Good for you for not giving in to the School yard bullies! keep up the good work and stand your ground

All of a sudden everyone that has had a gay experience was molested at a young age. Really?????? When will people wake up and realize that these people are cowards, liars. If this guy is willing to name his attacker and let the public see both sides of the story, yes, I will give him credit. But I will not give him credit for just saying it. It is the "out" that everyone is taking.

Umm, Kevin, "everyone"? Really? This story is talking about ONE person. If you have proof he's lying, well and good. If you choose to be skeptical, also well and good. But--they are all "cowards and liars"? Out of bounds.

Let's see...how many times have we heard gays say homosexuals are not pedophiles? I guess there is always an exception. And why hasn't this pervert been picked up by the police and prosecuted for sexually molesting Jonathan when he was clearly under the age of consent? Isn't this a felony?

I've read that even in sexually abusive situations, the body can respond with some pleasure to the encounter. And that the abuser can use that response to further control the child by claiming that the child must have liked it. It's no surprise that abused children are confused, depressed, and ashamed about the manipulation and loss of power they suffer. And it's also no surprise that a sexually abused child can go on to suffer doubts about their sexual identification...absent effective therapy, the child can certainly suffer the ill effects of the sexual abuse well into adulthood. My sympathies to Mr. Merritt for having to deal with his personal business in a public forum.

I thank Jonathan for this example. The only way to combat this image that the Church is a bunch of hypocrates is with transparency and honesty. The world needs to know that Christians are broken sinners, but redeemed sinners that God is fixing. If we cover up our past we rob God of HIs glory and make ourselves the hero. It is unfortunate for Jonathan that his past must be aired publicly before those who do not even know him, yet judge as though they did. However, we may be confident that God will use this for His glory, and so I pray that he will be strengthened in this time particularly.

So soon after the Penn State and Catholic Church trials highlighting the life long struggles of abuse victims, can we, as Christians, respond with such hardened hearts as some of these comments reveal? The lessons we need most is to turn our hearts and our ears to the victims of abuse.

Would not God ask us to help them to find their voices, and help them to heal? Yes, we need to make the abuser accountable, but let us not revictimize the victims in the process.

Way to go, Jonathan. In the face of a vindictive, spiteful attack, you gave an honest, kind, response while using discretion. You are the man.

Among the many troubling things about our national conversation about homosexuality is the persistence of the notion one's personhood and identity can be defined for all time by a single desire, or by a single expression of a desire. We ought to reiterate and share lovingly the liberating truth that in Christ we can all be more than any impulse or desire that seems to overtake us, no matter how strong that desire or how much it is nurtured by well-meaning but still misguided people around us. Full freedom is available and possible in this life and the life to come.

It is heartening to see that Mr. Merritt has found the strength to repudiate the identity that Mr. Southworth apparently seeks to impose on him based on whatever happened between the two of them in the past. May both men find and walk in "the liberty by which Christ has made us free." (Galatians 5:1 NKJV)

Sounds like the blogger set up Merritt just like the man in Merritt's youth set Merritt up. An overly friendly goodbye while fully clothed and not leading to sex is not a definition of homosexual. Wanting and doing sex with men by men is homosexual. I had men who were literally pawing me all over before I got away and that doesn't mean I wanted them for sex. This is a good example of homosexuals telling kids in schools to try homosexual sex, it feels good. Kids than think if a man approaches them they are supposed to give in because it's means homosexual activity is for them. Kids don't know just because someone says it's all right doesn't mean it is all right. They don't know they can say no, I'm not interested in or want that. The someones can lead kids into this life style before kids have a chance to go through puberty and take hold of their interest in the opposite sex. The homosexual manifesto is to train kids up into homosexual activity so they will follow into adulthood accepting this activity. This is not the fault of kids but the adults allowing and doing this TO kids.

Jonathan Merritt came to the defense of the restaurant chain in an article for The Atlantic. Looks like JM is making a little something out of his continuing and confusing "abuse". Bob Dunbar is right -- file charges and settle the matter.

The amount of ignorance regarding homosexuality is overwhelming.

First homosexuality is not a behavior, it is a sexual orientation. You do not train someone to be gay, they discover that they are. Gay people are gay weather or not they are celibate, promiscuous or involved in a monogamous relationship. Gay people have lifestyles that are the same as straight people, some bad some good, but only their sexuality is different. Weather or not someone is sexuality assaulted will have no bearing on their sexual orientation.

Don't take my word for it, check with any professional medical or behavior health organization.

@Thad: Ummmm...God's word says differently.

It's Okay to have a 4th grade understanding of the Bible....as long as you are in the 4th grade.

