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Excerpts for
Do or Die : Reluctant Heroes
Chapter One
Ian Dunn was not what she'd expected from reading his file.
Phoebe glanced at Martell Griffin, who was sitting beside her at the interview table. Even though he nodded very slightly to acknowledge her silent surprise, his eyes never left Ian and the guard who was escorting him into the little room. It was a reminder that this man--the prisoner--was dangerous.
On paper, Dunn had come across as the unscrupulous love child of Captain America and James Bond, capable of damn near anything. He was a former Navy SEAL turned international jewel thief--alleged international jewel thief, because he'd never been charged for that particular crime.
Still, after skimming the file that she'd been handed just this morning, Phoebe had imagined someone who looked more like Cary Grant. Someone slender and light on his feet. Someone capable of becoming invisible when wearing cat burglar black.
But this man in prison garb was built like a boxer. He was Mack truck huge. Piano mover massive.
His only hope at achieving invisibility would be if he tried disguising himself as a small planet or maybe a large moon. Provided it was a very dark night and everyone looking for him was drunk.
He was bigger than Martell, which was saying something, since the African American former-cop-turned-lawyer was tall enough to tower over Phoebe--remarkable since she'd been Amazonian herself since fifth grade.
But Ian Dunn made Martell look nearly undernourished, and Phoebe feel practically petite.
Along with being huge, Dunn was also sweaty. His prison-issue T-shirt was soaked around his collar, down his chest and beneath his arms, too, and it clung to his powerful upper body. The array of tattoos on his massive biceps gleamed as they stretched the edges of the fraying and faded orange sleeves.
His too-long dark brown hair was dripping onto his face, and as Phoebe watched he used the bottom hem of his shirt in an attempt to mop himself dry. As he did so, he displayed an impressive, glistening set of hard-cut abs along with the waistband of a pair of dull orange athletic shorts that he wore dangerously, precariously low on his hips.
And great, he'd lowered his shirt to find her staring at his crotch--her gaze had inadvertently traveled south, following the arrowlike trail of dark hair that pointed the way down from his near-perfect belly button as if it were a flashing neon sign.
Phoebe pushed her glasses up her nose, aimed her eyes at his face, and forced what she hoped was a polite, professional smile, even as he grinned down at her. His blue eyes were twinkling in a face that was broad and cheerful and big-boned with a nose that was too large and a brow that should have been much too heavy for him to be called handsome.
Should have been, but wasn't.
Still, despite the fact that his winsome smile had the power to make the hearts of half the population flutter, Ian Dunn looked more like a man who threw oxen at the local county fair.
More, that is, than the criminal mastermind he allegedly was.
Except that wasn't just a mix of good humor and wry appreciation gleaming now in his eyes as he continued to aim his amusement at her. As he pulled out the chair and flopped down into it, his entire manner was easygoing and relaxed, as if they were meeting at the picnic area of the local softball field where he was taking a break from the game--instead of in an interview room in a Florida state prison where he was halfway through an eighteen-month sentence.
But there was sharp intelligence in Dunn's eyes, too.
Phoebe watched while he turned and nodded reassuringly at the guard, whose movements were almost apologetic as he used a short plastic restraint to lock the band around Dunn's left ankle to a metal anchor in the floor.
The prisoner's hands were cuffed, too, Phoebe realized, but he rested them on the table as if he barely noticed or maybe just didn't give a damn.
"Nice to meet you in person, finally," Dunn said in an evenly modulated, accent-free voice. His words were odd, because neither Phoebe nor Martell had so much as sent him a letter, let alone spoken to him on the phone. There hadn't been time. She herself hadn't known she was coming here until a short, chaotic hour ago. "But you know, if you'd called ahead, I would've showered and dressed for the occasion."
He smiled as he turned slightly to glance over his broad shoulder at the door that closed behind the guard with a solid-sounding thunk.
It was then that his face almost imperceptibly hardened as he looked from Martell to Phoebe and then back to Martell as if he'd used his criminal mastermind to detect that, yes, Martell was in charge of this little meeting. His smile was still securely in place, though, as he leaned in and lowered his voice and asked, "Are you a friend of Conrad's?"
