Surgen General Should Promote Science, Not Ideology

The nomination of cardiologist Dr. James Holsinger has brought strong criticism from numerous circles inside and outside the gay and lesbian community (for example, see the statement by SoulForce). The reason for this criticism is not his medical credentials per se, but rather how his medical attitudes and practices relate to his religious views about homosexuality. In his role as president of the Methodist Judicial Council, Dr. Holsinger has taken numerous positions that continue to communicate the message that gay and lesbians are "less than" their non-gay brothers and sisters. Even worse, his church in Lexington, KY supposedly operates an "ex-gay" ministry (though a search of the church's Web site yielded no results; though so too did searches on the words "pastor" and "Jesus").

The statement by SoulForce executive director Jeff Lutes says it all: "If Holsinger bars gays and lesbians from his own church, how will he treat them as the nation's chief physician?"