Blessed are those with hush money
The Lord sure must like 'em colorful. Remember the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker scandal? And crying Jimmy Swaggart who had sinned with that prostitute and her teenage daughter?
Well, it seems that evangelist Ted Haggard has sinned...again. Remember a while back when he was paying the gay massage therapist for sex and drugs? We now discover there was also another man...a very young man who went to his church.
It also seems that Haggard's church paid this young man a lot of money and told him not to tell anyone about his sexual affair with Ted. But the church says this was NOT hush money. No no, it was just...money.
From yahoo.com: "Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s former church disclosed Friday that the gay sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard — a revelation that comes as Haggard tries to repair his public image.
Brady Boyd, who succeeded Haggard as senior pastor of the 10,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, told The Associated Press that the man came forward to church officials in late 2006 shortly after a Denver male prostitute claimed to have had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with Haggard.
.....The disclosure comes as Haggard, 52, is about to give a series of high-profile interviews to promote the cable documentary about his time in exile. He is scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live on Thursday, the date of the documentary's premiere, and already has taped "The Oprah Winfrey Show."[..]"
I wish someone could convince Haggard that those urges to engage in sex with other men don't mean that his soul is under attack by Satan and the Demons, but that he is just G-A-Y...and it's 2009 and there isn’t anything wrong with it.
Even if Haggard really believes that homosexuality is a choice and the Devil made him do it, his powerful position as pastor took advantage of the boys and young men he led. Don't be surprised if more young men come forward. This is no different than the Catholic priests scandal.
No telling how many lives Haggard has ruined...he made a career out of telling people that homosexuality is a sin and that God doesn’t accept it and will send you straight to Hell; which makes you wonder why homosexuality isn’t even mentioned in the Top Ten sins. I mean, if it's so evil, looks like it would be a worse sin than lying, or stealing, etc.
So, his church will pray to save his soul...again. He will be repentant and everyone will think the gay has been prayed away...but it won’t last, it never does. Until conservative churches stop shaming gay people and learn to accept them, we will see more tawdry scandals.
We also have to remember that Haggard is a professional evangelist...that's how he makes a living. Christian evangelists are required by their congregations to be straight. He can’t make money if he admits he’s gay.
No matter how many "men of God" are involved in dastardly and immoral behavior, the evangelical congregation keeps shelling out that hush money...
