Evangelical Hypocrite Confesses
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, noted evangelical "pastor" Ted Haggard claimed
I've never had a gay relationship with anybody. … I am steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife. I don't know if this is election-year politics or if this has to do with the marriage amendment or what it is.
[quoted at Pam Spaulding, "Pastor Ted admits to some of the escort's allegations", Pam's House Blend, 3 November 2006.]
In a very Tom Foley-esque move, Haggard instantly stepped aside from all of his pastoral duties while claiming total innocence. Will he be as quickly whisked away to an emergency substance-abuse clinic so he, too, can avoid answering any and all questions?
Then, in today's news (via KRDO television, Pike's Peak, Colorado):
Pastor Ted Haggard is now admitting that some of the allegations by former gay escort, Mike Jones are true.
In an e-mail obtained by NEWSCHANNEL 13, Acting Senior Pastor Ross Parsley says Haggard confessed to the board of overseers.
There is some thought, perhaps even some hope, that this might dampen people's enthusiasm in Colorado for the nasty anti-gay "protect-marriage" amendment that they have on the ballot in Colorado this election. Perhaps. Perhaps it will have some more national import, another nail in the Republican coffin in which they are burying their "traditional values".
No doubt there are some firm believers — those who believe fervently as a way to deny reality and rational thought — who are convinced that this makes such constitutional amendments ever more necessary. Tsk. The only way to avoid these sad, sad affairs — yes, and avoid the pain for Haggard's wife and kids — is to get over the hysteria, erase the stigma, and recognize fundamental equality for gays and lesbians. The closet is a dangerous and damaging place to be.
Besides, it's such an obvious last-gasp reaction these homophobes exhibit. When their facades crack, even they reveal that deep down they realize that someday soon gays and lesbians will have the equality we seek. And yet they fight on, determined to be noted in history for their determination to deny good sense in the face of inevitability.
2 Responses
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Subscribe to comments via RSS
Leave a Reply
To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.
I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Saturday, 4 November 2006 at 00.10
Permalink
Jeff, "In a very Tom Foley-esque move" should be, "In a very Mark Foley-esque move."
Tom Foley was speaker of the House when he lost his seat in 1994. He later went on to serve with distinction as ambassador to Japan.
on Saturday, 4 November 2006 at 00.30
Permalink
Of course, my very, very bad. Getting names confused is one unfortunate casualty of my turning 50 (although it's happened for years). I did indeed mean Mark Foley, and extend my apologies to former speaker Tom Foley.