Scientists develop ‘DNA scissor’ that avoids mutations

The Jakarta Post, Lee Woo-young, Asia News Network (The Korea Herald), Seoul, Mon, 04/30/2012

Korean scientists succeeded in cutting a damaged strand of DNA with engineered nuclease technology, or a “molecular scissors,” without generating mutation.

The progress in gene editing is expected to help increase the effectiveness of gene therapy which in most cases fails to achieve intended results, said Kim Jin-soo, a chemistry professor at Seoul National University, who led the research.

His team was able to prevent mutation with a new DNA-cutting enzyme that cuts only one DNA strand entwined with another strand.

So far, engineered nuclease technology has cut both strands or acted at an unintended spot, which eventually caused mutation.

“The engineered nuclease technology is a new method that draws attention from scientists as it can regenerate DNA sequence and restore reversed DNA. I expect the new method could be potentially used to cure incurable diseases such as AIDS and hemophilia,” said Kim.

DNA segments carrying genetic information are cut or rearranged due to radiation and other causes. It is usually a cause of incurable disease if a damaged part is not recovered.

The research findings are published in the online version of Genome Research, a renowned journal on genetics.         

RI to tap potential of traditional and herbal medicines

The Jakarta Post, Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta, Mon, 04/30/2012

Indonesia is committed to developing non-conventional health care that includes traditional, alternative and complimentary medicines as about 80 percent of the country’s population already uses traditional medicines, especially herbal medicines, a senior health official says.

Director General of Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health at the Health Ministry, Slamet Riyadi Yuwono, said on Monday that Indonesia had more than 9,000 species of plants with potential as medicine but only a few of them were developed as herbal medicines.

“We’ve seen a shifting of public interest from modern medical practice to health care which uses the concept of back to nature,” he said on the sidelines of a meeting with visiting officials from Thailand’s Public Health Ministry.

The Thai delegation was led by Suphan Srithamma, director general of the Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM) at the Thai Ministry of Health.

Citing World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2005, Slamet said about 80 percent of the world’s population used herbal medicines.

Scientific studies have shown that 9,600 out of a total 30,000 species of plants in Indonesia have an efficacy as a medicine; however, only a few of them have been used as medicines.

“Thus, we will further promote the development of traditional and herbal medicines by conducting jamu (herbal medicine) scientification and integrating traditional and herbal-based medications into existing health care services,” said Slamet.

In 2008, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared jamu to be the brand of Indonesian herbal medicine.

The Tawangmangu Declaration announced during the 3rd Conference on Traditional Medicine in ASEAN Countries in 2011 agreed upon the use of evidence-based herbal medicine.

Twelve hospitals have so far developed traditional, alternative and complimentary health care services. They include three hospitals in Jakarta (Dharmais Cancer Center, Persahabatan, and Mintoharjo Navy Hospital); Dr Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya; Dr Saiful Anwar Hospital in Malang; Dr Sardjito Hospital in Yogyakarta; Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar; Dr Pirngadi Hospital in Medan; Prof.Dr.R.Soeharso Hospital in Solo; Dr Suraji Tirtonegoro Hospital in Klaten; Dr Wahidin Sudiro Husodo Hospital in Makassar; and Prof.Dr.RD Kandou in Manado.

Related Article:

China to promote traditional medicine overseas

Coca-Cola Shanxi admits to chlorine contamination

The Jakarta Post, Asia News Network (China Daily), Taiyuan, Mon, 04/30/2012

Coca-Cola Shanxi Beverages Co Ltd admitted in a Saturday statement that some of its products were contaminated by chlorine in February during a routine maintenance procedure.

Water in production facilities with small amounts of chlorine flowed into water used for producing drinks during a pipe refitting project on Feb 3 due to errors in operation, the statement said.

The company apologized for the production of nine batches of contaminated products between Feb 4 and 8.

The Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision ordered the company to cease production for rectification on April 28. The bureau said that it has found other problems with the company's production lines.

