COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE – Barry Fagin: The importance of intellectual integrity

Note: Dr. Barry Fagin is a MRFF Thomas Jefferson Award Winner (2009), National ACLU Civil Liberties Award Winner (1996), Colorado CASE Professor of the Year (2012), and a Two-time Fulbright Scholar who has been voted “Most Widely Read” Gazette columnist

Selected Article Excerpt:

• What does it mean to have intellectual integrity? It means you admit error, changing your mind when the evidence says you should. Someone who uses the trappings of science to masquerade as a scientist, but never admits error regardless of the evidence, is a pseudoscientist. Such people lack intellectual integrity and have no business presenting themselves otherwise.And yet, according to a news release from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, such a man is employed by the Center for Character and Leadership Development at the U.S. Air Force Academy. (For the record, I am an MRFF Thomas Jefferson Award Winner). I am referring to Dr. Mike Rosebush, a well-known practitioner and author in the field of “reparative therapy.”It would be one thing if Dr. Rosebush were an astrologer or a fortune teller. Such activities are far too popular for my taste but relatively harmless as things go. Reparative therapy, however, is a long-discredited practice that attempts to “cure” homosexuals. Far from being harmless, reparative therapy has done unconscionable harm to gay men. Practicing it on minors is illegal in many states. Practicing it on adults can get you kicked out of the American Psychological Association.

  According to the story, Dr. Rosebush has served as a clinical member of the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality, a scientific-sounding group rife with scientific trappings and vocabulary. Their website includes testimonials of men who, through the use of reparative therapy and religion, have “overcome” their same-sex attractions. I have no doubt those stories are true. Group dynamics and religious faith are powerful social forces.

Click to read more