Phoebe glanced at Martell, who narrowed his dark brown eyes slightly at Dunn as he asked, "Who's Conrad?"
The intensity--if that was, in fact, what it was, and not merely her overactive imagination--vanished from Dunn's eyes and face as quickly as it had appeared.
"Apparently not," he said with a shrug as he sat back in his chair. "No big, just an acquaintance I thought might be mutual." He folded his hands across his stomach, his movement limited by those cuffs. "So. What are you here to sell me? Although it's probably best if you start with your names, so I can stop thinking of you as Diverse Lawyer One and"--he looked at Phoebe with another of those sunny smiles--"Diverse Lawyer Two."
"I'm Martell Griffin," Martell said. "And yes, Ms. Kruger and I are lawyers, but only she is here as your lawyer. She works for Bryant, Hill, and Stoneham."
"Whoa, wait, really?" Dunn laughed but then frowned slightly as he asked Phoebe, "Is that . . . ? That's not . . ." He stopped himself and started over. "Where's Uncle Jerry?"
Uncle who . . . ? The question was as cryptic as the one about Conrad. Phoebe quickly glanced at Martell, but he shook his head in a silent I don't know.
"J. Quincy Bryant. The B in B, H, and S," Dunn explained, even though her silence hadn't dragged on for that long. As easygoing as he pretended to be, this was not a patient man. "The J is for Jerry, at least for those of us whose granddads knew him before he was a total soulless douchebag." His warm smile softened the potential edge of his words.
In fact, this man could announce I'm here to rob your house, and if he accompanied his words with one of those smiles, most people's first reaction would be Oh, how nice. Do come in.
Phoebe looked down at her file in dismay, wondering how she'd failed to make note of the fact that one of the senior partners was this man's uncle, although that certainly explained the reason the elite firm represented him. She wished someone had told her that she was going to have to deliver some very bad news to a family member.
"He's not a real uncle, we're not actually blood relations." Dunn saw her face and again was quick with the explanation. "Don't worry, you didn't miss it, it's not in there."
Okay, that was good, except now what was she supposed to tell him? Anything? Or nothing?
"The relationship was more of a my-grandfather-died-saving-his-life-in-Vietnam thing," Dunn continued almost cheerfully. "Uncle Jerry felt indebted. Although it would've been nice if the support had been more proactive. Grocery deliveries and rent assistance while I was still a kid instead of criminal defense after I'd crossed the line, you know what I mean? But hey. Better late than never, right?"
Phoebe knew, from a brief family history, that Dunn's grandfather, John, had been KIA in Vietnam when Ian's father, George, was just a boy. George, who had died from hepatitis four years ago, had been a lifer in prison in Concord, Massachusetts, locked up for his part in a robbery in which a security guard had been killed, albeit accidentally. And although it had never been proven, it was believed that Ian had learned at least some of his mad breaking-and-entering and burglary skills at an early age, from Dunn Senior, who'd learned it in turn from an uncle. A real one. That info was in her file, along with a long list of other allegedlies. Some of them pretty impressively crazy.
But the present-and-living Dunn had asked her a question. Where's Uncle Jerry? She cleared her throat and decided it was best to be vague. "Mr. Bryant is currently unavailable."
"No offense," Dunn said easily, "and I'm sure you're equally douche-tastic as a lawyer--and I mean that in a good way. But whatever you're here for, Ms. Kruger, I'd prefer to wait until Unca Jer gets back from his vaca. Or you can ask the firm to send over his son-in-law, Bob-the-incompetent--if it really can't wait."
And now they were both looking at her.
Martell Griffin, too, had been surprised when Phoebe had been waiting for him outside the prison's gates this morning. He clearly hadn't expected Dunn to have representation present at this meeting--or maybe his surprise was that she wasn't Mr. Bryant or his son-in-law, Bob Middleworth. Especially considering the magnitude of his offer.
And so Phoebe changed her mind. Both men needed an explanation, and outside the prison walls, the news had probably gone public anyway. "Mr. Bryant and Mr. Middleworth were injured in a car accident last night, and I'm so sorry to have to tell you, but Maureen Middleworth--Mr. Bryant's daughter--was killed in the crash."
"Oh, shit," Dunn said.
