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I see Haggard just as he's described himself: a man with a dark and repulsive side who has been a deceiver and liar.* Doug

Can we expect George Bush, Haggard best buddy brother to fess up and repent since he fits the above profile as brother Haggard?

Excellent post, Doug. Christian theology, particularly the brand held by evangelicals, begins with an acknowledgement of the total and all-encompassing sinfulness of all humans. Ted Haggard may be a hypocrite, but so are all Christians.

Is a sidebar, it may be noted that Haggard is not a hypocrite because he spoke out against gay marriage while allegedly being involved in gay sexual activities. There is nothing hypocritical about being against gay marriage yet having gay sex. Just because someone finds something enjoyable doesn't mean he thinks the provider should be afforded extra rights and privileges. For instance, most people who drink alcohol wouldn't favor granting tax-exempt status to alcoholic-beverage makers.

What bothers me is that even in confessing his sin (through another poor sap who had to read it) he still can't get beyond bashing gays.

@jason: you're killing me with this stuff.

Ted Haggard may be a hypocrite, but so are all Christians.

is that all you took away from sunday school? nothing about constantly aspiring to be otherwise and walking the line? really? it's now down to "admit thy sin and be forgiven for thou are nothing more than a hypocrite?"

it may be noted that Haggard is not a hypocrite because he spoke out against gay marriage while allegedly being involved in gay sexual activities. There is nothing hypocritical about being against gay marriage yet having gay sex. Just because someone finds something enjoyable doesn't mean he thinks the provider should be afforded extra rights and privileges. For instance, most people who drink alcohol wouldn't favor granting tax-exempt status to alcoholic-beverage makers.

right... that's a mighty christian comparison there, jason.

bottom line is that the guy is gay, he finds the bushiest beard to hide behind (the evangelical church), preaches his intolerance (of himself) to men, women and children, and makes open homosexuals lives harder to live each day... a community he now joins by default, while having to deal with the hateful attitudes he helped further.

sounds like a level in dante's inferno to me.

there's a reason i take lessons from (many) scriptures and stay out of the place of worship itself. this guy is just one of many examples out there.

Sean, the point is that Haggard intends to remain in the Christian community, which is a fellowship of faith. It obviously will be a struggle for him but hardly hopeless. I don't think Dante had it right.

Doug,

Amen. You speak the truth. None of us knows his heart - that's between him and God. And none of us should judge him.

I understand that he and his family have left town. I hope that he is sincere and will be able to turn around his life.

doug, you speak of community as if there's a wall. he's christian, but he's also an open homosexual now. for argument's sake, he might also like playing with tonka trucks. those would be three communities, that may or may not have the chance to overlap.

i'm not a hateful person. i'd like to see the christian community, especially the evangelical, welcome him back. but based on his new persona, and the work he did himself to establish the boundaries between people and gay people, i highly doubt that his christian community -- the one he worked into a lather -- will take him in as he is.

Sean, I agree with you -- if Haggard wants to live as a practicing homosexual. I'm under the impression he doesn't. If he gives up that part of his life and seeks forgiveness, his Christian brothers and sisters should accept him back.

oh, i get it... he has the option to give up his homosexuality. riiight...

thanks for clearing that up for me, doug.

excuse me while i begin my process of giving up my penchant for seeing the world at a horizon line of 6' 3"...

Yep, by golly, he can just put in those special contacts, you know the kind that change your eye color and your sexuality, he can be a "good" person again, and the Church will welcome him back.

Maybe I'm just putting my chips down on a random red square here, Doug, but I'd be willing to bet that at the end of the day, his greater sin is hypocrisy, followed by adultery. I think the issue of which sex the person was with whom he committed that hypocritical adultery is well down the list of things for which the good Pastor Tim must repent.

And by golly, why do we have to have a rule against ending sentences with prepositions? That last sentence was heck to compose.

He's certainly guilty of hypocrisy, as well as other offenses. For the sake of argument, let's say it was a female prostitute he'd been involved with. He still would have been fired, still would have been exposed as a hypocrite, still be in need of healing and redemption. Would we also assume he's locked into a pattern of behavior for the rest of his life with no hope of changing? Even if he has an immutable homosexual orientation -- a question about which we can only speculate; there's certainly evidence he also has heterosexual orientation -- that doesn't mean he can't give up homosexual behavior.

you're right doug, pastor ted can put all those "behaviors" back in the closet and then build bigger and strongest testaments against such behavior (and the people those behaviors represent) and thrive in the forgiving sanctity of the church.

sounds like a wonderful idea. you gotta love how that works, eh?