In mid-April, an anonymous employee of the company told local media that nine batches of beverage products had been contaminated with chlorine during a routine maintenance procedure.

The report was disseminated online, leading some retailers to refuse to purchase products from the company.

The company will check products still in its possession and undertake any necessary measures, said Su Yan, a company official.

Related Article:

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Chiniese authorities have shut Coca-Cola
bottling plant shut after finding its products
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Report: Anti-psychotics wrongly prescribed in nursing homes

USA TODAY, by Melanie Eversley, Apr 29, 2012

Many nursing homes are typically using anti-psychotic drugs in residents who display agitation and combative behavior, but who should not be administered the powerful sedatives, a Boston Globe report based on government data has found.

By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

The Globe based an investigation on data received 19 months after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. government.

At one nursing home, the Ledgewood Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Beverly, Mass., the Globe found that 19% of residents who did not have a diagnosis for which the drugs are recommended were receiving them. The danger is that such patients are exposed to powerful side effects, the Globe reports. The drugs can leave people in a stupor, according to the Globe.

The Food and Drug Administration says that anti-psychotic drugs can cause dizziness, sudden drop in blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, blurred vision and urinary problems in people with dementia, the Globe reports.

At more than one in five U.S. nursing homes, anti-psychotic drugs are administered to people who do not have a condition that warrants their use, the Globe reports.

The news organization found that in 2010, about 185,000 nursing home residents in the United States received such drugs, although the administration of the drugs went against recommendations of federal nursing home regulators, the Globe reports. Many of the patients were suffering from Alzheimer's or some other ailment related to dementia. The drugs are normally intended for people suffering from schizophrenia, according to the Globe.

One medical school professor told the Globe that the use of the drugs raises questions.

"We have an inordinate amount of prescriptions written for a population that is already frail, and we know these drugs increase the risk for side effects, including death," Michael Gloth, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, specializing in seniors, told the Globe. "So why are they being written?"

Members of the nursing home industry, however, told the Globe the drugs are sometimes necessary to keep people from hurting themselves and/or others.

Frank Grosso, vice president of pharmacy services at Genesis Health Care, owner of more than 200 nursing homes, told the news organization that sometimes patients are given lower doses than someone with a psychosis and the data do not reflect that.

"There are things out there the industry can do better, there is no question about that, but there are good things in the industry that are not seen because of these issues with the statistical data," Grosso told the Globe.

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - Text version)

Ferrero sets aside $3 million for Nutella US class action

Reuters, Milan, Sun Apr 29, 2012

(Reuters) - Italian confectionery group Ferrero has agreed to set aside $3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit championed by a Californian mother after she discovered the group's Nutella chocolate spread packed more fat than jam or syrup.

Notices of class action settlements said that Ferrero USA Inc., the group's U.S. division, would pay up to $4 for every jar of Nutella bought in California since August 2009, or bought anywhere else in the United States since January 2008.

The notices posted on nutellaclassactionsettlement.com said the settlement was for $3,050,000 in total.

Ferrero USA also agreed to "modify certain marketing statements about Nutella" and to give more prominence to nutrition labels on Nutella jars, the notices said.

No one at Ferrero was immediately available for comment.

Athena Hohenberg, the mother of a 4-year old in San Diego, California, launched the class-action lawsuit last year, alleging that Ferrero was promoting Nutella as something "healthier than it actually is," court documents said.

Ferrero lists sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa and skimmed milk as Nutella's main ingredients. The typical serving size of 2 tablespoons contains 200 calories and 11 grams of fat, it says on its website.

It markets the dark, creamy spread worldwide as "an example of a tasty yet balanced breakfast" when combined with milk, orange juice and wholewheat bread.

"Ms. Hohenberg was surprised and upset to learn that Nutella was in fact not a 'healthy, nutritious' food but instead a product with the nutritional properties of a candy bar," the lawsuit said.

