And you thought the story was over. A short recap:
After three weeks of intensive “restoration” therapy, former megachurch leader, meth-purchaser and intimate man-on-man massage enthusiast Ted Haggard declared that he was “completely heterosexual.” He submitted himself to a Daddy Dobson-approved team of godly, clean men who inserted themselves into the life of the fallen pastor, who was tossed out from New Life Church in November 2006.
Even so, he ran into quite a bit of trouble during the follow-up part of his spiritual restoration, planning to move into a Phoenix halfway house, the Dream Center, to “minister to men” there while working toward his degree in counseling. The that invitation was withdrawn after Ted sent out a boldly insane “fund-me-please” letter asking for fans to support him rather than getting himself a j-o-b.
It also didn’t go over well with his de-gaying team that the letter was sent out from a Colorado Springs outfit called “Families With a Mission,” run by Paul G. Huberty who is registered as a sex offender (in Hawaii for “sodomy and indecent acts” with “a 17-year-old female).
Now comes this news that via press release from Ted’s former digs, now headed up by New Life Church’s senior pastor, Brady Boyd, that Haggard has left what could now be called the heterosexual “maintenance” program — and perhaps Ted departed before it could squeeze out any residual homo inclinations from him. It’s a vague letter — and it’s after the jump.
From Colorado Confidential, which has been all over the entire Haggard saga. What can you read in these tea leaves?
You have to wonder what is really going on here, and what Ted Haggard has learned about the process of trying to pray-away-the-gay. Cara DeGette of Colorado Confidential aptly noted:Brady Boyd
Senior Pastor
New Life Church
Colorado Springs, COFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ted Haggard’s leadership of New Life Church for many years was extraordinary and the depth of spiritual maturity that is found today in the church is in large part attributed to his leadership as the founding senior pastor.
In January 2007, Ted Haggard voluntarily agreed to enter a process of spiritual restoration. He has selected Phoenix First Assembly and Pastor Tommy Barnett as his local church fellowship and is maintaining an accountability relationship there. He has recently requested to end his official relationship with the New Life Church Restoration Team and this has been accepted by them.
New Life Church recognizes the process of restoring Ted Haggard is incomplete and maintains its original stance that he should not return to vocational ministry. However, we wish him and his family only success in the future.
Because spiritual restoration is a necessarily confidential process, the church does not anticipate that it, or its Overseers or Restorers will make further comment about it.
What, if anything do you think Ted Haggard will say publicly about his experience? Certainly if the evangelical former pastor has not truly reclaimed his heterosexuality after the very strict re-programming, it would be a serious blow to the ex-gay industry if he were to come forward and say that he now realizes that his same-sex desires are neither evil or wrong and that these cures have nothing to do with getting right with God.At the time, the church’s claim of Haggard’s so-termed “restored” sexual orientation status was met with disbelief from many quarters, most notably from the Christian group Soulforce, whose gay and lesbian members reject claims that homosexuality is either:
a. Something that can be “cured”
b. A sin.
We may never know what he and his family have gone through because of the denial and pain fostered by the Dobson-endorsed “ex-gay” program.
Other Blend posts on Haggard, including “Haggard’s flock notes, in hindsight, there was something ’strange’ about Ted.”
Hat tip, Joe.My.God.
10 Responses to “Haggard quits pray-away-the-gay program”
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I just referenced Haggard in the “country club” thread.
One of the most harmful ideas that’s come out of religion in the past 50 years is that religion can “cure” psychological problems. One of the reasons the molestation scandal in the Catholic Church got so ugly is that they kept sending the priests to programs that would “cure” them of being child molesters by praying really, really hard. And — surprise! — it didn’t work, and they continued to molest until some of their victims were able to come forward and turn them in.
Not only that, but you ended up with a lot of gay priests who had major adjustment problems because they went to seminary to try and “cure” themselves of being gay and — again surprise! — it didn’t work because it’s not an illness and Jesus isn’t going to take it away from you if you just pray real hard.
I’ll bet they found muscle magazines under Haggard’s mattress.
Hey you guys might like this McCain spoof site: John Sidney McCain
It’s harmful to people who suffer from serious mental illness as well. They are made to feel that if only they were better Christians, they would be healed. Their continued suffering is evidence of their “failure” as Christians.
This stuff is a huge part of modern evangelical Christianity, basically trying to co-opt and reclaim all that secular/New Age/self-help stuff for the cause of Christianity, and it’s the reason you see so much prosperity gospel and pray-your-way-to-health-and-wealth type stuff and pray-your-way-to-a-promotion/better (married) sex life/better whatever. It’s really a departure from traditional theology, which casts sin as the inevitable human condition from which we ALL need redemption (in this model, being gay isn’t good, but it’s not worse than, say, envy or pride) and poverty and suffering as conditions for which you will be rewarded in heaven. They’ve really made an American religion, in the worst sense of both words.
I just watched “Jesus Camp” for the first time. The moment where he says, “It’s a fabulous life!” took on a whole new meaning after all this. Erasure needs to rework Shiela E’s “Glamourous Life”
Sometimes I almost feel sorry for this guy.
Then I think of all the misery and guilt people like him have heaped on gay people, and I think: Naaaaaah.
Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual sings Roy Zimmerman…don’t miss this
During my time as a hospice volunteer, I became a friend to a retired college professor who happened to be a Christian Scientist. He was within 3 weeks or so of his death from cancer and his church friends would gather every other day for prayer and bible reading. I never knew what they discussed during these meetings but, after his church friends left, I often heard him weeping quietly in his room. Not wanting to pry into his private life, I never asked what made him so sad. During his memorial service I had the chance to speak with one of his childhood buddies who visited the professor frequently during his final weeks.
What made the professor so upset in his final days on earth were his church friends telling him that the only reason he was dying of cancer was that his Christian faith was weak. Friends like that we can do without!
That picture, man. That picture. Who here among us can begin to surmise what specimen of choirboy be ticklin’ him nutsack?
Man. That picture is just begging for some photoshopping.