Fox News contributor Erick Erickson suggested that people might not be born gay, compared homosexuality to alcoholism and adultery, and warned that gay people who don't repent won't be “saved on the last day.”

In a June 20 blog post for RedState.com, Erickson expressed his support for Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry, who was criticized last week after comparing homosexuality to alcoholism. In his post, Erickson claimed that the science around sexual orientation wasn't settled, warning gay people not to “give in” to their temptations and repent for their homosexuality in order to be “saved” :

So, again, fewer and fewer voices are willing to speak up. Those of us who can, should speak up. So I will say it - I largely agree with Governor Rick Perry and appreciate him speaking up. While most of my generation is pretty accepting of the idea that a person can be born gay, there is no settled science on the matter. There certainly is no settled science on pick your own gender adventures. But to say so is apostasy in this secular world. It really does not matter though. Whether one is born gay or not does not mean God made a person gay. And whether it is the unrepentant alcoholic, homosexual, adulterer, liar, or any of the others the Duck Commander listed, none are going to be saved on the last day without repenting. No one said life was easy, but too many are too ready to give in instead of repenting. Too many tire of the struggle and decide the struggle is just another form of normal. And frankly, it is apart from God. That too is why so many want to drive God out of the public square. God gives us Hope to overcome the struggles of this world, including the flesh. Left to our own devices, Romans 1 tell us we get exactly what we are getting. But we are not creatures of this world -- none of us. We are passing through to eternity. YOLO is a lie and if it feels good it does not mean we should do it. The zeitgeist of the present age tells us otherwise, but the Holy Spirit calls us to a higher and better and more eternal purpose. Gertrude Himmelfarb wrote, “What was once stigmatized as deviant behavior is now tolerated and even sanctioned; what was once regarded as abnormal has been normalized . . . .As deviancy is normalized, so what was once normal becomes deviant. The kind of family that has been regarded for centuries as natural and moral - the 'bourgeois' family as it is invidiously called - is now seen as pathological” [emphasis added]

Erickson's suggestion that gay people can “overcome” the “struggle” of homosexuality is similar to the claims of many proponents of dangerous, ineffective “ex-gay” therapy.

While debate continues over the precise origin of sexual orientation, the scientific community is largely in agreement that sexual orientation is an immutable part of a person's identity. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation." Research has demonstrated that a person's sexual orientation is "primarily neurological at birth." According to molecular biologist Dean Hamer, sexual orientation is regarded in the scientific community as a phenotype and is "deeply rooted in biology."

This isn't the first time Erickson has warned gay people that they face damnation if they don't “repent.” . Last year, Erickson wrote that gay couples trying to get married were on the "road to hell." He claimed that A&E was "destined for hell fire" after suspending Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson following his homophobic remarks. And in February, Erickson warned that businesses involved in same-sex weddings were "aiding and abetting" sin.

Erickson is closely linked to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group working internationally to help criminalize homosexuality.