The reason they call it "The Closet"
... is that it's so dark in there.
Ted Haggard's confession to his congregation included this disturbing quote:
The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life.
It's a part of his religion that is repulsive and dark, not being gay, if that's what he was talking about. And he can't "take responsibility for the entire problem" either, because he didn't create the rule that says being gay is sinful and dirty (even though he made a good show of embracing that rule).
My previous post described what true grace and redemption might look like in this situation, as improbable as it may be. It's probably true that most people won't learn anything by this, but it's also true that some will. I hope that Haggard and his loved ones at least can accept that he's gay and come around to understanding that there's nothing wrong with that. He would find that having integrity gets a whole lot easier.
Posted November 5, 2006 7:55 PM