Another One Bites the Bullet

This week while sitting in my office preparing for the weekend services, I received an email from a friend that said,"You're not going to believe this!" And he sent me a link to a story about Ted Haggard, pastor of the 14,000 megachurch in Colorado Springs and President of the National Association of Evangelicals, in which a hustler had outed him as both a 'behind everyone's back closeted gay something-or-other' and a meth drug user. Time Magazine also has a story about it.

He had, up until yesterday, denied the accusation. On Wednesday, he said, "I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver." But then, reading that statement, one wonders if he was being just a bit too exact in his reply. By saying that he did not have a relationship with a man in 'Denver', could he have meant, "at least not in Denver proper, per say." With some evangelicals, one needs to pay close attention to the words they choose.

Admittedly, I responded to my friend that surely it's too soon to tell. Accusations are accusations, I thought, and in this year of political wrangling, surely this was just a ploy. And then, yesterday I read where Haggard had stepped down just moments before his National Association of Evangelicals was to stand together and support him. They decided against it when Haggart resigned. And now, this morning I read where Haggard has now admitted to "some of the allegations" while not specifying which ones. I'd guess he'll say he's a drug user before admitting to having had paid for gay sex with a hustler for over 3 years. The former he can attribute to stress, enter a drug clinic, and come out as a shining example that even ministers can get overwhelmed to the point of a drug addiction. I mean, it worked for Rush Limbaugh, right? And, several ministers I have heard about have indeed developed a drug addiction during their ministry. It is a serious issue that needs serious attention.

The gay sex part though would never be forgiven by his constituents. Especially since Haggard is a well-known anti-gay marriage and anti-gay personna.

Isn't it amazing when a man of the cloth wages war against the very vice that consumes him? If proven true, this will be yet another example when those who protest too much have a good reason to do so--when they do it, you can bet they haven't reconciled themselves with their own faith and homosexual passion.