National Evangelical Leader Resigns Amid Gay Hooker Allegations
 

Have you heard about this one? ???????? AMERICAblog had much more: calling him "THE most important evangelical in the U.S., who has weekly conference calls with the Bush administration and direct access to George W. Bush himself."

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4588998

Haggard steps down amid gay affair inquiry
By Eric Gorski, Felisa Cardona and Manny Gonzales
Denver Post Staff Writers
Article Last Updated:11/02/2006 05:15:40 PM MST


Ted Haggard, one of the most prominent evangelical pastors in the nation, resigned today as president of the National Association of Evangelicals amid allegations that he carried on a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute.

Haggard, founder of the 14,000-member New Life Church, has denied the accusations but said in a statement released by the church today that he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by accusations made on Denver talk radio this morning."

He has placed himself on administrative leave pending investigation, spiritual counsel and a decision by the church's board of overseers, the church's legal counsel said. Haggard founded the church in 1985.

"I am voluntarialy stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date," Haggard's statement said.

The former prostitute, Mike Jones, 49, of Denver, went public with the accusations on Tuesday, saying he felt compelled to do so because he believes Haggard, a strong opponent of same-sex unions, has been hypocritical. Haggard is married with five children.

"I made myself cry and I made myself sick," Jones said about his decision to come forward. "I felt I owed this to the community. What he is saying is we are not worthy, but he is."

Jones says he was contacted three years ago by Haggard for sex - he thinks through a gay newspaper advertisement or an online ad he posted on rentboy.com.

Today, Jones showed the Denver Post an envelope addressed to him from "Art," a name Jones says Haggard used - sent from an address in Colorado Springs. Jones said the envelope came to him with two $100 bills inside.

Jones also played a recording of a voicemail left for Jones from "Art." Jones refused to reveal what the topic of the voicemail was about because there could be legal problems and he wants to consult with an attorney.

"They want to protect the sanctity of marriage and I am trying to figure out what that means because they are not doing a good job," Jones said of anti-gay marriage proponents. "To have someone in such a high profile position preaching against them and doing opposite behind other people's backs is hypocritical."

Jones said he would take a lie detector test to validate his claims.

The church's lawyer, Martin Nussbaum, said Haggard's resignation is in no way an admission of guilt. He's already denied Jones' accusations, but feels that when an allegation like this is made, he needs to take this step, Nussbaum said.

Nussbaum, paraphrased: The bylaws state that when an allegation of immorality is made, this process is triggered, where he puts himself on leave. The outside board makes the final decision.

In the interim, the church's associate senior pastor, the Rev. Ross Parsley, will serve as acting senior pastor of the church.

Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or [email protected]

..not surprised.....

thus the GOP/Moral (HAH!) Majority (double HAH!) HYPOCRICY shows its ugly face.

God save us all from these M****R F*****S!

say, Ive got an idea: maybe if you read your Bible ONE MORE TIME, he will :p

ps: you know Im just givin' ya sh*t !!!

**reaches for my bible***
10 Hail May's for Irishgrl...
***Prays*****

**snicker** you forgot the "r" in Mary! silly boy!:xoxo:

**crickets**

uh oh, not nice to diss the Mother of Jesus...for that you get FROGS. A freakin PLAGUE of them. Good JOB Andre :mad:

BRING IT ON!!!!:lol:

I laughed out loud when I heard this come over CNN.

This is insane. I wish this would prove to them that repression doesn't work but I don't see that kind of enlightenment coming anytime soon. :rolleyes:

Otherwise. . . :lol: :dances:

The fun just doesn't end!:rolleyes: :shrug:

As usual the hypocrisy of the "Christian ' right in this country knows no bounds.

..the loving do-gooders..the moral majority!:shrug:

Mike Malloy is talking about it now.

http://www.novamradio.com/

And it reinforces the theory that the gayer you are deep down the more you denounce it publicly...this dude preached about the sin of homosexuality and is a huge opponent of a domestic partner initiative that's on Colorado's ballot.

Hopefully this will take some of the focus off of John Kerry's stupid flap.

unbelievable....**** runs downhill...

Oh yeah, the Kerry story is now done. :nod: These people don't even see how sick they are.

^^^^^5....

The **** is hitting the fan so fast lately that it's hard to keep up. I'm quite enjoying it. :laugh:

me too....;)

Ranting is more like it. ;) You can watch clips of him from that "Jesus Camp" movie here (couldn't find it on YouTube directly):

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006...r-accused.html

He's so gay :laugh: Seriously - when people are THAT homophobic I immediately peg them as clost gay to the utmost degree. I've been there - I know the self-loathing and projecting that comes from denying who you are :nod:

And yeah - the **** hitting the fan lately has brought me great amusement as of late...I just fear it still won't be enough to affect any real change come Tuesday - I'm actually nervous about the election.

On a horrible and sad note - I have to go cover the president in Greeley on Saturday :mad:

:( :( :(

I hope you'll be able to get the sulfur smell out of your clothes.

