Ted Haggard: Ironies within Ironies
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263/
In the national news today there was a story ran with regards to allegations of a sexual scandal involving one Rev. Ted Haggard of the New Life Church here in my hometown of Colorado Springs. The Reverend is an evangelical Christian minister who is the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, a national organization over 30-million strong. The allegations are coming from a retired male prostitute who claims to have had a "professional" relationship with the pastor that has been going on for the last three years. The pastor allegedly purchased methamphetamine and services from this prostitute during this period. The accuser even has voicemail messages on his phone that allegedly have the pastor's voice on it. These messages are being analyzed by qualified professionals as this is being typed. The pastor still vehemently denies the homosexual trysts but has admitted to "some" of the allegations (probably the drugs. If it comes to light that he was having gay sex, he'll probably blame the drugs for that behavior).
What makes this whole thing very funny is the climate in which this scandal has crystallized. On election day Coloradans will be voting on 2 motions; one to ban gay marriage, and one to allow for civil unions between gay couples to be recognized by the state. Mr. Haggard and his followers are of course supporting the first (they probably even had a hand in writing the proposal), and are condemning the second. If compelling evidence is found that the allegations of gay pay-for-sex turn out to be true, it would be one of the most delicious ironies of all time. The leader of an Evangelical anti-gay organization packing fudge and paying for the priviledge is almost too good to be true....which brings me to another special irony.
Since these allegations have been presented Rev. Haggard "temporarily" resigned from his leadership positions within the evangelical community. This move many believe to infer the Reverend's guilt. After all, why would an innocent man resign? Others claim the allegations are an election-related hoax designed to discredit the Reverend so Colorado residents will vote no on the gay marriage ban. I was reading these and many other types of arguments on a message board online about this subject. The supporters for the Reverend who maintain his innocence are constantly saying that he is innocent until proven guilty and people shouldn't believe everything they read without definitive proof. That's the funny part. Fundamentalist Christians saying that you shouldn't believe in everything you read if there is no proof. I was half-tempted to post on this board telling these folks that they shouldn't believe everything they read without proof...like that whole Bible thing. I love it. Even if Rev. Haggard didn't take up fudgepacking as a hobby, and even if he didn't pay for the priviledge of re-enacting scenes from prison movies while tweaked out on meth, the fact remains that fundamentalist Christians who accept every unprovable account written in the Bible as being completely factual are now saying "where's the proof?" when one of their fearless leaders comes under fire. It's a proud day for skeptics everywhere.
In the national news today there was a story ran with regards to allegations of a sexual scandal involving one Rev. Ted Haggard of the New Life Church here in my hometown of Colorado Springs. The Reverend is an evangelical Christian minister who is the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, a national organization over 30-million strong. The allegations are coming from a retired male prostitute who claims to have had a "professional" relationship with the pastor that has been going on for the last three years. The pastor allegedly purchased methamphetamine and services from this prostitute during this period. The accuser even has voicemail messages on his phone that allegedly have the pastor's voice on it. These messages are being analyzed by qualified professionals as this is being typed. The pastor still vehemently denies the homosexual trysts but has admitted to "some" of the allegations (probably the drugs. If it comes to light that he was having gay sex, he'll probably blame the drugs for that behavior).
What makes this whole thing very funny is the climate in which this scandal has crystallized. On election day Coloradans will be voting on 2 motions; one to ban gay marriage, and one to allow for civil unions between gay couples to be recognized by the state. Mr. Haggard and his followers are of course supporting the first (they probably even had a hand in writing the proposal), and are condemning the second. If compelling evidence is found that the allegations of gay pay-for-sex turn out to be true, it would be one of the most delicious ironies of all time. The leader of an Evangelical anti-gay organization packing fudge and paying for the priviledge is almost too good to be true....which brings me to another special irony.
Since these allegations have been presented Rev. Haggard "temporarily" resigned from his leadership positions within the evangelical community. This move many believe to infer the Reverend's guilt. After all, why would an innocent man resign? Others claim the allegations are an election-related hoax designed to discredit the Reverend so Colorado residents will vote no on the gay marriage ban. I was reading these and many other types of arguments on a message board online about this subject. The supporters for the Reverend who maintain his innocence are constantly saying that he is innocent until proven guilty and people shouldn't believe everything they read without definitive proof. That's the funny part. Fundamentalist Christians saying that you shouldn't believe in everything you read if there is no proof. I was half-tempted to post on this board telling these folks that they shouldn't believe everything they read without proof...like that whole Bible thing. I love it. Even if Rev. Haggard didn't take up fudgepacking as a hobby, and even if he didn't pay for the priviledge of re-enacting scenes from prison movies while tweaked out on meth, the fact remains that fundamentalist Christians who accept every unprovable account written in the Bible as being completely factual are now saying "where's the proof?" when one of their fearless leaders comes under fire. It's a proud day for skeptics everywhere.