acts, and the other of immoral acts, is not explained.

The text then continues with advice on pastoral counseling of homosexuals, which differs from secular counseling chiefly its insistence on the immorality of homosexual acts, in its insistence on total continence, outside of the exceptions sanctioned by the church, and in its religious overtones. As for the last, it is said, for example, that "The client must be convinced of God's love for him, and persuaded that he can live with his inclination in a life of peaceful self-control and sublimation." (What percent of celibate clerics has managed this feat?)

Finally there are a few pages on therapy including brief descriptions of treatments ("adaptive" or "curative") which have been applied to homosexuality up to the present time, a review of modern professional opinions on the subject of cure, and a few closing words on the subject of prevention "cure" and "prevention" being discussed largely neo-Freudian framework, with special emphasis on Ellis' and Bieber's data & conclusions.

in a

In moral viewpoint, COUNSELING THE INVERT rests exclusively on the subjective judgments of Roman Catholic dogma, respecting which Dr. Cavanagh could hardly be counted on as other than an uncritical exponent. But religious dogmas have never been noted for either scientific or logical content. Thus they have toppled, one by one, under pressure of rational approaches to human nature, and to the material and social conditions of human experience.

the

The whole question of Dr. Cavanagh's arguments revolves around the issue of what is natural to man, and the more we atudy human nature the less we are inclined to accept, as a final judgment in this matter, the fiat of some antique priesthood. It is much more reasonable, well as scientific, to assume that it is natural to man to do whatever man is interested in doing. This frees our concepts

of morality from their present semantic bondage to church dogmas about "nature," so that the morality of acts can be judged in an objective, rational manner, that is, in terms of their actual consequences in the lives of those concerned,

R. H. Crowther

THE JUVENILE HOMOSEXUAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS EFFECT ON ADULT SEXUALITY, by Robert H. V. 011endorff, M.A., M.D., L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., D.P.M., The Julian Press, Inc., 119 Fifth Avenue New York 10003; 1966, 245 pp. $7

If we consider Dr. Ollendorff strictly as this book's author, it is unfortunate for him that we readers are, in the overwhelming majority, not sick. He has studied many scholarly books, & treated many difficult cases, & undoubtedly many distressed persons have benefitted from his ministrations. He has given much thought to his patients' problems; and so when he philosophizes on his observations we laymen must listen respectfully. How much of his wisdom he manages to convey to his reader is doubtful.

Be prepared, if you read this book, to cope with psychologists' exasperating vocabulary, and to accept some concepts and theories that seem useful to initiates, but make no sense to the rest of us. There is no question that juvenile sexual experience is a most important sub-

ject.

We value

science because we can use it. A scientist can say with assurance, "Given this circumstance (with as many ifs, ands, and buts as the instance requires), a specific departure from a person's or a group's proper behavior will result in that pathological condition."

Then any competent healer will say: "When the disordered condition is that, I shall apply this remedy-whereupon you may bank upon it that the result will be thus-and-so." With an ordinary physician, that seems the common course of events.