I certainly do think it's in his best interest to put those behaviors behind him and work on saving his relationship with his wife and children.

so you consider the decision to use crystal meth to be a similar decision to sleep with men? like a craving that can be gotten over?

interesting.

My point is that people are not powerless to change their behavior.

and my point is that haggard is obviously a self-hating homosexual, who has projected his self-loathing into god's microphone in order to survive all these years.

the only behavior he can change is the self-hating aspects of his life.

well, unless his christian community sends him to an ex-gay camp, of course. is that where you fall on this issue, doug? you know, the idea that his homosexuality can be fixed?

Sean, you're making me repeat myself. I believe people can change their behaviors -- whatever the behavior. It's not impossible. I'm amazed you say the only behavior Haggard can change is the self-hating aspects of his life. He can't change whatever drug habit he has? He can't change his lies and deceit? Is it only him in your view, or can no one ever change any behavior he or she wants to change? Are we all preprogrammed robots on a fixed course from birth until death? Or are you just talking about homosexual behavior that can't be changed? If so, why is that more immutable than heterosexual behavior, which Haggard also has engaged in (assuming his children are his children)? On what basis have you determined that he must henceforth cease to engage in heterosexual behavior and give himself over to homosexual behavior? At the very least, could you concede the possibility that he might live as a celibate? People who do so are able to suppress their sexual urges. Why couldn't Haggard?

i don't consider homosexuality to be a behavior. everything else on the table -- the drugs, the lies, yes, they're behaviors. we're in agreement there. but you're telling me that homosexuality can be "corrected." i don't believe that.

personally, i believe his heterosexual beard is a "behavior" to hide his proclivity to be with other men -- whether that's purely physical or the desire for more. sure, you can poke holes in that opinion, but the amount of anti-gay bile he's spat over the years is my foundation for such a perspective.

as for celibacy: is the sexual act the biggest issue in your/the christian community's eyes? i mean, is he a better christian if he stops having sex altogether, even though he continues to desire men?

No, he's not a better Christian. Jimmy Carter called himself a sinner because he had lusted in his heart, and he was following Christian doctrine in saying that.

Everyone has unwelcome urges from time to time, and usually it's best not to act on them. You feel like punching somebody in the nose, or having just one more drink before driving home, or making a pass at someone at work. Bad impulses, but bad impulses are made worse when they're carried out because that can produce dangerous consequences for oneself and others. Christians should have pure hearts but, that being impossible, the next best thing is to conduct themselves honorably.

this conversation, obviously, is a slippery slope -- as morality is defined by some as absolute and others as a personal framework.

honor is a value that transcends all scriptures or individual moral codes, but in this context, haggard would have to honor the moral code of the community he sought refuge years back (christianity) and helped edify moving forward even though it contradicts who he is as a creature on this planet.

like i said in my post, him squaring those contradictions is of no concern to me.

what is a concern to me is the message that this entire mess broadcasts. the very idea that his homosexual urges are simply that -- urges. that it's less his genetic makeup (my belief), but more so a result of a weakness as being a human being, an imperfect creature seen through the eyes of the church and god.

you and i agree that his adultery and taste for crystal meth are vices, impulses, behaviors, etc., but the gay part is much more complex than off-value behavior -- especially because of his history of railing so hard against gays through his position in the church.

Sean, thanks for the conversation on this. Maybe I'm extending it past the point of usefulness.

But, for the sake of argument, let's suppose for a moment that Haggard is bisexual. That's afforded a separate category by the GLBT community (is there distinct genetic wiring for bisexuality?). Is it possible for someone who is bisexual to maintain a monogamous relationship, exercising the desire to live in relationship with one person and suppressing the urge to pursue relationships with all others of either gender? Could Haggard do that with his wife without being branded as a homosexual living a lie or denying his true nature? How do we know what his true nature is?

you're right, doug, we don't. but if you look at the circumstances here, deductive reasoning doesn't lead you down the path of bi-sexuality.

the man *railed* against homosexuality on a weekly, if not daily basis. he practically defined himself by slamming homosexuals.

so, to me, the idea that he would dip into homosexual sex as a conscious choice or lifestyle, well, it just doesn't hold much water.

Doug - I don't presume to know if Rev. Haggard is bisexual, homosexual, or straight. But I am curious - in light of your strong stance against routine HIV testing, as recently recommended by the CDC, do you think Mrs. Haggard thought she was at risk for HIV? Probably not...

Addison, that's a good question. I would guess she had no idea. And if her husband exposed her to risk, then that's all the more grievous his offense against her. In a relationship based on love and trust, it wouldn't happen. Obviously, Haggard badly betrayed that relationship.

I'm still not in favor of universal testing, which of course would include people who aren't sexually active at all, as well as those who are honest in their relationships.