When reading the Bible you have to understand their use of language, culture, local customs, who the author was writing to. Picking certain phrases out of context does a disservice to humanity.

Sadly, people tend to get the Bible all wrong and they use it as a weapon through out history in support of slavery, segregation, subornation of women etc...

Many Christians all over the world are beginning to understand that God's word does not say differently...you do.

This is precisely why blogging is a bad idea. ...besides the fact that it's not a career, and for all intents and purposes a big waste of time and usually just spewing garbage from hell. But that's his occupation: he's a "blogger"; whatever that means. Basically a wanna be writer with an ego-complex.

Jonathan I love you just the way you are. God will also always love you.

People are complex and loyalty to a religious faith can sometimes be extremely difficult.

For people that believe the Bible says that homosexual sex is a sin and they are attracted to the same sex the options are all difficult.

If you are brought up in a religious tradition you usually think it is true and right.

But even if the Bible is to be understood that way, most fundamentalists would not condemn homosexual orientation per-se.

All mental health groups and almost all Christian mental health therapists agree that orientation is not something you can change if you want to. Behaviors can be changed.

Many people have evolved on their view of gays, not just Obama. Exodus International has repented from their anti-gay political agenda and has promised to try to protect gay people
from violence. (While Cathy is donating to those who advocate the death penalty).

They are not advocating for gay marriage but they are understanding that since their orientation is not changing they have a connection to gay people.

For the overwhelming majority of gay people,however, celibacy is not an option that they would consider. Those that are religious tend to believe that God gave them the gift of sexuality and that denying it is like waving a fist at God and saying I know better.

Jonathan I love you just the way you are. God will also always love you.
People are complex and loyalty to a religious faith can sometimes be extremely difficult.
For people that believe the Bible says that homosexual sex is a sin and they are attracted to the same sex the options are all difficult.
If you are brought up in a religious tradition you usually think it is true and right.
But even if the Bible is to be understood that way, most fundamentalists would not condemn homosexual orientation per-se.
All mental health groups and almost all Christian mental health therapists agree that orientation is not something you can change if you want to. Behaviors can be changed.
Many people have evolved on their view of gays, not just Obama. Exodus International has repented from their anti-gay political agenda and has promised to try to protect gay people
from violence. (While Cathy is donating $1000 to those who advocate the death penalty).
Your church, the Baptist Church, has been the leading obstacle to human rights for gays.
This includes not only the issue of marriage protections for gays and their families, but
job discrimination, hate crimes legislation, anti-bullying for gay children or those that are perceived to be gay.
You have been a voice for moderation in your church and I hope some day your church will recognize that gays need protection from all the hate this church has fomented.
I appreciate people like you that are advocating for a small change.
They are not advocating for gay marriage but they are understanding that since their orientation is not changing they have a connection to gay people.
For the overwhelming majority of gay people,however, celibacy is not an option that they would consider. Those that are religious tend to believe that God gave them the gift of sexuality and that denying it is like waving a fist at God and saying I know better.

I once saw a upright dead tree next to a fallen tree, roots still in the ground, that was alive and thriving. I learned that a living thing doesn't have to be straight to be able to thrive in the world God created.

I hope this is just the beginning of Jonathan's journey to self-acceptance and will be able to embrace the sexuality that God has bestowed on him in joy and serenity and stop pretending.

Jonathan Merritt seems like a decent guy (judging on his environmental concern), but he chooses to lie, and calls his fellow gays "broken". These are very sad signs of a sick culture of choosing money and status over truth. Come clean, Jonathan Merritt, it really is the only way.

Being molested as a child has nothing to do with being gay. 1 in 6 boys are unfortunately molested as children and 1 in 6 men are not gay. There are plenty of heterosexual men who are happily married with their wives who were molested and or sexually abused as children.

Furthermore there are many LGBT people who have not been molested or sexually abused as children. I personally know many.

Moreover, "mama's boys" doesn't make someone gay either. There are plenty of str8 men who identify as a "mama's boy" or never even had a father growing up.

In order for any of these theories to work there has to be a consistency. If you start to open your eyes and get to know gay people you will how diverse they are. There are gays in every culture, every religious upbringing, every family dynamic. The only thing they share in common is their attraction to the same gender.

Whether you think being gay is a sin or not is separate from the issue of how someone is gay. Keep in mind the medical community identified it as a disorder in the 60s but after studying sexual orientation over the decades they realized that they were wrong and that LGBT people are in fact born this way.

Christians need to wake up to the reality that some people are born with blond hair, some are darker skinned, and some are gay. God created diversity in this world to test our love and compassion for one another.