"The firm's experiencing some chaos," Phoebe continued. "As I'm sure you can imagine."
"I'm sorry," Dunn said, with regret in his eyes. "Poor Jerry. He must be devastated. Bobby, too." He shook his head, took a deep breath, and blew it out. "Wow. I appreciate your stepping up and filling in, Ms. Kruger, but . . . I can certainly wait a few weeks--months even if it takes that long--for Jerry to get back."
Martell spoke up. "I'm sorry, but this situation, however, can't wait."
"It's gonna have to," Dunn said as he turned his gaze to Martell. He obviously and visibly appraised the lawyer's well-fitting suit, his crisp white shirt, his brightly colored tie, as well as the hard planes and angles of a stern face that screamed serious business, accompanied by a gleaming and carefully shaved head. He appraised, but then immediately dismissed. Dunn's body language was as clear as if he'd flicked away a used tissue. "Isn't it." He made his words a statement, not a question, and the testosterone levels in the room rose substantially as Martell bristled, appraising him back.
Lowlife, convict, prisoner scum was the silent message Martell sent in response to Dunn's dismissal, but the prisoner's response was only the smallest of mournful smiles. Which served to piss off the lawyer more thoroughly.
"Mr. Dunn, I realize this isn't the best time, considering the circumstances, but aren't you even the slightest bit curious?" Phoebe asked, because having the two men sit there in silence, staring each other down, wasn't helping to move this meeting forward. And she had other things to do today.
Dunn again looked over at her, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his gigantic head as he tried to figure out the best way to push her buttons. And wasn't that interesting? He really didn't care why they were there. This meeting was little more than a game to him.
As Phoebe watched, he went for the obvious, with an insulting term of endearment. "Honey, I'm intensely curious--but only about things that really matter." And yes, he put the cherry on top by proceeding to undress her with his eyes.
"I prefer to be called Ms. Kruger," she corrected him, forcing herself to remain as expressionless as humanly possible. Still, she couldn't stop herself from swallowing--damnit--because yikes, when he set his animal magnetism on kill like that, the man was a true force of nature.
And naturally, in turn, he made note of her almost microscopic gulp. His smile broadened.
Fine. Let him think he had the power to turn her knees into Jell-O. She, however, knew better.
"And this does matter," she informed him crisply. "The reason Mr. Griffin requested this meeting--the reason your Uncle Jerry's firm sent me here, with him, to talk to you. Matters. Immensely. Lives are at stake--starting but not ending with two innocent children."
He laughed his surprise. "And only I have the secret code. Or something like that, right?"
"Or something like that," she agreed, turning to Martell. She herself knew only the basics of the situation. But one thing she did know, with certainty, was that the deal the other lawyer was offering was a gift from on high. "Mr. Griffin, I believe that's your cue."
But Dunn was already shaking his head as he told Martell, "Whatever you think I know, you're mistaken."
"Whatever you tell us," Phoebe interjected, despite having passed the invisible talking baton to Martell, "whatever you say, regardless of its legality, will not be used against you, now or in the future. You will receive immunity. Completely. I've made very sure of that."
Martell chimed in: "Play your cards right, Mr. Dunn, and you will walk out of here, with us, today. A free man."
Dunn laughed again, but his laughter faded as he looked from Martell to Phoebe. "Whoa, wait. He's shitting me, right?"
She shook her head.
Dunn got very still as he gazed at Martell. "Who are you?"
"I'm here on behalf of, well, the government, is what it comes down to," Martell told him, "even though I don't work for them directly and I can't be specific about the organization in charge of this mission. What you need to know is that I'm here to offer you your freedom, effective immediately, in exchange for your cooperation in--"
"No," Dunn interrupted him, turning his chair as far as he could with his tether in place. "No way. No deal. No thanks. Not interested." He raised his voice and called toward the door, "Hey, Roger, we're done in here!"
This time it was Martell who was so surprised that he laughed. "Are you kidding?" He looked at Phoebe as if she could help. "Is he kidding? He wants to stay in prison?"
She shook her head. She, too, was clueless.
Which was proving to be a not-unusual state for her in this, her first week of employment at the prestigious law firm. Upon her arrival, she'd been thrown into the deep end of the pool, assigned to assume the caseloads of three lawyers who'd recently been jettisoned. She'd spent most of the past week paddling desperately just to keep her head above water.
