Sheldon: Christian rightist leaders knew of Haggard's sexuality

Uber-toxic old crypto-fascist Lou Sheldon, one of the biggest foamers of the anti-gay religious right, is said to have admitted that he and "a lot" of other evangelical leaders knew of Ted Haggard's homosexual predilictions:

Sheldon disclosed that he and "a lot" of others knew about Haggard's homosexuality "for awhile ... but we weren't sure just how to deal with it."

Months before a male prostitute publicly revealed Haggard's secret relationship with him, and the reverend’s drug use as well, "Ted and I had a discussion," explained Sheldon, who said Haggard gave him a telltale signal then: "He said homosexuality is genetic. I said, no it isn't. But I just knew he was covering up. They need to say that."

God, just in those quotes there is so much evil and forked-tongued speech. They "weren't sure just how to deal with it"?? Oh, I'm sure any Christianist demagogue would be able to tell a garden-variety fag just how to deal with his homosexuality -- but this wasn't just any gay man, this was one of their own. So rather than treat him the way they would treat someone without power and influence, they froze and shilly-shallied. I'm sure they would have liked this situation to go on forever -- just as the Catholic Church wished all those pedophile priests would eventually just die and the problem would go away -- all because of their totally unrealistic and wishful view of what sex is.

Then there's the smug, superior note: "They need to say that."

A man whose mind stopped functioning long ago, for the most part, except the parts that animate the knee-jerk response.

Also classic is this statement: Speaking of the election results, in which Rick Santorum and several other darlings of the Christian Right were drubbed:

"We know that in America the people are with us," insisted the founder and chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, one of the largest groups in the Christian right. "They're just confused."

Right, Lou. It's just a PR problem. The American people are confused about what you represent. Sure.

Link to the story courtesy Andrew Sullivan, The Zero Boss.

Lou Sheldon, Ted Haggard, religious right, Traditional Values Coalition, homosexuality, homophobia