Worn and Haggard
Who knew when I blogged about Ted Haggard and Jesus Camp a few weeks back that we'd be seeing him plastered all over newspapers for meth and gay prostitution allegations, at least some of which are turning out to be true. His quick resignation makes me wonder if others won't be proven in coming days.
I've said this before: though I think it can be unhealthy in the long-run, I don't have a personal issue with gay guys trying to live in straight marriages. Every couple needs to decide for themselves what is most important to them and what they can live with. Those decisions are none of my business. Honesty is important, however. And if I were Haggard's wife, who just found out that her husband has been hanging around with and scoring meth from a gay male prostitute (meth tends to blur judgement about safe sex) I'd be scared to death.
We see this same story over and over. It's almost a cliche at this point. Anti-gay pastor stumps to disadvantage gay families, and then gets caught in his own scandal. Haggard has been pushing mightily to oppose the Colorado amendment that would give couples like John and me some protection for their relationships, though not marriage rights.
As much as I try to puzzle through this, I still don't get it. Do the Haggard's of the world fight so hard against us because they think all gay folks are making the same dumb-ass, compulsive decisions they are, and therefore must be stopped? Do people like him and closeted conservatives like Foley think if they fight hard enough against equality for gay families no one will possibly suspect they are gay? I wish I knew.
Haggard is the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals. The pastor of a 14,000 member congregation in Colorado Springs, just down the road from his friend James Dobson and Focus on the Family, which is a huge Exodus ex-gay ministry supporter. Surely if Haggard believed in what Exodus was selling, he could have taken advantage of it. He had enough money to afford a gated home. He had (I supppose still has) every resource in his "community" available to him. And yet this is where this chapter in his life has ended. It's downright Biblical. Someday I hope there is a way for these folks to get to a better place that doesn't involve hurting so many people.
By the way, Haggard is from Delphi, Indiana, hometown of our friend Christine Perkins, who is married to Sneer's Jason. Aren't you all proud?
I've said this before: though I think it can be unhealthy in the long-run, I don't have a personal issue with gay guys trying to live in straight marriages. Every couple needs to decide for themselves what is most important to them and what they can live with. Those decisions are none of my business. Honesty is important, however. And if I were Haggard's wife, who just found out that her husband has been hanging around with and scoring meth from a gay male prostitute (meth tends to blur judgement about safe sex) I'd be scared to death.
We see this same story over and over. It's almost a cliche at this point. Anti-gay pastor stumps to disadvantage gay families, and then gets caught in his own scandal. Haggard has been pushing mightily to oppose the Colorado amendment that would give couples like John and me some protection for their relationships, though not marriage rights.
As much as I try to puzzle through this, I still don't get it. Do the Haggard's of the world fight so hard against us because they think all gay folks are making the same dumb-ass, compulsive decisions they are, and therefore must be stopped? Do people like him and closeted conservatives like Foley think if they fight hard enough against equality for gay families no one will possibly suspect they are gay? I wish I knew.
Haggard is the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals. The pastor of a 14,000 member congregation in Colorado Springs, just down the road from his friend James Dobson and Focus on the Family, which is a huge Exodus ex-gay ministry supporter. Surely if Haggard believed in what Exodus was selling, he could have taken advantage of it. He had enough money to afford a gated home. He had (I supppose still has) every resource in his "community" available to him. And yet this is where this chapter in his life has ended. It's downright Biblical. Someday I hope there is a way for these folks to get to a better place that doesn't involve hurting so many people.
By the way, Haggard is from Delphi, Indiana, hometown of our friend Christine Perkins, who is married to Sneer's Jason. Aren't you all proud?
posted by Troy at 3:16 PM
1 Comments:
Chuck, you know I'm glad to hear from you whenever you take a notion, but we're still under the unwritten Batesville friend code, no obligation to write, ever.
Hugs to you, Stacy and the boys.
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