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Governor's "ex-Gay" church set ablaze
Sarah Palin
Arson attack on Governor Sarah Palin's "ex-gay" church
"The church is widely known to prescribe to ââ¬Åex-gayââ¬Â beliefs, which suggests that a person can change their sexual orientation through prayer and therapy"
Governor of Alaska and former Vice Presidential candidate for the Republicans Sarah Palin has seen her local church set ablaze in what has been confirmed to be an act of arson.
Adults and children inside the Wasilla Bible Church, Anchorage, were not harmed, however the fire caused over $1m (£647,000) worth of damage.
Fire officers confirmed that the blaze was deliberately started however it is unclear whether it was connected to Republican Governor Palin, who visited the church the day after the arson attack.
A campaign issue regarding the church arose after she was chosen as John McCain’s running mate in September; it had emerged that the Wasilla Bible Church had been advertising a conference that promises to “cure” homosexuals, organised by a fundamentalist Christian group called Focus on the Family.
The ad in the church’s bulletin stated:
“You’ll be encouraged by the power of God’s love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality.”
Palin, who has attended the Wasilla Bible Church for six years, directly opposes gay marriage and abortion and as such supports the teachings of both intelligent design alongside those of evolution, and similarly the Focus on the Family group has been known to have worked against issues including gay civil rights and marriage equality.
The church is widely known to prescribe to “ex-gay” beliefs, which suggests that a person can change their sexual orientation through prayer and therapy. However, Palin’s views on the “ex-gay” movement are not known.
Despite this, all leading US mental health professional groups including the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association reject this claim, and have found that the majority of homosexuals who claim to have achieved heterosexuality are not fully functional and can lead to mental breakdowns and/or other mental health problems.
