Haggard tells congregation: ‘I am a deceiver and a liar’

November 5, 2006

When we last left evangelical leader Ted Haggard, he was admitting to have bought (but not used) methamphetamines, but continued to deny having an affair with a gay prostitute. There was, shall we say, some lingering doubts about Haggard’s evolving defense.

Late yesterday afternoon, Haggard’s New Life Church, after an oversight investigation conducted by four pastors from other churches, found that he had “committed sexually immoral conduct” and fired him. Reportedly, Haggard began calling close friends last night, admitting that he’d been involved in sexual transgressions.

The church released a statement explaining that Haggard would offer an “explanation” at this morning’s services. Apparently, the broken man has finally stopped lying.

“The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There’s a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring with it all of my adult life.”

Of course, Haggard never stopped bashing gays during his life-long “war”; he just blamed gays for society’s ills.

Taking a step back, is there any way in the world this could be an opportunity for a learning-experience for the religious right?

Matthew Yglesias raised a good-but-unrealistic point about the theocon movement taking an introspective moment in the wake of the Haggard scandal.

[I]t’d be nice — unrealistic, perhaps, but nice — if people took this as an opportunity to learn something. Obviously, the other men in that image with Haggard — Tony Perkins, James Dobson, etc. — know him, get along with him, and have worked with him as a colleague, like him, think he’s a good man, and so forth. And Dobson and Perkins aren’t alone. Lots of people have worked with or for Haggard over the years. He’s a widely respected man in this country. Should all those people who know him, and have followed him really so sharply revise their views of Haggard, or should they revise their views of gay people?

Well, it’s a pretty safe bet how that’s going to turn out, but it’s a compelling question anyway. It’s not just religious right big shots, religious right footsoldiers also embraced Haggard and saw him as a great leader. They admired him, respected him, and gave him enormous sums of money.

Maybe they could stop for a moment and consider the fact that the man they revered turned out to be gay. Or maybe not.

Sadly, nothing will change with this revelation. The evangelical “leaders” love stepping over the body of a fallen comrade–more bucks and power for them. The faithful love to maintain their blindness–it’s what attracted them to a rigid religious philosophy to begin with–the comfort of certainty and reaffirming community. Certainly, Haggard could be the poster boy for gayness not being a lifestyle choice. What has he lost because of it, everything, and that is considerable.

  • As my girlfriend was saying to me this morning, “Muscle Stud do you think the evangelicals will learn anything from this Haggard problem?”

    And I said, “Xena, you know how much Falwell and them hate hypocrisy (snark), so they’ll probably just sweep this under their rugs and claim that it is that old Liberal, Satan, who is causing all this. And most of their flock are so pre–Freudian stupid that they will go along with it.”

  • As I said in another post he hasn’t really admitted anything at all. Sexual Immorality? That could be anything from looking at porn to indelicate behaviour with domesticated pets. Here’s what they’ll learn from it: Make a half-assed “apology” and move on. Wait, they already know that.

    Next!

  • “Disgraced Evangelist” is an integral part of their soap opera mythology. They’ll absorb this blow(job) and move on. They’ll even say stuff to themselves like, “I’m sure glad he’s the only gay one we have.”

    Know what Haggard’s Msucle Stud and Saddam have in common? Haggard’s friend is hung and Saddam is soon-to-be-hung.

    Oh CB did you get the memo on Ross vs Rod Parsley? Rod is in Ohio and Ross is in Colorado Springs.

  • Unfortunately I think that this just reinforces the simplistic religious view that being gay is also equivilent to not being “moral”. Look at the way this is being framed – because he had homosexual desires and acted upon them he was a “deceiver and a liar”. They won’t be introspective and honest enough to realize or admit that it’s their own policies toward and condemnation and stigmatization of homosexuals that creates the closet and the inevitable deceits and lies and heartbreaks – but rather they’re going to look at is as “Those immoral gays – they marry our women and then lie and deceive and hurt their families”.

    Looking at it this way, I can almost understand why, in the abstract, religious types view homosexuality as a “threat to the family” – but in fact, it is really their own myopia and self-rightous behavior toward gays that actually is responsible for creating the problem. In all the post-mortem of this episode, I bet we never hear once any religious types acknowledging that they are responsible for much of the hurt and the damage. Not to let Haggard off the hook here – he’s slime and a total scumbag who didn’t have the cojones or the strength of character to honor his freely-entered-into marriage vows from which he derived both benefit and responsibity that he wishes to deny others – but in the big scheme of things it is the role of the religious instutitions of which he was a leader which created and continue to reinforce the conditions that lead to this tragedy.

  • The King is dead, long live The King.
    Meet the new boss, same as the old boss….

    The theocon(or RWA’s) see the good work that these guys do, while in the closet, as the deception. The deception is the crime. To them, no Gay can ever do any good.
    As demonsterated here,Contradiction and Hypocrisy are the defining traits of the Conservative mindset.
    Don’t you think that if they had the capacity for reason, they never would have journeyed down the path of religion in the first place?
    The evidence is the results.