And then today had happened, creating even more chaos. Since she was one of the few lawyers who'd never met the boss's poor deceased daughter, she'd been hurriedly handed Ian Dunn's file, which was marked Top Priority. And the waves she'd thought were formidable turned out to be mere swells as this latest tsunami washed over her. It was part of her new normal.
And that was a total change of reality for her, since she prided herself on her ability to always--always--be one of the few people with a clue in any given room.
But now that she'd met him, it was clear that Ian Dunn's file was incomplete. Phoebe was going to have to dig deeper to figure out what made him tick. Which she would do as soon as she found both a little time and some Internet access.
"Roger!" Dunn called again. "Where the hell are you?"
But Martell stood up and knocked on the table in front of the man. "He won't come back in until I tell him we're done. And we're not done until you listen to what I have to offer, and then walk out of here with me, because that's what sane people do when they're handed a Get Out of Jail Free card."
Dunn looked from Martell to Phoebe, and his eyes were no longer warm. In fact they were positively steely. "I've been locked up for nearly a year, so maybe things have changed out beyond these walls. Is that really legal now?" he asked her. "Forcing me to do something I'm unwilling to do?"
She cleared her throat. "This is an unusual circumstance. Not only are those children's lives at stake, but from what I understand, this is a matter of national security. And Mr. Griffin is offering you quite a--"
"I'm not interested in what he's offering. While I wish you luck in finding someone who can help you save the world, it's not gonna be me. Not this time."
Phoebe blinked at him. "As your lawyer, Mr. Dunn, I highly recommend that you--"
"You're not my lawyer," Dunn said evenly, almost pleasantly, "and I don't give a shit what you recommend. No deal. Get me out of here. Now."

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm having trouble with my custom templates that I use to list my business directory.
In the past, my custom templates were stored in the connections\templates folder. Since I upgraded, that isn't working. I see that templates are supposed to be in the connections_templates folder, each under a different directory. I've tried that, but still I get the "template not found" message.
What am I doing wrong?


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Santa Monica News
Jessica Cusick of the city of
According to the City Council report, the adopted resolution revises the regulation and rental fee structures of the Civic, which previously had not been modified since 1967 and "no longer reflect the current circumstances" of the Civic since suspending normal operations earlier this year.
The Civic Auditorium remains available for rent, however, and in November BMW propositioned city officials about possibly renting the venue for an international hybrid electric vehicle media launch during April and May 2014.
The City Council report from Karen Ginsberg, Director of Community and Cultural Services, states, "BMW's rental of the Civic could earn the City substantial income to offset the Civic's interim operating costs and would positively impact the local economy," with an estimated generation of $300,000 in Civic revenue.
The newly adopted interim resolution by City Council now outlines the interim base rental fees that will be charged by the Civic Auditorium as staff finalizes negotiations with BMW.
Special rental rates will still be provided for non-profit organizations and the Santa Monica-Malibu School District, and municipal events hosted by Civic Departments will not be charged any fees.
According to the City Council Report, the fees "are based on initial market research and are generally lower than previous fees charged by the Civic," with use of the Main Hall, Stage and Lobby of the Civic costing $10,000 per 12 to 14-hour day or $5,000 per 6-hour day.
In response to questions regarding the terms of the proposed agreement, a corporate representative from BMW told the Canyon News via email, "We wish not to discuss our future launch event plans. Thanks for your understanding."
© Copyright 2007 by canyon-news.com


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Exodus Board Member Resigns
Jim Burroway
June 15th, 2012
In a remarkable show of accountability, Exodus International has announced that board vice chairman Dennis Jernigan has resigned his position at Exodus following a controversial visit to Jamaica in May.
Jamaica, which has a very long and violent history towards its LGBT population, is under international pressure, including from the Obama Administration, to rescind its anti-gay law which provides up to ten years imprisonment for consensual same-sex relationships. Jernigan denounced the pressure from the Obama administration in remarks to a Jamaican newspaper.
