What’s happened since last June

The day after last year’s post, Manning filed to expunge the conviction from 2005 per California penal code 1203.4.  It appears to have been granted on August 10, 2009.  This is something we contemplated in the original article — California law provides for this in some cases if the defendant follows all court imposed conditions. These are listed in our post from that time.  A reading of the statute indicates that the expungement has limits, especially if one is found guilty of another crime in the future.

It also seems he either tried to, or did sell his house in Santa Rosa.  We don’t currently have the records to know under what circumstances this was done.  His new ministry address is a UPS private mail box in San Francisco.

All references we could find indicate that his house was his main ministry location.  Aside from a period during which a local church allowed him to use a room at off hours for meetings, his home is the only thing we could find.  Copies of the ministry 990s bear this out with no payments to any property or office outside the home.  There are expenses claimed for a “ministry house” which we assume to be a reference to his home (or former home) in Santa Rosa.

There is also no mention of a board of directors, in spite of the fact that posts appear on Manning’s blog claiming to be from them, discussing Manning’s activities, claiming to give their blessings to this or that move, etc.  These posts follow Manning’s grammar and writing style closely.  It is our considered opinion that Manning is the sole “director” of Light House World Evangelism, Inc.  He is listed as president on the 990s, with his wife as secretary.

Today

Late last week a post appeared on the LHWE blog titled “Final Online Words, From the President Of LightHouse World Evangelism, Inc.”  In it, Manning claims to have had a revelation from God during the Winter Olympics, one that would have him close his ministry.

During the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, the torch was extinguished, and the flame was symbolically given to the next host country.  At the very moment the flame was extinguished in Canada, God said to me, “The “Flame” the “Anointing” the “Presence and Power of My Holy Spirit,” will no longer reside over LightHouse World Evangelism, Inc., rather it is being transferred to a new ministry that I am calling you and your family to.”

There is no indication in the post as to what this new ministry might be.  Contrary to Manning’s claims in earlier posts, the 990s don’t indicate a growing, thriving ministry.  Most years, up to the last record currently available, show an irregular pattern of total intake ranging from $25K to $39K but with no clear trend.  After expenses, this figure is reduced to anywhere from approx $5K to $12K for the last three years on record.  And the expenses are rather mundane for the most part, with very little to indicate much ministry activity in the traditional sense.

Referencing our earlier post for the first time, Manning protests:

What has been so amazing and somewhat comical, is that these organizations wanted to make such a big deal of one arrest that occurred 12 years ago and was dismissed.  A second arrest that occurred 10 years ago where I was found not guilty within 20 minutes of deliberation by a Jury who listened to all the facts and carefully made their decision.  And finally, the posting of trial transcripts and arrest documents of the most recent case that occurred 5 years ago.

What we find most striking here is that Manning seems to imply that it is nothing out of the ordinary about a minister being arrested three times over 12 years, all with the same type of charges each incrementally more serious than the previous.  If the reader hasn’t already done so, please review the details of these charges in our original post.

In their reporting on this case, they did not come first to us for any statements, but rather assumed their “sources” were right, and made it sound like I actually was found guilty of doing some horrible act.

The statement that we did not come to Manning  before posting is simply false.  An email was sent to his ministry contact address in the very early stages of our investigation.  Then another email was sent and voice mail left a couple of days before posting.  In that email some specifics were given and again, we asked to speak with him about the details of the story.  One last email was sent after the story was posted.  Manning has never replied to a contact from XGW, nor has anyone else from LHWE.  However his application to have his record expunged barely a day after our post seems to indicate that he probably did get our messages.

Our sources were carefully and painstakingly checked, and ultimately everything in our original post was sourced through official public and court documents (which we provided along with the post).  We checked newspaper archives, contacted San Quentin State Prison,  the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (to understand how an HIV/AIDS service member would have been dealt with pre-DADT), performed Lexus/Nexus searches, State and Federal case searches, located and contacted the victim in the 2005 incident, and we spoke to various people who have at one time or another had contact with Manning.  The information in our previous post was extremely well sourced and triple-checked.  Manning’s accusations here are a non-starter.

The fact is, all of you, partners, were provided a court document by me and our organization, that showed that the previous ruling regarding this arrest was set aside, a plea of not guilty was entered by me, and the case was then dismissed and expunged from my official record.

