Association (ABA), which accredits nearly all US law schools; and the accreditation of which is required by most states in order for said states to accept as requisite to sit for their Bar Exam the degree of any US law school.
However, I believe Coburn was not yet ABA accredited at the time Michele Bachmann graduated from it. She was part of the law school’s inaugural class in 1979, and I believe it took a while for the ABA to finally decide to accredit the school at first. That, however, apparently didn’t prohibit Bachmann from sitting for the Bar Exam… which is common in many states where a new law school is fairly clearly going to ultimately be ABA accredited, but hasn’t quite been by the time its earliest graduates are ready to sit for the Bar. Most states are willing to make special exceptions in such circumstances. And some states also have their own special exceptions… state law schools which are not ABA accredited, but which are accredited by the state’s Bar or Supreme Court; and whose graduates may sit for said state’s Bar Exam. California is the state where that happens more than any other; but Tennesee, Massachusetts, and I believe maybe three or four others (I’d have to look it up) also have such schools.
As for Bachmann’s husband, Doofu… er… I mean… Marcus, and his educational credentials, that’s a little less clear. If, by “Union College (Cincinnati, OH),” this article means what is now called “Union Institute and University,” it, too, is “regionally” accredited by the North Central Association’s Higher Learning Commission (NCA-HLC) in Chicago, and has been since 1985. If Marcus Bachmann got whatever credential he got from Union after 1985, then it is accredited. Whether it was a degree or a certificate is something I do not know (though a call to the school should quickly reveal the truth); but, in either case, if it was post-1985, then it’s accredited.
I’m also troubled by the entire sentence which contained the phrase addressed in the previous paragraph, to wit: “He bought the degree at Union College (Cincinnati, OH), a school that he never attended.”
Again, assuming we’re talking about the Union Institute and University, which I just explained has been “regionally” accredited since 1985, then he could not possibly have “bought” the degree… or any OTHER credential, for that matter. Though such as that is the very means by which diploma/degree-mills operate, such is simply not possible, for ANY price, or by ANY means, at a “regionally” accredited school. Period.
As for whether he actually attended Union Institute and University, I do not know; but, again, a simple phone call to the school could quickly clear that up. Schools will not divulge anything confidential about a given student, but they will at least confirm whether or not s/he ever attended, and what credential s/he earned.
My fear is that the article’s author is misusing the term “attended.” Union has long been a distance-learning institution; so, therefore, one need never physically visit the campus or “attend” any classes there. The same is true for Harvard and Yale’s distance entirely learning degrees. However, the word “attended,” when used in the way that those in academia use that term, has nothing to do with proximity, or whether or not the student “attended” any in-classroom sessions. Even those who earn their degrees entirely via distance learning are said to have “attended” the schools which awarded them. If Marcus Bachmann indeed earned a credential from Union Institute and University via distance learning, then he is considered to have “attended” it, even if he never actually set foot on its physical campus. If I’m correct about this article’s misuse of the word “attended,” then it is wholly inaccurate and unfair. In order to be credible, we need to be fair even to our enemies.
Whether Marcus Bachmann earned a mere certificate, or an entire PhD is something I’d have to research… which, again, is most easily done by just calling the school.
If Marcus Bachmann is practicing secular psychological counseling and/or therapy without a proper degree or license, then, depending on Minnesota’s laws regarding that profession, he may well be operating illegally. Who knows. However, it’s important for the reader to understand that most states allow “Christian Counseling,” or “Spiritual Counseling,” or “Pastoral Counseling,” or some other similarly-named/designated “counseling,” then Bachmann may very well not be breaking any laws… again, depending on how Minnesota’s statutes treat such things. Religious/spiritual “counseling” is generally exempt from state licensure… or, in many states, even regulation. If Bachmann is conducting is “reparative therapy” and other “counseling” under the aegis if religious/spiritual “counseling,” then he may very well be operating completely legally. Again, I’d have to research it. But I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that things may (and I stress that word, because I don’t know) not be exactly what this article claims with regard to whether or not Marcus Bachmann is doing anything illegal with respect to his “counseling” activities. Again, more research clearly needs to be done… and I, for one, have neither the time or interest.
The article, overall, is interesting; and I, personally, hope that everything negative (but only which is provably true) about the Bachmann’s comes out in such articles. Michele Bachman getting anywhere NEAR the White House as a member of the Executive Branch would be a travesty. She’s… well… frankly… nuts.
And her husband… geez… has anybody bothered to tell him that he’s gay? I mean… does he realize that about himself? One’s gaydar can be malfunctioning and one may nevertheless still see THAT from six miles out.
But, of course, he DOES know that. That’s why he’s so into reparative therapy, and the whole ex-gay thing. If that stuff’s invalid, then so’s his being “ex” gay.
These two horrible people are the epitome of ignorance, hypocracy and both socio-politically and theologically right-winged, Evangelical Christian mean-spiritedness. They are he very definition and example of those who claim they love America, but seem to hate Americans. Either of them becoming any more powerful than they already are would be a dangerous thing, indeed.