Jernigan also spoke with reporters alongside local anti-gay activist Peter Garth, who read out portions of a 1987 satire by Michael Swift, titled "A Gay Revolutionary," which the more extreme anti-gay activists often mis-identify as "the gay agenda." The satire begins, "We shall sodomize your sons, emblems of your feeble masculinity, of your shallow dreams and vulgar lies…." (The satire labels itself as a satire in the prologue, which is typically omitted when deployed by anti-gay extremists.) Following that partial reading, Jernigan, who identifies as ex-gay, said, "If I was still in that group and was still a part of that agenda, of course I would take that as my battle cry and I would do everything in my power to bring it to pass."
In a statement released by Exodus International, the group's president Alan Chambers said:
"Dennis shared his belief that President Obama is deceived about homosexual behavior and the biblical morality of it. Dennis assured me he is not for the criminalization of homosexuality, and he will release his own statement on this matter. However, Jernigan offered this immediate response":
"I believe my heart and intent were misconstrued and therefore, may have harmed Exodus' mission of ministering to those struggling with same-sex attraction (SSA). To that end, as of this moment, I step down as Vice Chairman of Exodus."
The statement notes that "Exodus board member, Don Schmierer, experienced a similar collision with the media on a trip to Uganda in 2009." The statement also reiterates Exodus's new policy statement which places the organization on record as opposing the criminalization of homosexuality. It continues:
It is our resolution that unfortunate incidents like this do not happen again in the future," said Chambers. "As president of Exodus International I take full responsibility for any board member, staff member or ministry affiliate's ignorance of global issues, especially as they travel. I will make it a priority to keep all who are professionally affiliated with Exodus apprised of the nations where legislative initiatives or laws clearly violate our policy opposing criminalization of homosexuality. We will also craft a policy for our ministry that prohibits our involvement with groups and nations that violate our policies."
You can read the full statement below.
This positive development stands in remarkable contrast to Exodus's handling of board member Don Schmierer's disastrous participation in a 2009 anti-gay conference in Uganda. Fifteen months later, Exodus president Alan Chambers apologized for its connection to that conference and for Exodus's slow response to the criticism. He also announced the organization's first policy statement against criminalization.
On a personal note: When I wrote about this yesterday, I finished with this: "In a truly accountable organization Jernigan would hand in his resignation. But don't count on that happening." With this announcement coupled with forthcoming policies to head off future international incidences, this marks yet another notable change at Exodus.
Click here to read Exodus's full statement.
Exodus Leader Supports Jamaica's Anti-Gay Laws; Exodus Responds With Statement Opposing Criminalization
Jim Burroway
June 14th, 2012
Today, Exodus International released a new statement:
Criminalization of Homosexuality
Exodus International believes that every human life, regardless of sexual orientation, is of inestimable and equal worth to God and that defending this principle is foundational in offering a Christian response to any issue. As such, Exodus International has not supported and will not support any legislation that deprives others of life and dignity based on their sexual orientation or the expression of such within the confines of a consensual adult relationship. We stand with all who are defending this basic, biblical tenet and remain committed to sharing the compassion, hope and life-giving grace and truth of Jesus Christ.
Finally, we stand with the LGBT community both in spirit, and when necessary, legally and physically, when violence rears its head in Uganda, Jamaica or anywhere else in the world.
We've long followed the rippling aftermath of Exodus board member Don Schmierer's disastrous participation in an anti-gay conference in Uganda. It took Exodus president Alan Chambers fifteen months to express regret over that and issue its first policy statement against criminalization. That statement is no longer available on Exodus's web site. This new statement, which can be read more broadly, is now on a page alongside other Exodus policy statements.
The sudden reference to Jamaica may be puzzling to those who are unaware of recent events. Taken from a glass-half-full scenario, it can be seen as another positive sign that Chambers takes seriously his commitment to being more pro-active when these issues arise. It was just yesterday when Mike Airhart at Truth Wins Out revealed that another Exodus board member stepped into yet another international incident:
On May 29, Exodus board vice chairman Dennis Jernigan blogged about his work the previous week in Jamaica to defend that nation's antigay laws and criticize President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron for their support of Jamaican LGBT human rights. We reprint Jernigan's May 29 complete blog post below, with the key text highlighted by us.
