{"id":4092,"date":"2010-05-15T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2010-05-15T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=4092"},"modified":"2010-05-15T09:39:13","modified_gmt":"2010-05-15T13:39:13","slug":"the-sin-of-thereby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2010\/05\/15\/the-sin-of-thereby\/","title":{"rendered":"the sin of thereby<\/em>…"},"content":{"rendered":"
I guess this story is coming to a close. I’m going to miss it. It’s so much more fun that the one about the Gulf of Mexico turning into an oil bath or the latest on the incompetent Times Square bomber. Here’s how Rekers got busted. <\/div>\n
\n
How George Alan Rekers and his rent boy got busted by New Times<\/a>
Miami New Times<\/strong>
By Brandon K. Thorp and Penn Bullock
May 13 2010<\/div>\n

The young man sitting on a baggage cart at a Miami International Airport arrivals terminal seems worried. Lifting luggage is part of his job description, but his travel companion — a minister — and the bags are still at customs, randomly selected for a special security procedure. The two guys standing nearby make the young man even more uneasy. One of them holds a hot-pink digital camera, and both are trying hard not to look his way. They keep stealing glances, which the young man tries to ignore. He has no idea the two guys have spent the past week studying screen captures of his emails — including the itinerary of his trip with the minister — sent by a friend he once entrusted with his passwords. In fact, the young man doesn’t really know the man with whom he has spent the past two weeks.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the minister makes it out of customs with his baggage cart. The 61-year-old with combed-over hair and a bushy mustache joins his young travel companion. As they wait for an elevator, there is a click and a flash, and the guys with the pink camera disappear. In less than a week, that picture will circulate the globe, and George Alan Rekers and his travel companion, Jo-vanni Roman, will become household names. Had it been anybody else returning from a two-week European vacation with a gay male escort, the affair probably would have stayed in the family.<\/p>\n

But Rekers — who is divorced with six grown children, one of them adopted — is a leading activist<\/font><\/strong> in the nation’s anti-gay movement and a cofounder with James Dobson, America’s best-known homophobe, of the Family Research Council. The Baptist minister and prolific author is also a board member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which champions a clinical "gay cure"…<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
And here are his former colleagues running the other way. <\/div>\n
\n
Rekers will send New Times<\/em> a questionnaire that a board-member friend from NARTH has helped him compose. In it, Rekers provides vague answers allegedly from Roman acknowledging all the luggage-carrying and Jesus-talking Rekers did on their trip. He will also threaten to retain a "defamation attorney," calling the New Times<\/em> coverage "slanderous." <\/div>\n

Within a week, his name will disappear from the websites that once boasted it proudly. The Family Research Council will claim to barely remember him and all but declare his guilt. "While we are extremely disappointed when any Christian leader engages in activities they ‘preach’ against, it’s not surprising."<\/p>\n

NARTH will issue no confident denials of the story, only assurances that it takes the Rekers allegations "very seriously." When New Times<\/em> sends Rekers a series of interview questions via email, he says he’s been asked by the University of South Carolina — the institution with which he associates himself at the end of every correspondence — to forward all questions to its spokeswoman. "I am not a spokesperson for Dr. Rekers, but work at the University of South Carolina," the spokeswoman tells New Times<\/em>. "Dr. Rekers retired from here nearly five years ago."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Although he is reportedly divorced [above], this report via email from him has him with a wife\/luggage carrier: <\/div>\n
\n
Psychologist Resigns from NARTH after Gay Prostitute’s Claims<\/a>
Christianity Today<\/strong>
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey
5\/12\/2010<\/div>\n

… In a follow-up e-mail to Christianity Today<\/span>, Rekers said that his wife will be retiring soon and will accompany him on trips when their sons are unavailable<\/font><\/strong>. "I confessed to the Lord and to my family that I was unwise and wrong to hire this travel assistant after knowing him only one month before the trip and not knowing whether he was more than a person raised in a Christian home," Rekers said. "I also confessed to the Lord and to my family the sin of thereby putting myself into a vulnerable situation where I tragically became subject to false allegations." <\/p>\n