It is not the first time the spread, popular with children and young adults all over Europe, is criticized for exaggerating its health benefits.

In 2008, the British industry watchdog said a television commercial for Nutella had broken advertising rules because it overstated the role Nutella can play in a child's balanced diet.

Two years ago, Italy complained to the European Union over the impact of stricter food labeling on confectionary products, with Ferrero executives leading the charge against Brussels.

Ferrero is one of Italy's richest and most successful family-owned companies, but also one of its more secretive. It had pre-tax earnings of 856 million euros ($1.14 billion) on sales of 7.2 billion euros for the year to end-August 2011.

Nutella was invented in 1944 by Pietro Ferrero in a patisserie in Alba, near Turin. The company, which also makes Kinder chocolates and Tic Tac sweets, has remained in family hands since his death in 1949.

(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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China to promote traditional medicine overseas

The Jakarta Post, Cheng Yingqi, Asia News Network (China Daily), Beijing, China | Fri, 04/27/2012

China will build 10 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) trading centers worldwide by 2015 to develop TCM services in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

The State Council Information Office held a news conference yesterday to discuss advice given by 14 administrative departments on measures to develop the TCM industry.

Building trading centers was one of the eight key tasks announced at the news conference.

According to a written reply from the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to China Daily, the government departments have not issued specific plans for the construction of the 10 trading centers, but the administration is already carrying out market research and seeking support to start a special campaign for the centers.

Other key tasks include fostering TCM talents, supporting scientific innovations and developing a statistics system for TCM trade.

Currently, China exports its TCM services, such as TCM training and medical treatments, to 160 countries and regions worldwide.

The services are provided mainly through the following channels – foreign tourists visiting China to gain TCM services, Chinese doctors providing remote service through the Internet and Chinese TCM doctors going abroad to practice medicine or to open clinics.

Statistics show that the total trading volume of TCM services is nearly 2.5 billion yuan (US$397 million), said Wang Guoqiang, director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"The whole health industry will see favorable development in the coming years, both at home and abroad, and I believe TCM will have a large part to play," Wang said.

Wang also said that TCM services are facing challenges in the international market.

"The Chinese culture is so different from Western culture, so TCM still does not have high approval in some Western countries.

"At home, our understanding about international trading is not enough, and we do not have globally recognized TCM brands," Wang said.

He said funding for the industry should be boosted, and legal affairs and talents improved.

"TCM has a long history in China, and is an industry that China owns completely independent intellectual property rights," said Qiu Hong, assistant minister of commerce.

"As a result, developing TCM trading will accelerate spreading the Chinese culture to the world, enhance the TCM industry worldwide and benefit China's own TCM industry," Qiu said.

So far, several companies and institutions have presented successful overseas business models, such as Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Tongrentang and the chemical company Tasly Group, according to the State administration of TCM.

China has 36,000 institutes involved in TCM medical services, researching and training, 803,000 certificated TCM teachers and 15,000 people involved in new technology research and development of TCM.

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Health minister resigns

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 04/26/2012 

Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih
JP/Ricky Yudhistira

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih has tendered her resignation to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after he visited her at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta.

Endang has been receiving medical care for lung cancer since April 20. She is currently undergoing radiotherapy and cryosurgery treatments.

“She [Endang] has asked me to approve her resignation due to her illness. She wants to fully concentrate on her medical treatment.” Yudhoyono told reporters on Thursday as reported by antara.com.

Endang, who has also undergone medical treatment abroad, opened up to the public last year about her illness.

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Burger King makes cage-free promise

The Jakarta Post, Tracie Cone, Associated Press, Wed, 04/25/2012

The movement by US food corporations toward more humane treatment of animals experienced a whopper of a shift Wednesday when Burger King announced that all of its eggs and pork will come from cage-free chickens and pigs by 2017.

The decision by the world's second-biggest fast-food restaurant raises the bar for other companies seeking to appeal to the rising consumer demand for more humanely produced fare.

