"Ex-Gay" Blogger Sells His Computer, Locks His Phone to Avoid ‘Giving Into Temptation’

I find this story from Gawker very sad. Matt Moore, a blogger for a Christian-centered blog, is publicly trying to not be “sinful” and “give in to temptation” by being gay. I can only imagine the pain and emotional turmoil this man feels frequently by trying to fight his nature. It’s unfortunate that he is doing this publicly, as he is a role model for teens. This may signal to others that you can “fix” your homosexuality and that homosexuals cannot be Christian or religious because it is so “sinful.” I wish Matt would be more honest with himself and his followers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay. Earlier this week, a “formerly homosexual” blogger for the Christian Post was “outed” as a hypocrite for denouncing the “homosexual lifestyle” as immoral on the one hand, while using the other hand to actively search for guys to hook with through the social networking app Grindr. Matt Moore subsequently confessed to Zinnia Jones of Freethought Blogs that he had created a Grindr profile — an act he considered a “major disobedience to Christ.” In a longer post on his private blog entitled “Yes, I was on Grindr,” Moore claims he “chatted with quite a few guys,” but never met up with any of them despite an intense desire to do so. He also takes issue with his portrayal in the media, insisting that he has never ever “even remotely insinuated that I am now ‘heterosexual’ or ‘cured’ from same sex desires,” and that he has “constantly been transparent about my present sinful desires.” But therein lies the problem says Jones in a blog post called “Why I outed ‘ex-gay’ Matt More:

This is about more than just Moore. There are people who are going to read his story, and it will lead them to believe that their gay son or daughter could become straight if they were just willing to try hard enough. By keeping up this charade, he continued to promote the idea that prayer was an effective remedy to homosexuality. Now, people can see for themselves just how effective this really is.

Moore, meanwhile, is giving repression another shot. In an interview with the Christian Post, Moore reveals that, in an effort to keep himself from “giving into temptation” again, he sold his computer and “had someone put a lock on my phone where I cannot download apps or access the Internet through a non-filtered browser.” Asked what he would say to Christians “suffering from same-sex attraction” given the experience he just had, Moore responded, “The same thing I have always said: Jesus is better than sin.”

The world will tell you to embrace your homosexual desires because it’ll make you happy in this life. Jesus tells you to deny yourself and follow Him and promises to give you eternal life if you do.

An eternal life of denying yourself something that makes you happy? Sounds like Hell to me.

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.