I'm loving the exposure of this hypocrite as much as everyone, but I also find that these kinds of stories are told in a slightly (and sometimes not slightly) homophobic light.

For example, the media keeps calling it a "gay sex scandal". Making the story the fact that he had gay sex and is somehow immoral because of that. How come they never say "straight sex scandal"? The issue isn't that he had gay sex, it is that he uses his pulpit as an evangelical leader to keep gays from achieving full civil rights.

That story will get lost, though, and everyone will focus on this juicy "gay sex" scandal. People who hate gays will think of it as one more example of drug-using sex crazed queers and people who like gays already like gays. In a couple of weeks everyone will have forgotten and nothing will be different.

Bring your cross and holy water.

:laugh: Hugo Chavez's quote will be remembered long after Bush has left the White House.

Well, "gay sex scandal" is a quick headline/soundbyte which will grab attention. Whereas getting into distinctions like "hypocritical evangelical leader used pulpit to deny gay rights while secretly paying for gay sex" is more complex. The major news outlets have really dumbed themselves down.

I'm not sure anything is going to be different either. But it is going to make people think, at least momentarily, that people who preach too loudly have a hidden agenda.

One thing though, I heard this guy has 5 kids and a wife, those are the people who really suffer when things like this break. :distress:

:lol: I heard the tape of it and the translator was holding back laughter, it really was too much!

So Haggard has admitted "some" of the allegations were true. That's a new strategy. But the male prostitute didn't exactly pass his lie detector test this morning. How very strange, especially with the meth aspect. Wonder how long until he runs to rehab.

:laugh: I intend to...he's speaking right by a church, perhaps I'll go in and get blessed before hand so his evil doesn't penetrate my pure soul :p

Seriously I'm way bitter about having to see him in person (again).

And Haggard...haven't heard the latest today - but we're sure to carry it on our station, NPR didn't even mention it yesterday - it was all local on our part...I wonder if they'll get on this story today...

Typical. Nothing new here. But I love it just the same.

I don't think people "think" that much or in that kind of depth. Most will be a little interested in the story because everyone loves a sex scandal, and this one is a GAY sex scandal that involves a male prostitute and drugs. A sliver of the population might take the time to ponder the only newsworthy aspect of the story; i.e., hypocrisy. A larger percentage will use the story to reinforce their own prejudices against gay people and gay sex.

And you're right about the family. This is why the more this story gets attention, the more I am bothered that it has become such a public thing.

I'm still trying to understand the motives behind the male escort. He takes money from the guy for 3 years for sex and then suddenly goes to the press because Haagard is against same sex marriage. Going public with this isn't going to change the outcome of the vote on gay marriage in Colorado (in fact, it will probably result in more people voting against gay marriage because what will be on their mind on Tuesday is gay escorts and closeted married dudes snorting meth and having sex).

I'll add that I'm watching cable news coverage of this issue all morning and almost none of the discussion is about hypocrisy. It is all about the "tawdry" situation and everyone loves saying GAY prostitute.

It is very eye-opening for me when stuff like this pops up because it reminds me just how much homophobia still exists out there. Imagine if the issue was around a faith leader who supported racist policies getting caught seeing an African-American female prostitute. The discussion would not be the same.

^^

You make excellent points, and you know, I have never thought about these issues like this - but you're so right! Many a homophobe have this notion about "gay lifestyles" and this sort of cements their thought and fear...and further vilifies gays rather than the true loser in this - the preacher man who's a major hypocrite :distress:

I see what you're saying, but I want the record to show that I went for the even more tawdry gay HOOKER description in the thread headline. ;) :laugh:

I agree it won't change the vote, but I think every chink in the evangelical armor makes them less likely to push their agenda on us (at the same time they claim we're the ones with the agenda).

As for Jones' motives (and the seeming delay in his actions), I read that he only learned who Haggard was about 6 months ago and had been weighing his actions. And finally saw him on TV a few weeks ago being very anti-gay and decided he had to do something. But, all the details of this are all over the place, and I'm having trouble keeping up.

I'm somewhat impressed...MSNBC has a spiritual leader talking right now who said that this story is a disservice to the gay and lesbian community because it helps reinforce stereotypes. He did say something like "there are millions of upright gays and lesbians who don't use prostitute or pick up people in gay bars". Like picking up someone in a gay bar is immoral or something? Bizarre.

Then they cut away to Hagaard being interviewed this morning. All the of questions are around the meth, the hotel, etc. and no one asked about his hypocrisy.

:D and it got me to look. ;)

So I'm clear, my comments aren't directed at anyone here. They are specific to the media reaction.

For now, I'm suspect of Jones. I believe him, but I'm just not sure about the motives. I'm not convinced that destroying Haggard's family is the best way to address the anti-gay actions. I think I would have just cut off the "business" relationship and left it at that.

Wonder how long until Jones' book comes out?