First we suggest readers take Manning’s comments to “ministry partners” with a grain of salt.  So much of his blog posts consist of grandiose posturing that we have to consider that he may be playing a bit of a game to appear more involved, more responsible or more successful than he really is.

That said, his reference here is to the expungement of his record that we mentioned earlier.  However, he implies that this was something we should have found in our records search, when in fact it did not happen until after we posted the information.  It would have been impossible for us to get those records had they already been expunged — that’s the point.  Statements like this hardly indicate a man who has submitted himself to any accountability as he claims.

Reflections and future reporting

While we have observed Manning’s blog over the past nine months or so, he seemed often to be speaking directly to someone, not a general group.  There never was any discussion there, just one long monologue with bouts of cryptic, personal rhetoric. This writer has come to believe that the intended recipient of those oddly personal, emotionally charged posts might well be a mother who appeared on the web with her own blog around the time of our first post. We encourage you to read her heart wrenching story, one which could very well be the other shoe dropping in all of this.

In the end there is no way to know for sure if all this might simply be part of a change of identity.  Our post from last year was picked up by a lot of media and anyone should easily be able to find the facts concerning Manning with a basic Google search.  His full name is Matthew Courtney Manning, so might we see a Courtney Manning in the future?

There is always the possibility that, with a couple of degrees from The Kings College, a church somewhere may hire Manning — time will tell.  We only suggest, and strongly so, that if anyone has dealings with this man, make certain you know ahead of time exactly who you are dealing with.

Supporting Documents

Tax Year 2006

Tax Year 2007

Tax Year 2008

The language PFOX uses is confusing. It appears they are doing a “find and replace” word processing function on their organizational messaging.  They are copying gay activist talking points and replacing every instance of “gay” with “ex-gay.”

Confounding rational minds everywhere, PFOX increasingly refers to ex-gay as a separate and unique sexual orientation.  If that seems like loopy logic, there appears to be a method to their madness as XGW contributor Dave Rattigan recently illustrated.

While Thomas seems to get the absurdity of PFOX’s argument, we would have preferred his message didn’t also include a backhanded jab to gays and lesbians.

We don’t move beyond gay ideology and identity to become an ex-gay member of an ex-gay community in need of the government (in America … as of right now) or a private corporation (like Disney) to protect us as such.  We are Christians … nothing more or less. Please don’t fight for special rights based on yet another false victim class.

We are Christians, not terminally unique “ex-gays.”  Let’s work toward the edification of the Body of Christ, not public or private policy to make us feel affirmed as yet another GLBTQExYZ protected class.

We would like to remind Thomas that we work for equality, not to become a “false victim class” or to obtain “special rights.”  And people of faith have been a “protected class” for decades.  These are all catch-phrases from anti-gay campaign rhetoric.  It’s good to know that he can see the folly in what PFOX proposes, but perhaps he could have found a way to say so without insulting many of the people he claims to care so much about.

PFOX was an Exodus member until last year.  The circumstances of that separation are not clear.

If it were about sexual orientation, PFOX would have to concede that ex-gays are already protected. Are ex-gays same-sex attracted? Then they are homosexual, and are therefore protected. Have they overcome same-sex attractions to become opposite-sex attracted? Then they are heterosexual, and are therefore protected. Do they now have heterosexual relationships? Marriages? Then they have the same rights as every other person in a heterosexual relationship or marriage. Do they have no sexual relationships at all? Then they have the same rights as every other celibate person.

What unique attraction or relationship is the ex-gay trying to protect by insisting he be included in a sexual orientation policy?

The fiercely anti-gay PFOX complains thus:

Disney’s exclusion of ex-gays from its sexual orientation policy and programs reinforces the second-class status of ex-gays, and contributes to the negative perceptions and discrimination against former homosexuals.  Disney’s exclusion also disregards diversity and the basic human right to dignity and self-determination.  Adding ex-gays to Disney’s sexual orientation policy and programs, which already include gays and bisexuals, will increase diversity, assure equality in the workplace, and be inexpensive for the Company to implement.