  • Maybe they could stop for a moment and consider the fact that the man they revered turned out to be gay.

    Hmmm. If he were an out-spoken racist and was caught frequenting African-American prostitutes would you say he “Turned out to be Black”? No more than you’d say a ReThuglican caught stalking kids “Turned out to be a kid.” Please, we all know there are people out there who use their dicks as power tools. Shaggard’s one of the legions of shitheels who gets his thrills paying cash in order to show contempt.

    That’s why his “apology” is such a piece of shit. He may well have been screwing men (still haven’t seen a transcript of his letter and my computer’s having issues with videos today so I don’t know if he’s actually said that). Now that he’s been caught he gets to play the apologetic sinner while reinforcing the message that it’s OK to hate gay people. (It’s dark, it’s repulsive, smash it with a rock!) And so far as I can tell he hasn’t had anything bad to say about Meth-heads.

    So fuck him and his fleeced flock.

  • “…could be an opportunity for a learning-experience for the religious right?”

    Not possible. What defines these people is that they exist in a state of selected, suspended disbelief. Anything that contradicts their vision of greater truth is simply disregarded. Been that way for millenia.

  • Maybe they could stop for a moment and consider the fact that the man they revered turned out to be gay. Or maybe not.

    He’s not really a great representative for it. He probably wasn’t really true in all that religious stuff he promoted anyway.

    Or maybe he should garner their sympathy. I don’t know. The only thing I think they can take away from it is that maybe other people they know are gay.

    They would know better than I would whether this guy actually believed all the religious stuff he preached for them, or whether he was just taking advantage of them, because they’re the ones that actually know the guy. It just seems to me the way this guy was, he was probably getting more out of what he was doing w/ his position as this prominent preacher than he was giving.

    Just my thoughts.

  • I agree with Taio. I wonder if his apology was meth-fueled.

    If his first impulse was to lie then his apology is just as questionable.

    I don’t know if this is a common opinion, but my Christian friend, Bodega Boudreau said, “With all the recent closet-emptying, I’m pretty sure that Haggard’s dickwish came from subliminal messages he received while watching Doogie Howser M.D. reruns. It’s the media, man. It’s the media.”

  • Perkins, Dobson, et al will continue to profess “to love the sinner and hate the sin,” and Mr. Parsley can do this as he steps up to reap the wages of Haggard’s “sin.” We can expect no sudden enlightenment to come to individuals who have chosen to interpret the scriptures as they do (and profit handsomely from it in the bargain). I think the best that can be hope for is the peeling off of a few members of the flock. I believe most will take Haggard’s example as confirmation of the fear and loathing they have been taught to hold towards homosexuality. A smaller number may begin to question the preaching and teaching of a church whose “rock star” pastor can be so violently and publicly opposed to homosexuality while at the same time being unable to deny it – despite fame, despite power, despite wealth, despite family, despite faith. I have asked my evangelical friends if they believe their own sexuality is a choice. Is it something they feel they could alter if they wished? It does not matter to them. Faith trumps facts. I hold out little hope that many believers will change their point of view when confronted with Haggard’s life story – even if he were to come out and embrace his own sexualty, which I’m guessing ain’t gonna happen. Nature trumped a powerful faith, but they will still ascribe it to sin. And the loathing (self and other directed) will continue for most.

  • Haggard’s “fall” is merely another opportunity for the “saved” to proclaim their own virtue and reighteousness. Electitudinousness? We rational beings tend to forget the significance of witnessing for these knuckleheads. The fact that they haven’t been outed yet proclaims the fact that they’ve been “chosen” by Awlmitey Gawd to continue their own hypocrisy. “Pu-raise Gawd for vittory.”

  • Haggard never stopped bashing gays during his life-long “war”; he just blamed gays for society’s ills.

    Apparently he’s not going to stop bashing gays now that he’s “out” of the closet. I’m guessing that’s what the “repulsive and dark” bit refers to.

    I predict he’ll go to one of these “de-gaying” clinics Christians are so fond of. Once he’s been “cured,” he’ll try and claw his way back to the top of the Christian conservative movement by decrying the sin of homosexuality and evilness of gays.

  • Oh CB did you get the memo on Ross vs Rod Parsley? Rod is in Ohio and Ross is in Colorado Springs.

    Yes, it took me far too long, but I’ve corrected the post from yesterday. I’ll spare you the excuses; I got this part of the story wildly wrong. My description of Rod Parsley was accurate, but he isn’t taking over for Haggard.

    My apologies.

  • Am I naive, or wouldn’t it be more correct to refer to Haggard as bisexual? Isn’t it possible that his love for his wife is genuine? Unless someone else fathered his children, he has been at least capable of heterosexual activity on several occasions.

