Haggard Defense
Jacob Sullum | November 3, 2006, 4:27pm
As Tim Cavanaugh noted while I was writing my post on the same topic, the Rev. Ted Haggard resigned yesterday as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a former male prostitute, Mike Jones, told a Denver TV station he'd been having a sexual affair with Haggard for three years. Haggard is married and has five children; his organization views homosexual sex (not to mention adultery) as a grave sin. Jones said he came forward because of Haggard's vocal support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. "I had to do the moral thing in my mind," he said, "and that is expose someone who is preaching one thing and doing the opposite behind everybody's back." Haggard at first said he's always been faithful to his wife and denied ever meeting Jones, then admitted calling him for a massage and buying methamphetamine from him but added that he never had sex with Jones and never used the meth. Haggard missed a chance at mitigation when, in response to Jones' charge that he'd used meth, he denied using drugs of any kind, including tobacco and alcohol.
Sounds like a good opportunity for Jeremy Lott to make the talk show rounds. I confess I have not read Jeremy's book yet, but I suppose he might say that it's better to uphold moral standards rather than attack them (assuming the standards are valid), even when you privately fail to practice what you preach. Haggard's misbehavior is certainly not conclusive evidence that his stance on gay marriage (or adultery, for that matter) is wrong. But like, say, the weight of an anti-fat crusader, it is not only interesting but fair game given the subject's publicly stated views.
Squirt | November 6, 2006, 7:00am | #
Christianity as defended by the apologists in this forum is TOXIC POISON which damages the natural order on this planet. This stems from your claim that all mankind is fundamentally flawed and requires your particular form of salvation. Your bible has filled your head with TOXIC ideas about right and wrong based on the irrational authority you give to magic (miracles) and fortune-telling (prophesy).
You say 'love the sinner and hate the sin' but your automatic label of 'sinner' is nothing more than self-righteous judgment which by its definition prevents you from loving anything.
SIN DOES NOT EXIST IN REALITY. It's a manmade construct, a concept in language, used to describe reality, but not the thing itself. Do animals sin? Do trees? Do rocks? Do stars? Why humans, then? Please, give it a rest. It doesn’t make rational sense.
Belief in the SUPERNATURAL, ghosts and demons and heaven paved in gold, now this is crazy thinking. Try for a change the idea that mankind has a NATURAL place on this planet and that we belong here in nature doing exactly what we do, warts and all. There is no need for a messiah because there's nothing to save. If ever there was an ANTI-CHRIST idea, this is it. The antithesis of Christianity’s message is that there's NOTHING WRONG WITH US just as there's nothing wrong with cats or dogs or ants or worms or dirt or water or air. It's all part of the natural order of things.
This is not to say that mistakes can be made, learned from, and improved upon. But instead of harping about right and wrong, try asking the question "Is it working?" Is it working for me to do this? Answering this question can yield different answers at different times, for sure, and will give you insight and integrity without the TOXIC condemnation and irrational fear of eternal consequences. Try it? You might find that it works. You also may find that love, compassion and forgiveness become easier to make manifest in your world.
Or you can pray in fear for the rapture and an end to it all. It’s your choice.