PFOX claims that ex-gays are victims of intolerance, discrimination, unfair treatment and hostility. It even claims to have “documented numerous incidents of intolerance against the ex-gay community.” But it is blind at best, disingenuous at worst to say that hostility or intolerance towards ex-gays is due to their sexual orientation. It is about ideology. In the public square, the ex-gay message is rarely heard without accompanying slander of gays and their relationships. If indeed this is a sexual orientation, it is a tragedy – not to mention an anomaly – that it is an orientation defined overwhelmingly by hatred of and opposition to another sexual orientation.

As a gay man, I am oriented primarily towards other men. My sexuality has nothing to do with opposing other people’s sexuality. I do not need to destroy heterosexuality to be able to love someone of my own gender. I do not need to slander straight people in order to affirm my own orientation.

Yet this novel ex-gay “orientation” proposed by PFOX rarely exists without setting itself explicitly in opposition to the lives, loves and relationship of gay men and women.

It is obvious that PFOX’s bid for protection is about the ex-gay ideology, not an orientation. With so little substance, this campaign is little more than a transparent ploy for publicity for a dying and increasingly desperate ex-gay movement.

-Fred Karger writes an open letter to Maggie Gallagher.

-California State Senator Roy Ashburn admits to being gay.

-The city of Kissimmee, FL extends partner benefits to LGBT city employees.

-Servicemembers United scrutinizes Elaine Donnelly’s list of 1,100 officers who allegedly oppose repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

-A Saudi Arabian man is severely punished for appearing in an amateur gay video.

-Rev. Mary Glasspool moves one step closer to becoming the Episcopal Church’s second openly gay bishop.

-The Oklahoma state senate votes to exempt the state from federal hate crimes laws.

-Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks out against the most recent wave of anti-gay activity in Africa.

-The US State Department highlights Uganda in its annual human rights report.

Click here to view the embedded video.

-The mayor of Turin, Italy performs a wedding ceremony for a lesbian couple.

-Andrews Air Force Base disinvites Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council from a speaking engagement.

-Catholic Charities ends spousal benefits for its employees in Washington DC so that it won’t have to offer them to same-sex couples.

-The LGBT Center at UC Davis resolves to leave recent anti-gay graffiti in place as a reminder that intolerance still exists.

-Washington, DC begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

-Free Republic provides Paul Cameron with a platform to disseminate his latest “research.”

-The UK’s House of Lords votes to lift a ban that prevented churches from performing wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

-Yet another anti-gay politician is outed in a scandal.

-Same-sex couples can now marry in Mexico City.

-A gay prostitution scandal unfolds in the Vatican.

-Slovenia becomes the latest country to consider legalizing same-sex marriage.

-Senator John Kerry calls for an end to the ban on blood donations from gay men.

Goldberg, who is co-founder and co-director of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), was revealed last month to have been jailed and fined in 1989 for his part in a multimillion-dollar business fraud.

Goldberg responded to the reports by shifting the blame, and was duly followed by NARTH President Julie Harren-Hamilton, who attacked the gay media and bloggers for exposing Goldberg’s criminal past.

Last week, XGW reported that Goldberg was no longer listed as Executive Secretary of NARTH. Now NARTH Vice-President of Operations David C Pruden has spoken on the record about the situation.

In a statement made to XGW, Pruden revealed that NARTH knew nothing of Arthur Abba Goldberg’s conviction for felony prior to last month’s investigative report. He also confirmed that Goldberg had resigned from the board of NARTH. The full statement reads:

In the past two weeks incidents that took place more than twenty years ago in the career and life of Arthur Goldberg first came to our attention. He has never taken the members of the NARTH Board into his confidence concerning these events and this information came as a complete shock to NARTH members and to our organization.

After years of dedicated service to NARTH Mr. Goldberg has announced his resignation from his NARTH Board position. With his resignation this now becomes a personal matter and all future questions or concerns should be directed to Mr. Goldberg. He has assured us that he plans to make a public statement on his own web site and since none of the issues concerning his past were in any way associated with NARTH, and in fact preceeded the founding of NARTH,  we would feel it inappropriate to make further comments. We wish for Arthur and his family the very best at this difficult time.

This confirms what seemed evident all along: Arthur Abba Goldberg deliberately concealed his criminal past.

Despite the statement that this is now a “personal matter” for Arthur Goldberg, however, NARTH still has some questions of its own to answer. The overwhelming question is how Goldberg was able to such an entrusted position at NARTH without disclosing his conviction for fraud. Does NARTH not have safeguards in place? Does NARTH not require such disclosures? As a professional organization, does it not independently confirm these things before appointing someone to such a position?