"So many tens of thousands of animals will now be in better living conditions," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which has been pushing Burger King and other corporations to consider animal welfare in purchasing policies. "Numerically this is significant because Burger King is such a big purchaser of these products."

The decision by Burger King, which uses hundreds of millions of eggs and tens of millions of pounds of pork annually, could represent a game-change in the egg and pork supply business as a huge new market has opened up for humanely raised food animals. Already 9 percent of the company's eggs and 20 percent of its pork are cage-free.

The Miami-based company steadily has been increasing its use of cage-free eggs and pork as the industry has become better able to meet demand, said Jonathan Fitzpatrick, chief brand and operations officer. He said the decision is part of the company's social responsibility policy.

"We believe this decision will allow us to leverage our purchasing power to ensure the appropriate and proper treatment of animals by our vendors and suppliers," he said.

Earlier this year, McDonalds and Wendy's announced that they have asked their pork suppliers to outline their plans for elimination of gestation crates without setting a timetable.

The issue of the treatment of pigs raised for pork has recently developed. This year, Smithfield Farms and Hormel committed to ending the use of gestation crates by 2017.

"This is an issue that just four to five months ago was not on the food industry's radar," said Paul Shapiro, vice president for farm animal protection at HSUS. "Now it's firmly cemented into the mainstream in a way that I think few people would have imagined.

Last month, the pork industry's trade magazine editorialized for an end to the practice saying "on the issue of gestation-sow stalls, at least, it's increasingly apparent that you will lose the battle."

HSUS has been pushing for more than a decade for large-scale purchasers of animal products to ensure that they are raised humanely. The organization owns stock in 52 companies that use animal products so that it can attend shareholder meetings and submit proposals for improved animal welfare policy.

It also has used undercover operations to show the conditions some food animals endure.

Conventionally raised eggs come from hens confined in battery cages that give them roughly the same footprint as an 8½ by 11 sheet of paper. Most pork comes from sows that are confined during their four-month pregnancies in narrow crates.

"For every cage-free egg or piece of bacon from a gestation-free pork system that Burger King sells, animals have been spared lifelong confinement in a cage so small they can barely even move," said Matthew Prescott, the HSUS food policy director.

In 2007 Burger King became the first major fast-food restaurant chain to incorporate animal welfare issues into its purchasing policies when it began sourcing at least some of its pork and eggs from cage-free suppliers. The hens are still housed in a barn, but they have room to roam and perches and nesting boxes.

While some companies have been responding to consumer demand by incorporating some percentages of cage-free eggs into their purchase orders, the landslide passage by voters in 2008 of California's Proposition 2, which will ban chicken cages and gestation crates by 2015, caused buyers and suppliers nationwide to take notice. Since then studies have shown that shoppers are willing to pay more for products they believe are produced to higher animal protection standards.

Since then Wal-Mart and Costco have transitioned their private-label eggs to 100 percent cage-free. Unilever, which uses 350 million eggs a year in its Hellmann's mayonnaise brand, is switching to 100 percent cage-free, and others such as Sonic, Subway, Ruby Tuesday, Kraft Food and ConAgra Foods are incorporating some percentage of cage-free eggs in their products.

Egg and pork producers have argued that easing confinement standards for animals raises production costs and makes those who adjust their practices less competitive. That prompted the egg industry's largest trade association, the United Egg Producers, to team with HSUS in seeking federal legislation this year that would double the size of the cages in which 90 percent of the nation's 280 million laying hens are confined.

Industry officials who have argued against cage-free eggs say hens are safer and eggs are less likely to be diseased in a cage system of hen housing.

"Our attitude is our producers believe in consumer choice and if that's what their consumers want to buy, they'll produce cage-free eggs for the marketplace provided the customer is willing to pay the additional cost," said Gene Gregory, president of the United Egg Producers.

