Evangelical Sadness
You've probably heard by now that evangelical mega-pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to buying methamphetamine and a "massage" from a gay prostitute, Mike Jones, who has made public claims of a three-year relationship. These admissions certainly make Jones's claims sound more believable than Haggard's initial denials.
Haggard was included in Time Magazines list of the 25 most influential evangelicals, served as senior pastor to the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
To me, reading this news feels like driving past a car accident. It's a particularly compelling story to me, as a former evangelical Christian who has come around to a belief that the "Biblical" view of gay people is simple bigotry. On the one hand, the irony of this is so rich that Alanis Morissette may need to update her song. Haggard was a leading proponent of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, and pastored the largest church in the Capitol of Family Values, Colorado Springs. On the other hand, I feel compassion for Haggard, his family, his church, and many others who looked up to him. This revelation is undoubtedly devastating to all of them.
When I went to the NAE Web site to see what they were saying about all this, it had only the brief notice, "The NAE website is being updated. Please check back later for more information."
I imagined the leadership huddled together, trying to interpret these events, and hoped they might update the site with a message like this:
"The NAE was obviously shocked at the revelation that the man who has served us so well as a spiritual leader could be gay. In retrospect, we can see that it was possible for him to be both godly and gay, or impossible for us to know who is, or is not, godly. We regret that our unreasonable expectations forced Pastor Haggard to pretend for years that he was someone else and caused such devastaton for him, his family, and his church members. We clearly need to reevaluate our understanding of the scripture that led us so far astray. With humility and courage, we resolve to accept Ted as the gay man he is, help reconcile him to his wife and children, restore him to the ministry to which he was clearly called and capable, and to rethink our doctrine that is so obviously wrong.
I went back and checked a few moments ago. They've chosen to post something dumb instead.
Posted November 3, 2006 6:57 PM