Dr Paul Allen

The   Conversion Practices Ban Act  2024 (NSW)   (“the Act”) is now in force, having commenced operation on 4 April 2025. I  previously posted  a paper expressing concerns about the Act's operation in relation to religious freedom. In this post, I want to reiterate briefly some of those concerns  and comment on “guidance” on the operation of the Act provided by NSW government officials. I commend the previous paper to readers for more details. However, the following extracts may help set the scene for my comments on the NSW government guidance. Below, I will be referring to the “ Frequently Asked Questions ” (“FAQ”) page produced by “Anti-Discrimination NSW” (ADNSW)- the version I am commenting on was dated 7 April 2025. (ADNSW is the “online identity” of the body formally known as the “Anti-Discrimination Board” established under the  Anti-Discrimination Act 1977  (NSW); the President of the Board receives initial complaints under the Act- see s ...

For years, LGBTQ activists have demonized professional counseling that they badly misname as “conversion therapy.” The very existence of people who want to leave the LGBT identity behind, not to mention the work of therapists dedicated to helping them, is an affront to the Revolution’s ideology. Numerous “blue states,” including California, New York, and now NSW in Australia, have passed laws making such professional help an ethical violation that can strip therapists of their licenses and livelihoods. No matter that many men and women would like to leave “pride” behind, for religious or family or personal reasons. No matter that many people struggle with same-sex attraction or that it is often a direct result of trauma. The LGBTQ activists insist that “conversion therapy” never works and is always harmful. Any psychological distress people who struggle with same-sex attractions experience is caused by some combination of social stigma, internalized homophobia, or “minority stress,” th...

As is tradition, the newly installed president and vice president attended a prayer service with their families at the National Cathedral on Tuesday morning. But for their trouble, they might as well have stayed home and watched MSNBC. The progressive Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who in 2020 openly called for Trump's defeat, chose to  politicize the moment  designed for national unity in a House of God by pleading with Trump to back away from deporting illegal immigrants. The  expressions  on the faces of Trump's family members speak volumes. Budde also lectured the president about LGBTQ matters. She said, Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent famili...

The entire world has seen how powerful the LGBT movement is. They’ve managed to insert their victim status into every aspect of life and turn it into a glittery display of “diversity and inclusion.” In a parade of French historical moments of liberation, the finale of the Paris Olympics tableaux made one thunderous political statement: “They’re here. They’re queer. And we’re supposed to cheer.” Billions of people didn’t feel that way. The Olympics are supposed to be uniting, but this year’s host country decided to divide, dismiss and denigrate. It started with men dressed up as caricatures of women being given the Olympic torch. It continued with its dismissal of heterosexual love as it frolicked through scenes with a (more than suggested) bisexual threesome, to which the official Olympic X account said: “The freedom to love is no less sacred than the freedom to think.” What if someone’s thinking about paedophilia? What if someone’s thinking about incest? Not everyone’s version of “lov...

I know the premise may sound crazy – gender role theology as a slippery slope to LGBTQ+?!? – but bear with me, and I’ll try not to disappoint. In evangelical patriarchy/hierarchalism/complementarianism, it is often assumed that gender role equality in the church is a slippery slope to acceptance of LGBTQ+ ideology.  The argument goes something like this:  when a woman exercises spiritual authority over men in a church, she rejects her divinely ordained sexual nature as man’s subordinate. This permissiveness paves the way for the takeover of liberal theology, in which God’s intention for sexual activity between a man and a woman, and the sacredness of one’s created gender, are similarly subverted. Many evangelical egalitarians have demonstrated how this argument is beset both by a causal fallacy and a misunderstanding of gender differences. I will briefly summarize their counterarguments and present a new idea, namely, that the exclusion of women from church leadership as “God’...

Dan Delzell Pastor Andy Stanley raised more than a few eyebrows 11 years ago when he shared a story about a couple in his church who got a divorce after the husband began a sexual relationship with another man. Dr. Albert Mohler Jr. described the incident this way: “Stanley clearly and repeatedly stressed the sin of adultery, but then left the reality of the homosexual relationship between the two men unaddressed as sin. To the contrary, he seemed to normalize their relationship.”  And then five years ago, lightning struck again when Andy argued that the Christian faith must be “unhitched” from the Old Testament. Sadly, those who downplay and dismiss the Word of God are terribly misguided and spiritually adrift. Andy continued his assault on Scripture last year when he said, “I know 1 Corinthians 6, and I know Leviticus, and I know Romans 1, so interesting to talk about all that stuff. But just, oh my goodness, a gay man or woman who wants to worship their Heavenly Father, who did ...

Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Rep.) signed a bill into law that bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade. This bill, which has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents, has brought about intense national controversy. This is due, in large part, to the prominent role that sexuality and gender identity play in today’s cultural conversations, as well as the influence of the LGBTQ+ movement in all aspects of our society. Even as the bill was being debated in the Florida legislature, organizations and companies across the country rallied in support or opposition of the bill. Acting ERLC President Brent Leatherwood, speaking about the bill, said, “For years, we have asked elected officials to prioritize the protection of children and to respect families in their policy-making. In general, this new law creates a framework for just that. Mothers and fathers absolutely should be the ones surfacing complex matters...