Some studies have shown that raising hens cage-free adds 1-cent to the cost of each egg. It's unclear how much more it will cost to raise pork outside of gestation cages. 

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Do Animals Reincarnate? - NOV 22, 2010 (Kuthumi channelled by Lynette Leckie-Clark)

"Animals Consciousness: The Divine of Cats and Dogs" - JUL 31, 2011 (Metraton channelled by Tyberonn)

Novartis tries to make UK hospitals use $1000 drug

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, London, Tue, 04/24/2012

Drug maker Novartis is taking legal action in Britain to make state-run hospitals use an eye drug that costs about £700 (US$1,130) per shot instead of a cheaper one that costs £60.

In a statement, Novartis said it was calling for a judicial review "as a last resort" because it believed patient safety was being potentially compromised.

According to the UK's health watchdog, Novartis' Lucentis is the only drug recommended to treat the eye problem macular degeneration in the country's state-run National Health Service hospitals.

However, several NHS hospitals have been prescribing the much cheaper Avastin, a cancer drug made by Genentech Inc., for the same problem even though it has not been officially approved.

Most doctors only prescribe drugs approved by the health watchdog, but have the discretion to use other treatments if they believe they are warranted.

Last year, four hospitals in southern England decided they would pay for Avastin when it was prescribed by a doctor.

In a statement Tuesday, Novartis AG said it was demanding a judicial review to make the hospitals use Lucentis rather than Avastin.

Novartis said it was concerned patients and clinicians were being pushed to use an unlicensed medicine in order to cut costs. Britain's coalition government has mandated that its National Health Service trim £20 billion from its budget by 2015 as part of a national austerity drive.

"It is unacceptable to put the safety of patients at risk through the widespread use of an unlicensed treatment when a licensed medicine is available," the pharmaceutical company said. Novartis noted there was "emerging evidence" of safety concerns for using Avastin to treat eye problems.

Patient groups called for an independent analysis to determine which drug should be used. "If Avastin is not as safe as Lucentis, no one should be using it," said Helen Jackman, chief executive of the Macular Disease Society. "If it is as good, perhaps everyone should be using it."

Jackman said government ministers should hold an appraisal of whether Avastin was safe to use in eye diseases. Eye doctors are divided over whether Avastin is as safe and effective as Lucentis, she said.

Other critics slammed Novartis for their decision to go to the courts.

"Companies like Novartis should not be in the position to block moves to more cost-effective treatments in order to maximize their profits," said John Harris, of the Institute for Science Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, in a statement. He said it was legitimate for health providers to use treatments that were much cheaper than ones that were already licensed.

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Cheaper switch: Drug giant Novartis is taking legal action to

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Ancient viruses thrive in our DNA

BBC News, by David Shukman, Science editor, 24 April 2012

A history of exposure to infection has marked our genomes

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Traces of ancient viruses which infected our ancestors millions of years ago are more widespread in us than previously thought.

A study shows how extensively viruses from as far back as the dinosaur era still thrive in our genetic material.

It sheds light on the origins of a big proportion of our genetic material, much of which is still not understood.

The scientists investigated the genomes of 38 mammals including humans, mice, rats, elephants and dolphins.

The research was carried out at Oxford University, the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre in New York and the Rega Institute in Belgium.

It is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

One of the viruses was found to have invaded the genome of a common ancestor around 100 million years ago with its remnants discovered in almost every mammal in the study.

Another infected an early primate with the result that it was found in apes, humans and other primates as well.

The work established that many of these viruses lost the ability to transfer from one cell to another.

Instead they evolved to stay within their host cell where they have profilerated very effectively - spending their entire life cycle within the cell.

Forced choice

The researchers found evidence of the viruses multiplying so extensively within mammals' genomes that they have been compared to an outbreak of disease.

The senior author of the study, Dr Robert Belshaw from Oxford University's Zoology Department, said: "This is the story of an epidemic within every animal's genome, a story which has been going on for 100 million years and which continues today.