So, I’m HAPPY that people are writing articles like this one. However, we need to be careful what we claim in them… or at least be more clear. If we get caught misleading or misrepresenting in such articles, then it becomes WE who lose our credibility; and when that happens, even the true and accurate content of the by-then-discredited article gets dismissed and ignored.
Provable truth. We must stick to that… no matter what.
Just tryin’ to help! Keep up the good work.
Gregg L. DesElms
895 Jackson St., #319
Napa CA 94559-1321
1-877-383-5148 (toll-free voice)
(206) 984-1288 (fax)
gregg@greggdeselms.com (email)
Would that everyone who reads the article, also immediately read your comments! You justly apply good scholarship that should have been on the original article. Full understanding brings a greater argument, so “provable truth” should accompany any argument one wishes to win or to use to bring down dishonest practices.
WOW. How do people like this even get this far so as to become a presidential candidate??? Her husband should be imprisoned and she should be banned from running for president! What backward, hypocritical bigots these guys are!!!
Because they are republican, there is big money behind them from the big boys. Anything to get President Obama out of the white house only because he is black. Pure Bigotry
and because they dont get the pushback they should..
This is seriously scary!
Pingback: Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #107 | Pax Nortona - A Blog by Joel Sax
Thank you for a well-researched article and the excellent citations. I can only imagine the time it took to write this, and appreciate your efforts.
How could anyone possibly endorse “praying away the gay? Any question about why he is not a licensed psychologist are in the end irrelevant, the APA tells us this therapy is not only ineffective but harmful.
She’s ridiculous.
Is there a way to pray homophobia away????
These people make me sick!
MEDICAID (caid not care) funds.
I just have to ask myself if it’s time to stop trying to reason with bigots, and to start hurling dog shit at them wherever they go in public. Over the weekend, Michele Bachmann said that if elected president, she would reinstate the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. WTF? Does this vicious monster have inside information not available to the Joint Chief of Staff showing that out gay people serving in the military will endanger national security? I mean, seriously – WTF – she’s running for president, and says she would reinstate DADT — based on what, exactly? By the time she would be in office, out gay soldiers would already be serving. Would Bachmann personally introduce the proposed measure to Congress? Is she expecting no political push-back? Whom would she call as witnesses to demonstrate that harm was done to the military by eliminating DADT? Every country that has out gay service members reports no problem as a result. WTF? This woman is a gay-bashing loon. What would be her plan for working with the military to phase out, out gay service members in order to reinstate DADT? WTF? She should have dog shit hurled in her face wherever she goes, by LGBT Americans and their supporters furious at her for her political hate-mongering against gay people. WTF? She would reinstate DADT?
I have spent the last several weeks disgusted and in awe of the popularity that has swirled around the Bachmann’s. As the last months and years have ticked by, at some level I believed this woman and her husband would be definitively discredited and disappear. They have [been discredited — thank you Arthur] but increasing numbers of fellow Americans seem to be subscribing to the Bachmann/Santorum/Perry propaganda and the group think is gathering mass. My belief in a higher power has been ever present. But I find myself in such disbelief that I PRAY this can’t be happening. Could their be enough voting people in this country truly depraved and hateful, truly dePRIVED and ignorant to believe what this woman is saying?
I hope Barack has got something up his sleeve. The number one problem in this US is NOT jobs or the wars, it is saving us from utter idiocracy should this party gain control. And with the new “pledge” to end any validation of gay relationships, which INCLUDES a pledge to stuff the supreme court with anti-gay justices — we could be living in a fascist version of the movie WALL-E before we know it. Has ANYONE read the Constitution or the Bill of Rights? The BIBLE is not the be-all end-all in this country. Could we really be heading down this road?
The most shocking thing about this article is that if these statements are true then how can a criminal like Bachmann(s) get so entrenched in the American political system???
That is the big question here!
maybe now that this story has gone national it wont be long before they r investigated.. lets keep it in the news
11
The ugly insidious ways these crazed people have seem just overpower the unthinking fools who need some kind of sanction for their hideous actions. So they use “The Bible” ( of which there are over 300 versions)… how can they possibly believe they are actually behaving decently? Their ‘godliness’ is a thick facade they hide behind and use. The only love this woman and her followers have is for themselves, and she lives on a one way street. ICK!
I always say religion is he Devils work!! And I bet He just loves the irony of people doing His work in the name of God! (if ofcourse God and the Devil existed… which they dont!)
Pingback: New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Tea Party, Destroying Individual Freedom, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry & C. Peter Wagner | Arthur Frederick Ide's Blog
I would love to see the day when Macrus gets busted with a “baggage/rent boy.” Both he and Michelle are nothing but fraudulent bigots and the sooner the country realizes this the better
Marcus Bachmann is the real life Stuart Smalley, the graduate of several twelve step programs, and obviously effeminate. You can’t listen to the man talk for five minutes without thinking that he actually tried to “Trace it, face it, and erase it” aka “‘Pray the Gay Away” only to suppress it without successfully hiding it. As Stuart Smalley would put it, “You’re only as sick as your secrets.”