The highlighted test from Jernigan's blog post describes a meeting that Jernigan had with the Jamaican Observer's editorial staff:
… this is when I first realized what I had been thrust into! In a boardroom with about 30 editorial staff members and reporters, I discovered that the Prime Minister of Jamaica was receiving pressure from our president and the prime minister of Great Britain to change the anti-sodomy laws of Jamaica … or risk losing financial support. That is when I knew why I was there. I shared my entire story and then fielded questions – for almost two hours! When asked about what I thought about President Obama's recent remarks concerning homosexuality, I told them I love my president but I believe he is greatly deceived and risks undermining the very foundation of our nation … the family. Incidentally, the paper began publishing the interview the very next day on the first three pages … the headline being my quote concerning my belief that President Obama is deceived! I felt the grace of God in those interviews. I never felt fear at all … and feel I impacted an entire nation in the process. [Emphasis Mine]
Jamaica has an exceptionally long history of often shocking violence against LGBT people. Popular musicians often exhort audiences to kill gay people in their lyrics, and violence against gay people is often glorified in social media and on the streets. Sometimes those abuses occur in the context of trying to "cure" people of their homosexuality. According to the U.S. State Department's 2011 report on human rights:
The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG) continued to report serious human rights abuses, including assault with deadly weapons, "corrective rape" of women accused of being lesbians, arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings, harassment of gay and lesbian patients by hospital and prison staff, and targeted shootings of such persons. Police often did not investigate such incidents. During the year J-FLAG received 84 reports of sexually motivated harassment or abuse, which included 71 cases of attempted or actual assault, including at least two killings, and 21 reports of displacements. Members of the police force reportedly were the perpetrators in 12 cases. J-FLAG data showed that young people, ages 18 to 29, continued to bear the brunt of violence based on sexual orientation. This violence created a climate of fear that prompted many gay persons to emigrate, while the gross indecency laws left those who remained vulnerable to extortion from neighbors who threatened to report them to the police unless they were paid off.
…The trial of six suspects arrested for the 2005 robbery and murder of prominent gay rights advocate Lenford "Steve" Harvey, initially begun and then postponed in 2007, had not resumed by year's end.
…Gay men were hesitant to report incidents against them because of fear for their physical well-being. Human rights NGOs and government entities agreed that brutality against such persons, primarily by private citizens, was widespread in the community.
Jamaica's anti-sodomy law makes consensual relationships a felony, punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. There is considerable international pressure on Jamaica to repeal its sodomy law and to offer basic human rights protections against violence directed at LGBT people, but even those minimal calls remain highly controversial and deeply unpopular.
It is in this climate that Jernigan boldly stepped into. In actions which are highly reminiscent of board member Don Schmierer's ill-fated and notorous trip to Uganda, Jernigan strongly supported Vice-president of the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals Rev. Peter Garth's reading of Michael Swift's 1987 satire "A Gay Revolutionary" which the more extreme anti-gay activists often mis-identify as "the gay agenda." (The satire labels itself as a satire in the prologue, which is typically omitted when deployed by anti-gay extremists.) Jernigan's comments only served to lend further credence to the satire's so-called validity:
According to Garth, the gay community has been instructed to talk about gays as loudly as possible and to portray them as victims, not as aggressive challengers and to make them look good and the people opposed to them look bad. As such, Garth said the Church is trying to influence others to look at the structure which provides value for our nation.
A former member of the gay community, Rev Dennis Jernigan, said that community has all the creative, financial and intellectual power. According to Jernigan, an American citizen, the gay community gives more than the 10 per cent tithe that Christians give to the church, as they are very adamant about their agenda. "If I was still in that group and was still a part of that agenda, of course I would take that as my battle cry and I would do everything in my power to bring it to pass," he said.
In another Jamaica Observer article which identifies Jernigan as Exodus's vice chairman (and thus suggesting that Jernigan was speaking on the organization's behalf), he describes himself as having fully changed his sexuality:
Jernigan said he was transformed that night.
"All of a sudden, I felt a level of freedom, a level of acceptance, a level of affirmation I had not expected. That night, God gave me a brand new identity, that is the best way I can put it to you," Jernigan said, likening the experience to the biblical tale of Lazarus, who is described as rising from the dead through Jesus's power.