"We suspect that these viruses are forced to make a choice: either to keep their 'viral' essence and spread between animals and species. Or to commit to one genome and then spread massively within it."

The study shows that the viruses involved have lost a gene called envwhich is responsible for transmission between cells.

Known as endogenous retroviruses, these micro-organisms have gone on to become 30 times more abundant in their host cells.

The study is one of many attempting to understand the full complexity of the human genome.

Astonishingly, only 1.5% of the genetic material in our cells codes for human life. Half of the rest is sometimes described as "junk DNA" with no known function, and the other half consist of genes introduced by viruses and other parasites.

Positive services

According to the lead author, Dr Gkikas Magiorkinis, "much of the dark matter in our genome plays by its own rules, in the same way as an epidemic of an infectious disease but operating over millions of years.

"Learning the rules of this ancient game will help us understand their role in health and disease."

This raises the extraordinary scenario of our DNA serving as an environment in which viruses can evolve - a micro-ecology within the double-helix of our genetic material.

There is evidence that they can provide positive services. For example the protein syncytin - derived from a virus - helps develop the placenta.

Dr Belshaw says that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are not known to have any obvious or direct health effects.

"But there could be effects we're not picking up on or things we could even take advantage of if we detect ERVs moving around or expressing proteins as a result of cancer or infection."

The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society.

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

Pot Legalization Could Save U.S. $13.7 Billion Per Year, 300 Economists Say

Huffington Post, Apr 17, 2012 

Your plans to celebrate 4/20 this Friday could actually make the government some money, if only such activities were legal. That’s according to a bunch of economists, and some prominent ones too.

More than 300 economists, including three nobel laureates, have signed a petition calling attention to the findings of a paper by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, which suggests that if the government legalized marijuana it would save $7.7 billion annually by not having to enforce the current prohibition on the drug. The report added that legalization would save an additional $6 billion per year if the government taxed marijuana at rates similar to alcohol and tobacco.

That's as much as $13.7 billion per year, but it's still minimal when compared to the federal deficit, which hit $1.5 trillion last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

While the economists don't directly call for pot legalization, the petition asks advocates on both sides to engage in an "open and honest debate" about the benefits of pot prohibition.

"At a minimum, this debate will force advocates of current policy to show that prohibition has benefits sufficient to justify the cost to taxpayers, foregone tax revenues, and numerous ancillary consequences that result from marijuana prohibition," the petition states.

The economic benefits of pushing pot into mainstream commerce have long been cited as a reason to make the drug legal, and the economists' petition comes as government officials at both the federal and local levels are looking for ways to raise funds. The majority of Americans say they prefer cutting programs to increasing taxes as a way to deal with the nation’s budget deficit -- marijuana legalization would seemingly give the government money without doing either.

Officials in one state have already made the economic argument for pot legalization, but to no avail. California Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed legislation in 2009 to legalize marijuana in California, arguing that it would yield billions of dollars in tax revenue for a state in dire need of funds. California voters ultimately knocked down a referendum to legalize marijuana in 2010. 

Economist Stephen Easton wrote in Businessweek that the financial benefits of pot legalization may be even bigger than Miron's findings estimate. Based on the amount of money he thinks it would take to produce and market legal marijuana, combined with an estimate of marijuana consumers, Eatson guesses that legalizing the drug could bring in $45 to $100 billion per year. Easton’s name doesn't appear on the petition.

Some argue that the economic argument for pot legalization is already proven by the benefits states and cities have reaped from making medical marijuana legal. Advocates for Colorado's medical marijuana industry argue that legalization has helped to jumpstart a stalled economy in cities like Boulder and Denver, according to nj.com.