  • Coop – Good question. The correct designation for sHaggard is Raging Horn Dog. Perform congugal duties with wifey then off to a hotel for the treat du jour.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if “Mike Jones,” is just one of many people (male and female) who’ve had private prayer meetings with Pastor Ted. That’s why he’s “apologizing” now. He’ll be well hidden when the prostitute parade begins.

  • #17 Coop, one commenter (my apologies for not remembering the name) called Haggard a “Buy-sexual”.

    As Professor Witgenstine wrote, ” I think some people try to make these categories binary, if you will, with distinct definitions for each step between heterosexual and homosexual.. But it seems to me that sexuality is analog and is on a specturm from mostly heterosexual to least heterosexual. Extremes in both cases are probably suppressing something. Freud’s term was polymorphously perverse. Hey, on a physical level it’s all warm skin and firm protuberances, right? :-)”

  • It just seems to me the way this guy was, he was probably getting more out of what he was doing w/ his position as this prominent preacher than he was giving.

    When I wrote this I meant that the guy seems like he could be an egomaniac; didn’t mean to imply anything beyond that.

  • Haggard definitely did not want to be a homosexual, did not want to be attracted to men, yet he was. Isn’t this a clear demonstration that homosexuality is not a choice – it’s built into the person?

    Every time I hear a man rage against homosexuality, I always wonder when he’s going to come out of the closet.

  • I was thinking about the “gay bashing” in his letter. The thing is, he clearly regards the impulse toward being gay as equivalent to, at the very least, shoplifting. Something to be overcome, not something about which to proclaim “Stop the shoplifter bashing!”

    I feel sorry for him, but I was impressed at the pains he took to take any possible blame off of his wife or, er, lover. Given the type of congregation he was speaking to.

    He sounded like a man of some intelligence. While I don’t have much hope for his congregation, it seems possible that he could grow to change his feelings about what is approved sexuality and what is not.

  • Kinda sorta related, there are new allegations coming out about Florida gubenitorial candidate Charlie Crist. I haven’t found anything on the main news streams yet, but apparently at least one man is claiming he had an ongoing romantic relationship with good ole Charlie.

    Haggard Scandal Puts Gay Spotlight On Florida GOP Contender

    Proud of Who We Are President Kyle DeVries released a letter urging Crist to be honest with Floridians about his sexuality and his relationship with convicted felon and former Katherine Harris staffer Bruce Jordan.

    The letter comes after the release of video footage purporting to show a sworn statement in which Dee Dee Hall, who befriended Jordan through Harris’s campaign, reveals that Jordan confided in her that he had an ongoing romantic relationship with Crist, who was Attorney General of Florida.

    Hubby says he found a couple of articles on AOHell news, but I haven’t found them yet.

  • Every time I hear a man rage against homosexuality, I always wonder when he’s going to come out of the closet.

    Comment by ml

    Truer words were never spoken. I once has a minister/counselor tell me that he had never worked with a homosexual who did not wish for another sexual orientation. I think the way our society treats gays and lesbians is absolutely midieval. I don’t blame anyone for preferring the closet. That is especially true in the so called Christian communities.

  • “A deceiver and a liar”. Jeez, is it just me, or does that sound like a tent-revivalist description of the devil? “Get thee behind me, Satan!!” takes on a whole new meaning, huh?

  • Haggard definitely did not want to be a homosexual, did not want to be attracted to men, yet he was. Isn’t this a clear demonstration that homosexuality is not a choice – it’s built into the person?

    No, it’s dat ol’ debil again, like Mark said. Frankly I think the devil MUST be gay, with a gay agenda. That the devil could tempt a man of god of this caliber to lie with another man (in the biblical sense) and even use evil drugs will just be seen as yet another example of the awful power of satan. I don’t know if Haggard (Merle must be so embarrassed) will just stop at a de-gaying clinic and a drug-kicking clinic, he might just require a full-fledged exorcism.

  • What a difference a week makes; one can go from raging homophobia to self-declared homophilia in a matter of days. Think of all the times this man stood upon his high-horse pulpit, breaking the Commandment of “Thou Shalt Not Lie.”

    And these “people” (emphasis added due to their self-proclamation of being “such go-ooooood Xians”) wonder why the youth of America are bailing on their “church” in droves?

    Please….

  • “What a difference a week makes; one can go from raging homophobia to self-declared homophilia in a matter of days.” – Steve

    Please, Haggard is in no way a homophilic. He does not “love men” he merely lusts after them, and hates himself (and them) for it.

    There will be no introspection by the Theocratic Reactionaries. Everything they liked about Haggard was and is to them something totally seperate from his homosexual urges. That he gave into his urges (and his toying with adiction) was his sin, and that is what got him fired.

    But Theocratic Reactionaries aren’t going to change what they think because of him.

    And the Velvet Mafia really should learn that.

  • President Lindsay beat me to the punch: this will be seen by the vast majority of evangelicals as testament to the power of Satan and the far reaching tentacles of the gay/liberal agenda.

    Religious doctrine has evolved for millennia to defend itself against such realities.

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