"He told me, 'son, that homosexuality is not what I intended for you, that's a deception. Put that off and put on the truth," Jernigan said.
"All of a sudden, my sexuality changed. I was intending never to be married. I said, I'll just be celibate for the Lord, I want to be pure. But God said, 'no, I have even greater plans for you. I will give you a wife, I will bless you with a wife'. And then because I felt so robbed of life for so much of my life, God said 'I will give you, as many children as you want. I said okay," Jernigan told the Monday Exchange with a chuckle, his wife laughing as she chimed in beside him, "I agreed."
Jernigan is vice-chairman of the board of directors of Exodus International, a group that calls itself the largest ministry for homosexuals in the world and which specialises in so-called 'gay conversion'.
The Exodus vice-chairman's statements stand in remarkable contrast to actions and statements recently take by Exodus's president. Last January, Chambers acknowledged, "The majority of people that I have met, and I would say the majority meaning 99.9% of them, have not experienced a change in their orientation." Exodus removed all Reparative Therapy books from its online bookstore and began disassociating itself from the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which is the biggest proponent of Reparative Therapy. Earlier this month, Exodus responded to a proposed California bill which would prohibit licensed therapist from providing Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (COCE) to minors with a statement which read, in part, "As an organization, we do not subscribe to therapies that make changing sexual orientation a main focus or goal."
But obviously, the Exodus vice chairman and Exodus president are not even close to reading from the same script. Jernigan made the goal of changing sexual orientation the centerpiece of his message:
While the US has been racked by heated debate about the 'gay conversion' religious movement, Jernigan says his own conversion isn't all that uncommon in his country.
"This may sound really mystical to you," he said, "But I know hundreds of men and women in the United States who have walked out of homosexuality and now walking the true freedom. That's the story you are not hearing, but that's the truth."
"That is why I am so adamant about this, freedom is possible," he declared, his voice cracking with emotion. It is a message he is determined to impart to Jamaicans.
When the vice-chairman of Exodus International left his home in Muskogee, Oklahoma for Jamaica a few weeks ago, intending to share his music in Christian concerts and in ministry, he had no idea that homosexuality was a hot-button issue here. When he found himself in the middle of a huge debate about homosexuality and gay marriage he said he questioned why God had led him to this country at this particular time.
"I said, 'hmmm… God, what are you up to? You've plunged me right in the middle of this'.
"But I want to save your nation. I don't want to do anything other than minister to you, to tell you my story, to serve the people of Jamaica, because I don't want to see happen here, what happened in America," he said.
Jernigan also appeared in this video, in which he repeated the classic Reparative Therapy line of what causes homosexuality. He also placed his ex-gay message in a very political context:
As I said, the fact that it only took Chambers one day to respond to this latest revelation can be seen as a glass half-full. This is measurable progress and I don't want to lose sight of that.
But the glass is also still half empty. Once again we are learning of an Exodus official traveling to a volatile country in full ignorance — and an admitted ignorance — of the fact that "homosexuality was a hot-button issue here." Exodus may feel that they have a special expertise on helping conservative Christians resist their same-sex attractions, but they clearly have no expertise about how homosexuality itself is perceived in other cultures.
It is extremely reckless of them to parachute into countries where they have no idea what's going on, and then leaving it up to the local LGBT community to deal with the aftermath when they jet home. They already have ample evidence of what happens when Exodus officials neglect to do their homework before traveling to volatile countries. There is just no excuse for making this same mistake yet again.
At some point, you would expect there would be consequences to making these kinds of errors. In a truly accountable organization Jernigan would hand in his resignation. But don't count on that happening. Three years after the Uganda debacle, Don Schmierer is still serving as Exodus's treasurer.


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DanFollow Dan
29-year-old Male living in Sydney, NSW Australia
Hi everyone. My name is Daniel I'm a 26 year old uni student from Sydney. Before the discovery tour I'll be spending a week in USA and then arriving in London three days before the tour begins. After the tour I'll be spending Christmas and new year's eve in Germany and then traveling to Argentina. I can't wait for the trip of a lifetime!
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European Discovery (Winter)
9 countries \ 13 days \ from US$1955 per person
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