I cannot see the American people electing this cabbage for president, but then I saw many elect George Bush who seemed to have the IQ of dirt. I find it rather odd that this ‘Born Again Christian’ totally ignores the Bible verses that state that a woman should not be over the head of a man. And I assume that becoming president would place her over the head of men. So how this work within her religious beliefs? There are far more Scriptures about this than homosexuality. I always find it interesting how the religious can acknowledge some Bible verses and totally ignore others…you know…the ones that for some reason don’t apply to them.
This is just wrong, wrong, wrong, on so many levels. Here are my thoughts.
Re: Mr. Bachman–How does a state’s Medicaid agency (which receives funding from federal and state resources/i.e. our tax dollars) justify reimbursing ‘counseling’ by an individual with a degree in interdisciplinary studies from any university (online or otherwise). Translation for interdisciplinary degree = I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, daddy’s paid a lot of money for my years in college, so I’ll make all these courses I’ve had add up to something (wink-nudge).
Re: Mrs. Bachman–Really? While she may have studied in an unaccredited program of study, does a law degree from a Biblical purview qualify her for anything but to maybe teach religious law (according to ‘Christian’ perspectives of Oral Roberts University of course)? She ignorant of international diplomacy, economics, geography or history (US or world) based on the statements she makes; and, she’s already an elected federal official running for the office of President?
The secular world does not need to accredit any school which upholds the biblical view of reality. If that secular world view were what students went to school to learn about they could go to state funded schools. The issue here is freedom to choose the kind of education that you want and that prepares you for what you want. Those who want to challenge the credibility, viability or reliability of Christian Institutions need to understand the rights that the Constitution guarantees. We do not have to agree on our world views but we must be free to believe what we choose in accordance with our consciences and in obedience to whatever set of principles we hold to be worthy of our fealty.
Welcome to America, it is a big tent and freedom supports us all.
Actual the secular world must approve the basic curriculum (just not make a judgment on theological issues and studies). That need exists because schools that teach creationism (Intelligent Design [sic]) are damaging not only their students’ future but the advance of science by harkening to a discredited mythology based on faulty texts that evolved over years with repeated redactions and mistranslations. If a student from these church or home schools “graduate” they expect to be treated identical to those with a solid education and find it “troubling” when they are denied employment that requires them to have the same education as those who come from public schools.
While the US Constitution does guarantee “freedom of religion” it also guarantees “freedom from religion” but no where in the US Constitution does the document guarantee freedom of ignorance. Belief is a private matter and cannot be disputed unless it comes up in discussion. But no student has the right to affirm a doctrine that can cause suffering, loss of life, or degeneration of the advances medicine and science has offered to make society a better place. Those religions that refuse blood transfusions to save a child’s life are monstrous groups and the parents who allow a child to die because of lack of a blood transfusion or an operation or medicine. These parents must be tried for premeditated first degree murder, and their churches fined for teaching an absurdity (the churches have “pastors” without any real education, they do not know ancient Hebrew or any other biblical language, and the “consumption of blood” refers to oral consumming). The problem with religions (all) is they are using contemporary (bad) translations as few study the original languages and know what words mean–thus was have Adam and Eve when Adam is a word for “dust” and Eve is a word for “living”–the Garden was a noble’s estate, and the “elohim” is translated as gods (there is no monotheism in the “Bible” before Moses in Exodus and then the passage is “have no other gods BEFORE me” meaning it is okay to have all the gods you want after–as “before” is a preposition) but in truth is “lords” or “warriors” and is an account of ignorant people working on the estate of a nobleman who did not want the workers to be educated and thereby challenge his autocracy.
Everyone is “free to believe what we choose in accordance with out consciences” you write–and that is true–up to a point. It stops being a right when people “believe” (meaning to think and to operate/work) that which will destroy or harm society. The jihadists of Islam “believe” they have a right to commit holy suicide, but they are taking away the freedom of those who want to live. Christian terrorism is as evil and ugly and wrong as any other terrorism, and thus Anders Breivik is no hero for killing 73 children any more than is Michele Bachmann for saying that “gay is not okay” and sporting with gay people so that nine students in her district in Minnesota commit suicide. When words and actions lead to pain, and death, and they are not open to debate or discussion, then the speaker loses his/her right to “free speech”. As the US Supreme Court ruled, no one has the right to shout “fire” in a crowded room. To that end, no one has the right to preach hatred, like the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) that Bachmanns belonged to when it claims the “pope is the Anti-Christ” for we have recent record of John Paul II being the target of an assassin because the assassin thought the pope was the “great serpent” (Islam’s definition/word choice for Anti-Christ).
Marcus Bachmann is a fraud. Reparative therapy frequently leads to suicide, and national statistics also show that his brand of “pray the gay away” is unsuccessful as is the ploys of Colin Cook, Exodus International, and other hate groups. Bachmann is not registered with the State of Minnesota, he is not recognized by the American Psychological Association, etc. and his “freedom of religion” has made him, at best, a dangerous bigot who would control his wife (who believes in submission to her husband–although that is not the word found in any letter by Paul as she cites) and, like Rick Perry, attempt to recriminalize homosexuality: a reality that is natural (it appears in all species in nature), normal (it happens repeatedly among all species), and good (it does deter births).
Thank you for your comments.
Pingback: Church and State - Page 15