Even if no such disclosure is required (which would be remarkable), how is it that Goldberg’s criminal history went undetected, when even before last month’s exposé a simple Google search for “Arthur Abba Goldberg” would have immediately turned up dozens of official documents and newspaper reports from the time of his conviction? Pruden earlier told us that it was common knowledge at NARTH that Goldberg’s middle name was Abba – yet no one seems to have made the connection.

Goldberg may still have a lot to explain – but NARTH must also explain what appears to be astonishing negligence.

This event and the protests that followed were a significant turning point in the effort to shine a light on the actions of such ministries.  But we should not forget that most of those who would later recognize harm from their time at LIA had already been through the program by the time the events of 2005 unfolded.

In 2007, three former Exodus leaders offered a public apology to those “who believed our message that there is something inherently wrong with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.”  Today we find that Smid is offering his own apology.

Some people have spoken out about being wounded through their experience with Love In Action. ” I want to say I am very sorry for the things that have wounded you or hurt you by my hands of leadership at Love In Action or anything I have done personally that has harmed you. Please forgive me.

Concerning Exodus International he writes:

I believe I could have done a better job of letting people know that Jesus loves them purely because He does, unconditionally. I am sorry for not being a better vessel of the Love of Christ to those who deeply need to know of His love. I realize I was often more concerned with telling people how to live than I was with imparting God’s grace so that they would want to live!

Concerning the Refuge program responsible for the ordeal over Zach:

I really wanted to help the young men in our program but in some cases the design of our program caused more harm for some of these kids that it did good. I am very sorry for the ways that Refuge further wounded teens that were already in a very delicate place in life.

And Smid asks those who were hurt by or through him to contact him.

If you have been wounded by me or harmed through the hands of my leadership; please come to me and allow an opportunity for me to personally apologize with the hope that we can both be released from the bondage of unforgiveness.

These are just snippets and the entire thing should be read in order to properly evaluate a response, should you have one.  There is also a section addressed directly to Ex-Gay Watch readers.  Obviously, those who have been hurt through LIA will be most interested in what Smid has to say, but there can be no doubt that it is important.

Readers will have to determine for themselves what this means exactly.  Smid is involved in a new ministry, one he says will have no part of the old “change is possible” mission.  While his goals seem similar at this point to those of Andrew Marin, the latter does not have the baggage of the former.  But making such a public apology would seem an important start.

One more piece of the puzzle is illustrated by the short video below from Smid’s website.  It was produced by Morgan Fox, organizer of the Zach Stark protests.  Fox also appears in the clip, apparently at a place of reconciliation with Smid.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you think?

The real sodomite is the arrogant person, the overfed and apathetic person who ignores the poor and others in need. The sexual sins of Sodom are second rate compared to the sins of pride and greed. Ban Sodomy, anyone?

Sodomy, viewed from God’s perspective, is practically the American way. I guess we have been exporting sodomy to Uganda.

You might think Throckmorton is getting liberal. In fact, he is merely being consistent with Scripture (Ezekiel 16:49-50):

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me.

Throckmorton suggests conservative Christians should direct their (considerable) anger towards greed, selfishness and indifference, instead of the gays:

The sins of Sodom mark the American church in ways that are very uncomfortable to confront. Defined biblically, I hope we can unite against sodomy. Defined biblically, we have all been sodomites, have we not?

We agree.

There is no indication whether Goldberg resigned or was forced to leave. Either seems likely after last month’s revelation that the champion of reparative therapy and co-director of Jewish ex-gay ministry JONAH was a convicted felon. In 1989, Arthur Abba Goldberg was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and fined $100,000 for his part in a mail fraud scam.

He appears to have deliberately concealed his identity since becoming a leader in the ex-gay movement, and when his past finally caught up with him, he tried to blame everyone but himself for his predicament.

NARTH President Julie Harren-Hamilton (who confusingly appears as both Julie Harren and Julie Hamilton on the NARTH website) gave a weak defense of NARTH and its officers following February’s reports, but without naming Goldberg.

Update: 03/03/10: NARTH’s Vice-President of Operations, David Pruden, has confirmed that Arthur Abba Goldberg is no longer a board member of NARTH.