I don't know Ted Haggard and don't know much about him except what has been recently published and broadcast.
I have been silent about this incident and see no value in addressing it at this time.
Jim Wallis knows Ted Haggard. His essay, "We are all sinners" is one of the best attempts to address this issue that I have seen.
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I feel sorry that the majority of commentary has been either (from the left) on his hypocrisy or (from the right) on his being gay. In my view, the roots of this are his learned self-hatred of his natural sexual orientation--and persecuting in others what he hated in himself. It is that homophobia and self-hatred that we should seek to correct.
I agree with you, Michael.
I read Jim Wallis' commentary and found that I was very troubled by it. As a deeply religious person and a lesbian, I found Wallis commentary to be shallow and, well a tad immature. The problem he seems to be noting is that well, we all sin, and thus, we should all have compassion for a sinner.
I agree with the need for compassion, but should we not also begin to speak truth? Should we not also seek to lead authentic lives? Should those of us who are leaders not also seek to spread compassion for others?
Saying that we all sin, allows Haggard and his followers to believe that it's all right to persecute a huge segment of the American population. It allows Haggard and his followers to continue to believe that being gay is a sin. It allows Haggard and his followers to continue to lie to themselves about the nature of sexuality.
The issue is not whether Haggard or anyone else is heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. The issue is how one lives one's sexuality. To lie as Haggard apparently did to his family, and as he absolutely did to his congregation is wrong. And, to attempt to hide one's shame by persecuting people is also wrong.
I'm afraid that the "everyone's a sinner" line is too simple. What I want is a way to speak truth, to end persecution at the same time that Haggard and others like him are NOT demonized. But we can't do that by pretending that Haggard hasn't caused great harm -- and he did that before he ever took a drug or went to bed with a man.
Haggard did that by seeking to persecute and by refusing to give the same compassion to others that he now seeks to receive for himself now.
I'm curious to hear more from you on this, Bruce.
Diane,
I agree that this is a particularly egregious example of hypocrisy.
At the moment, Haggard no longer poses a threat to anyone but himself. He needs some grace whether he deserves it or not.
I prefer to address hypocrites before their sins are exposed.
Thanks for your comments, Bruce.
I'm not interested in attacking Haggard, but I fear that unless we all have an honest dialogue on people like Haggard, then we as voters and citizens will have learned little.
What I mean by an honest dialogue is a discussion about why and how people in Haggard's position sometimes get so twisted up inside. I want to talk about what happens when you attempt to live by a theology that forces people to destroy part of themselves in order to feel OK.
On Haggard himself... I don't think he poses a threat anymore, but the way that what happened is discussed does pose a threat. If his "fall" is seen as yet one more example of the horrors of homosexuality, then it does nothing but perpetuate the myths and prejudice that every day hurts millions of honest citizens in this country.
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