Rekers said that he regrets "unanticipated harm" for his "unwise decision," and briefly mentioned part of the trip. "One thing for which I am grateful is that my travel assistant openly shared his spiritual doubts with me during the trip and he did let me share the gospel of Jesus Christ with him with many Scriptures in three extended conversations."<\/p>\n

Rekers said he is being advised by a team of three Christian counselors. "And I have committed myself to ongoing meetings with an experienced pastor and counselor from my church, so I can more fully understand my weaknesses and prevent this kind of unwise decision-making in the future."<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This man is a very strange speaker, as I’ve mentioned before [the fabulist…<\/a><\/strong>]. I still can’t put my finger on what is is. I mentioned his speaking in the first and third person in the same sentences, his comparing himself to Jesus, his fluid relationship with basic logic, but there’s more. How many times have you heard "defamation attorney<\/em>" before? This seems kind of peculiar to me, "not knowing whether he was more than a person raised in a Christian home<\/em>" – as does this tongue-twister, "I also confessed to the Lord and to my family the sin of thereby putting myself into a vulnerable situation where I tragically became subject to false allegations<\/em>." The term "stilted language" comes to mind. <\/div>\n

George Rekers has a 22 page Curriculum Vitae<\/font><\/strong><\/a>. One of those that lists everything he’s ever done, but even though it’s padded, it’s quite impressive. He’s been a very busy guy. Here are his degrees and other training experiences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
ORDINATION<\/strong>:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nMinister of the Gospel, Southern Baptist Convention <\/td>\n1994<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EDUCATION<\/strong>:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nSouthern Wesleyan University M.B.A. Executive Management <\/td>\n2004<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nUniversity of South Africa Th.D. Practical Theology <\/td>\n1997<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nColumbia International University M.Div. Cross-Cultural Ministry\/Missions <\/td>\n1993<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nUniversity of California, Ph.D. Psychology <\/td>\n1972<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nLos Angeles C.Phil. Psychology <\/td>\n1972<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nM.A. Psychology <\/td>\n1971<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nWestmont College B.A. Psychology <\/td>\n1969<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
POSTDOCTORAL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP<\/strong>:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nHarvard University placements at Tufts \/New England Medical Center Hospital Child Guidance Clinic, and Boston Veterans Administration Hospital <\/td>\n1973-1974<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PREVIOUS UNIVERSITY POSITIONS<\/strong>:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nHarvard University Research Fellow and Visiting Scholar Department of Psychology Center for the Behavioral Science <\/td>\n1972-1973 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nUniversity of California at Assistant Research Psychologist; and Los Angeles Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology <\/td>\n1974-1977<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nUniversity of Florida Chief Psychologist, Division of Child andCollege of Medicine and Adolescent Psychiatry, and College of Health Related Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Professions Clinical Psychology, and Pediatrics <\/td>\n1977-1980<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
•<\/td>\nKansas State University Department Head and Professor (tenured) Dept. of Family and Child Development <\/td>\n1980-1985<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

So unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat, the Reverend Doctor George A. Rekers is finished. In spite of amassing a multi-page resume and six post college degrees, his career comes down to a trip to Europe with a gay hooker, something none of us would’ve cared about except for his prominence in the anti-gay establishment. He’s obviously an insecure guy to have such a need to display his credentials, sign everything "distinguished professor," etc. One is left wondering if his insecurity is related to being a closeted homosexual\/bisexual man? Is his paradoxical anti-gay, pro-traditional family stance part of an elaborate reaction formation or cover-up? Does he have an elaborate rationalization system that makes his assertion "I am not gay" something he really believes? Is he a victim of homophobia, or a perpetrator, or both? Ironically, the current situation offers him an opportunity to contribute to our understanding of the human psyche, something his CV says he’s very interested in doing. He could candidly try to answer those questions, but that’s not likely to happen…<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I guess this story is coming to a close. I’m going to miss it. It’s so much more fun that the one about the Gulf of Mexico turning into an oil bath or the latest on the incompetent Times Square bomber. Here’s how Rekers got busted. How George Alan Rekers and his rent boy got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}