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Summary: Could we achieve the same with NLP?
Review: (Some qualifiers/context: I am male, not gay, ambivalent about religion and otherwise reasonably "normal").I read the book trying to discount the strong Christian slant. What interested me most about the book is that the author effectively uses (currently) established NLP techniques during her sessions. Note that at the time of writing (1985) NLP was still in its infancy. The methods described use Jesus Christ as the primary resource in resolving issues about self-concept. This should be quite effective with Christians. The question is whether much the same could be achieved by the direct use of the appropriate NLP techniques. This will probably be much more acceptable to people who are less religious.
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Summary: Not very good...
Review: For those who are not christians, it may be difficult to try to accept the notions in the book. but even reading it purely from a secular angle, stripping out the religious connotations, it is an excellent book for those who want to find rapport for their feelings and excellent first step in understanding themselves in order to have faith that if they have the courage and will, they can change. I wish today's professionals have better understanding of this topic like Leanne Payne and would think twice before labelling someone to be a homosexual by birth or nature.
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Summary: Excellent book on masculinity
Review: For those who are open to how Christ can heal the deepest recesses of what is means to be a man, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Payne does not advocate putting women down to pick men up. I think it's unfortunate that others have characterized Leanne Payne as misogynist. Anyone who has heard her lecture on misogyny or seen her in person knows that is simply not true, unless one characterizes all who disagree with their view as misogynist.
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Summary: This book helped me help others
Review: I am not gay myself but some of my male christian friends who are have talked to me about their struggles as they deal with same sex attractions. This book really helped me understand them and help them. Payne's equally excellent "The Broken Image" is a perfect companion to this little gem. I recomend it to parents, sibblings and friends of men and women dealing with this issue.
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Summary: This book helped me help others
Review: I am not gay myself but some of my male christian friends who are have talked to me about their struggles as they deal with same sex attractions. This book really helped me understand them and help them. Payne's equally excellent "The Broken Image" is a perfect companion to this little gem. I recomend it to parents, sibblings and friends of men and women dealing with this issue.
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Summary: Affirmation of the male role model
Review: I found this very interesting and got a whole new insight on homosexuality. The male role models were not there during the time that the male children needed to be affirmed by their human father.
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Summary: A convincing book, uncovering causes of much humsn neurosis.
Review: Leanne Payne's book penetrates the causes of much observable neurosis. She relates the roots of gender confusion to a convincing Christian doctrine of Creation, and holds out hope for restoration in the Christian doctrine of Atonement. I thought this was true after I'd read the book. I was fully convinced when I read the first three reviews on the Amazon page. I hope the identity-threatened reviewers are seeing their shrinks regularly. We should pray for them.
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Summary: Great book with good insights
Review: One of Leanne's best, especially helpful for Christian counselors seeking developmental and spiritual theories involving the conflict between the true masculine and feminine. It's easy to pick out the reviewers who were most threatened by the book, isn't it!
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Summary: Affirmation of the male role model
Review: Read this book if you are seeking to solidify an unhealthy perspective on homosexuality. This book IS NOT FOR ME! Reading this takes me back to a time in my life when Catholic guilt had me caged in. Leanne Payne mixes up her theories with religious passive aggressive judgment as much as possible. As a gay person, repressive interpretations of the Bible have never worked for me. Repression and calling gay sexuality a sin (or coming from "darkness" as she puts it) causes people to feel less than and to be hard on themselves and make decisions about their lives from that place. Acceptance is the healthiest solution towards a healthy lifestyle, which is what we all want. Someone needs to come up with another book that studies the world's "crisis in masculinity", I do believe that it is an important subject to study, especially with how many gay/bisexual people there are these days. Something is happening that we definitely need to pay attention to. But, Leanne Payne is all over the place and her arguments are very simple minded and slanted in a Biblical manor. I think that her book should better be called "Crisis in Psychology", because it is obvious that is what she is experiencing as she straddles the tracks between vast human psychology and that of strict religious belief. Incidentally, for all your gay people out there who are struggling with religious upbringings, you have got to realize that there is more to life than your religion you have been brought up with. A lot of the ideas that you have learned are not exactly correct. God doesn't necessarily want you to go to hell. Anyway, not to go off about it, but, there is an entire world of religion/spiritual methods out there; they are all talking about and trying to translate the same idea of God and spirituality and our place in the world. So, if you don't fit into your Christian/Catholic guilt-oriented religion, try another one (buddhism is really awesome!) You aren't going to go to hell for studying about another religious belief, what do you think Priests do when they are studying at the seminary? After years of growth, my spirituality doesn't relate or agree with Leanne Payne's and I'm a pretty spiritual person (believe it or not, I was an alter boy for the Pope in 1987 in Carmel, CA.) Find your spirituality from a place of no guilt, learn to purely love yourself as a child of the light of God. Don't pay attention to any attempts to hold you down in a cage of interpretation and punishment. Interpret your own spiritual being, but let yourself be free to be who you are, God loves you just as you are, BELIEVE ME. If you question your sexuality, then question it, but don't question because someone told you that God has a problem with it. Homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Take a step right now towards the freedom to be yourself and to create your own relationship between God and your sexuality. Be real, this book is repressive and unauthentic.
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Summary: Hope for the broken
Review: This book is an absolute must for every man and woman. We can have brokeness in areas we aren't even aware of, and Leanne Payne gives clear reliable direction to honestly confront our hurts and weaknesses. This book gave me helpful insight into some of my own patterns of hurtful behaviors and also reveals the path to healing for much of society. We truly cannot be all God has called us to be until we receive healing in the areas of our lives that cripple our effectiveness. This book is seasoned with grace but also helps one to deal with the big issues in life and puts you on the road to recovery through the grace of God. Amen for this book.
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