Experience: I tried to 'cure' gay people

'It never occurred that maybe you are gay because that's just the way you are'

guardian.co.uk, Jeremy Marks, Friday 20 April 2012

Jeremy Marks: 'I began to think that perhaps we’d got it really wrong.
' Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt for the Guardian

In the 1980s, I started a group called Courage, to "cure" homosexuality. Although today the "ex-gay" ministry seems offensive, back then it was cutting edge, in that we were reaching out to the gay community. The rest of the church just said, "You're wasting your time, they're going to go to hell." We didn't have a "deliverance" approach, but there were some ministries that regarded homosexuals as being possessed by a demonic spirit that could be cast out. We adopted the psychoanalytic idea of an unfortunate family background: distant father, overbearing mother – and this was just a boy looking for a father's love. The idea was that if placed in an affirming male environment, you'd grow out of your desires.

I'd known I was gay from about the age of 13. I got on well with girls, but I didn't feel the sexual chemistry I felt when I watched Richard Chamberlain in Dr Kildare. In those days you could never talk about it. It was a lonely, frightening world.

Then, in 1973, I started going to a Baptist church. It was different from the Anglican one I'd been brought up in. It taught the Bible as being literally true. When I confided in the pastors, they said that resisting homosexual urges was the same as resisting the temptation to steal or lie.

Even though the law changed in 1957 with the Wolfenden Report, the rest of society lagged behind. There was still a sense that what I felt was criminal. But back then, nobody had sex before marriage. That I couldn't have a relationship didn't seem too bad when all the people around me weren't either. It got more difficult later on, when one by one they got married and I was still on my own.

Then, in 1986, I came across a group called the True Freedom Trust and went to one of their meetings, for lesbian and gay Christians who wanted to "overcome" their sexuality. This was the first time I'd met any gay Christians, and it was a huge relief. One evening there was a young man visiting from San Francisco who told how this "ex-gay" ministry called Love In Action had saved him from being a male prostitute. He talked about how God could change your life and how part of that positive change was you wouldn't be gay any more. I went to train with them, and returned to England to set up Courage. We ran a residential programme called Steps Out Of Homosexuality. People came from all over Europe. I did feel attractions, but we believed wholesome friendship was the answer, so I turned my battles into a great cause.

In 1991 I married an amazing woman, the first to lead a (free) church in the UK. We were both in our early 40s, had been good friends for many years, and did not want to be on our own for the rest of our lives. My wife is not a lesbian, but we thought we could at least live a life of companionship and mutual support.

A few years later, we had to close our live-in discipleship houses, but I kept in touch with people afterwards and was dismayed to see what happened. Once people were on their own again, their world collapsed. Family and friends would say, "So, when are we going to hear wedding bells?" It never occurred to them that maybe you are gay because that's just the way you are. I began to see more people losing hope, getting severely depressed. One made a serious suicide attempt.

By the end of the 1990s, the only ones doing well were those who'd accepted they were gay and found a partner. It was as if a great burden had been shifted, that they thought, "Now at last I know who I am. I know I'm in love with somebody and they love me." I thought, this is the kind of result we hoped they'd achieve living an upright Christian life, but they're finding that contentment just being themselves. I began to think that perhaps we'd got it really wrong.

I still run Courage, but now it's with a belief that you can be gay and Christian. We offer a chance to meet other gay Christians and support committed same-sex relationships. It's been difficult for my wife, because she's naturally very concerned that I might therefore decide, "That's it, I want to go and find a man." But we're coming up to retirement age and I wouldn't feel happy just to leave her – feeling abandoned after all we've been through together. Ours may not be the traditional heterosexual romance, but the care for one another's wellbeing is just as real. I try not to look back, but I know I've missed out in a big way – and so has she. She should have been with some heterosexual guy who adored her, as she should be adored.

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"Pray the gay away" therapy covered by Dutch insurance (Video)

Dutch insurers pay for Christian anti-gay therapy

About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack)

“ ... You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.The only identity that has any fundamental or lasting relevance to your Soul is your Divinity. Any other way you may label or identify yourself is transitory. It changes from one incarnation to the next. ..."

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)


"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?