Ted Haggard HBO Special – “The Trials of Ted Haggard.” The Story of an Unlikely Martyr.

Article referenced is Ted Haggard in Exile
by Heather Havrilesky

Well if this isn’t the most hypocritical, blatantly preferential, openly biased piece of “reporting” I have read thus far…. Tonight HBO will air a special on the “exile” of Ted Haggard following his homosexual indiscretions and liaisons. As an unlikely martyr for the homosexual activist cause, Ted Haggard’s acceptance by the homosexual community comes as a surprise merely for the fact that he was a former senior pastor of the New Life Evangelical Church in Colorado Springs, Co. And by former, I mean he was kicked out. He did not voluntarily walking away in order to take up the homosexual cause.

So, considering the massive backlash directed at the Catholic, Mormon, and Evangelical sects following the Proposition 8 victory in particular, why the turnabout and Kumbaya now? Why is there incessant anger toward and seething hatred for people who voted democratically, yet quick and easy forgiveness for a man found guilty of purchasing crystal meth, having sex with a male prostitute, and pursuing a consensual sexual relationship with a young male volunteer at his church?

Says Havrilsky, “Although Haggard's work to "save" other homosexual men from their sinful ways has made him an enemy of gay people everywhere, Pelosi's film strips away the knee-jerk assumptions about him to show us a fragile man trying desperately to keep his life together.”

Note the shameless emotional overtones and bleeding heart propaganda. It gets worse. Just you wait.

“More important, his struggle to stay in the good graces of his family and the church hints at the countless dark stories playing out in towns across America today: gay people struggling to beat back their natural urges, and failing, only to find themselves ostracized by their communities.”

Aha! Ted Haggard has been forgiven his religious background simply because he is homosexual. Here is more proof. Oh wait, first more emotional blubbering. There’s a lot in here:

“Even if you condemn Haggard's choices and question his smiling, "Jesus will deliver me from evil" facade, it's tough not to feel some sympathy for the man as he places pamphlets for health insurance on doorknobs throughout an Arizona neighborhood or moves boxes out of a U-Haul into a bleak-looking apartment where his nomadic family will be staying for a few months.”

Choice people! Choice is followed by accountability. Granted, the latter is a step regularly dismissed as too often today we desperately seek out the approval and justification and aid of friends, family, government, law, culture, and popular opinion in avoiding accountability. I am as ready as the next person to forgive a man his sins, but for goodness sake let’s call them that. These are not mild, inconsequential offenses Haggard chose to play out when he solicited that male prostitute and made that drug deal. The last thing we need is for the homosexual community to come swooping in to the rescue, saving Haggard from his consequences by making him a hero of the homosexual cause. In fact, David Kupelian, in “The Marketing of Evil” mentions this very danger in our country’s gradual, but steady acceptance of homosexuality:

“We defend our own corruption at great peril. And if defending that corruption becomes a national movement, as it has with our cultural and legal adoption of the “gay rights agenda,” we’re all in serious trouble.

In truth, most homosexuals experience guilt and conflict when they first discover homosexual urges. Thus there is a strong temptation – especially in today’s pro-“gay” culture – for them to “resolve” the conflict by giving in to the compulsion and affirming, “It’s okay to be gay.” But if they do, there is just no way out for them. For this reason, the most loving stance for others to take is not to serve as enablers of self-destructive and immoral compulsions, but to stand in patient but firm opposition. In other words, we need to side with the afflicted person’s conscience.

In America, we’ve done the opposite.”

Okay, now let’s move on to the hypocritical meat. And let me tell you, this is a juicy cut. In the documentary, Haggard confesses, "I was never a hateful preacher, I was never an angry preacher, I was never an anti-gay preacher, other than saying -- and I still believe this, even though I'm a sinner and even though I'm weak -- God's best plan for human beings is for men and women to unite together and children's best opportunity to grow up in a healthy way is to grow up with their biological parents."

And how does Havrilesky play this to her advantage?

“As much damage as such views do to young people struggling with their sexual identity in an unforgiving, hetero-focused world, Haggard certainly doesn't come across as a hate-spewing liar. What's the man supposed to do, really, when the world he's constructed for himself is utterly at odds with who he really is (or who we're left to assume he is): a frustrated, lonely, very nice gay man?”

First, another shout out to that pesky little killjoy called choice. Haggard constructed his world. He made choices to pursue and create his life in the manner he did. Okay, just wanted to get that off my chest. And please let’s not forget that in all our sympathy for this man. He made a choice that resulted in his possession of crystal meth. He made a choice that resulted in his shared bed with a male prostitute. He even made a choice to be homosexual, pursuing a lifestyle he himself knew to be “frustrating and lonely.” Now, moving on with this illuminating investigation into the mind of a homosexual activist. Apparently Havrilesky would love me, no matter my religious background, as long as I made a few bad choices, had a few abnormal sexual encounters, got denounced, and declared myself lesbian. Lovely. Now, I’d like to compare a few quotes similar to Haggard’s belief regarding preaching love for homosexuals while upholding marriage between a man and a woman.

But first, let’s line them all up beside the original by quoting Haggard’s statement again:

Evangelical

"I was never a hateful preacher, I was never an angry preacher, I was never an anti-gay preacher, other than saying -- and I still believe this, even though I'm a sinner and even though I'm weak -- God's best plan for human beings is for men and women to unite together and children's best opportunity to grow up in a healthy way is to grow up with their biological parents." – Ted Haggard, former senior pastor at New Life Evangelical Church.

Mormon

“Nevertheless, and I emphasize this, I wish to say that our opposition to attempts to legalize same-sex marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance, or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group. As I said from this pulpit one year ago, our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They are welcome in the Church.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

Catholic

“Marriage is a conduit through which God's grace flows to the couple and their children.¹ The Catholic Church understands marriage between a baptized man and woman to be a sacrament, a visible sign of the grace that God gives them to help them live their lives here and now so as to be able to join him in eternity.² For Catholics, marriage is social as well as religious, but its religious aspects are very important. The Bible repeatedly compares the relationship between man and wife to that between God and Israel….” – Catholic Answers


"Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion….The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.” – Catholic Catechism 2358

So, what gives? What is the difference? They all say that they believe marriage to be between a man and a woman. They all say that those suffering from same-sex attraction should not be treated ill or discriminated against or hated. So what is it then that makes the homosexual community openly embrace one of these and not the others? Very simply put, they are pitying and embracing and crying out for Ted Haggard despite his marriage beliefs only because he is homosexual and “misery loves company.” Now who is exclusive?

Yours in…Flabbergasted Fatigue (It’s late and I couldn’t come up with anything better…or more accurate),
~Pearl

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