The Final Word on Haggard
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Drugs, Religion, SexualityAcoording to his contemporaries, Haggard didn’t just buy meth…
The Rev. Ted Haggard agreed to resign as leader of the New Life Church after its independent investigative board recommended removal, saying he was guilty “of sexually immoral conduct.”“We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard,” a statement from the church said. “Our investigation and Pastor Haggard’s public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.”
Done and done.
In other news, David Frum says Haggard is more moral than somebody who’s out and honest.
UPDATE:
It’s official. He lied and now he’s coming clean…
In a letter that was read to the congregation of New Life Church this morning, ousted Pastor Ted Haggard said he was guilty of sexual immorality, and he apologized for his acts and requested forgiveness.“I am so sorry for the circumstances that have caused shame and embarrassment to all of you,” he stated. He said he had confused the situation by giving inconsistent remarks to reporters denying the scandal.
“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 against it all my
adult life,” he said.
So telling and so sad.
By the way, this will be the last thing I write about Mr. Haggard.
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 5th, 2006 and is filed under Drugs, Religion, Sexuality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 5th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
David Frum is an idiot and the fact that he doesn’t allow comments on his site is an indication that he’s scared of the truth!!!
Not all gays that come out and who are honest about themselves are not running around making sure that drugs are legalised. Remember…there are just as many homosexuals in the republican party than are in the democratic party. For Frum to write what he did, he obviously hadn’t thought of that.
Idiot he is.
Ted Haggard was wearing the sheep’s clothing to disguise the wolf underneath. He lied and deceived those around him and no amount of apologising or admitting to sin is going to change that fact.
November 5th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Mr. Frum is exposing some of the sickness at the heart of his philosophy.
Boiled down, he is literally saying he doesn’t think a person should have to practice what they preach.
Besides being deeply morally relativistic, that belief is also apparently endemic in the Republican leadership. No wonder they stink of corruption.
November 5th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Now wait a minute, Mr. Gardner. I perceive your ‘backing off’ this matter as somehow letting Mr. Haggard off easy for some unknown reason, and it makes me wonder why. Am I missing something here ? The possibility that ‘the mightier they are, the harder they fall’ is somehow creating sympathy for this man is rather mind boggling, if that’s what it is.
Mr. Haggard literally preaches, for a living, this lofty brand of morality for thousands of parishiners who are unwittingly motivated by his words which actively change their lives. This is a good reason to come down hard, but, instead I sense you feel sorry for him. This is not tragic, what happened here, it was calculated, pre-meditate ‘screwing around’. A complete failure to live up to his own words and contradicting everything he stood for. I hate it, and forgiveness should not come too easily for Mr. Haggart, and I’m sure it won’t where he’s bound for.
If you are a follower, and if you believe in the New Testament, as Mr. Haggart would have you believe, can you now really be sure which side of God’s judgement you’ll fall ? I hope so, cause if not then that is what I would feel sorry for in this mess.
November 5th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
Mr. Gardner, in your criticism of David Frum, you are coming from the common liberal fallacy that there is something wrong with hypocrisy, when in fact conservatives believe hypocrisy is a virtue:
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/11/ted-haggard-shows-virtue-of-hypocrisy.html
November 6th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
This whole situation is a graphic example of the damage that can be done by organizations such as Haggard’s. His philosophy, by demonizing homosexuality and by naming it as one of the worst evils one could ever possibly practice, it puts tremendous pressure upon its gay victims to deny their own identities and dance like a trained monkey to hymns glorifying their own damnation.
One hates most in others what one cannot accept in onesself.