Focus on the Fundies: Skeleton springs out of Haggard's closet

The other shoe has dropped in the latest Ted Haggard scandal, as the young former congregation member of New Life Church publicly discusses how Haggard masturbated in front of him, offered him pills of some sort, and confided that "You can be a man of God and have a little bit of fun on the side."

Meanwhile, Haggard himself appeared on the Oprah show, his successor at New Life Church revealed that Haggard had several inappropriate relationships, and a Colorado Springs bail bondsman and amateur investigator is looking into the financial and legal aspects of l'affaire Haggard.

To top it all off, Haggard's wife Gayle told Oprah that he'd told her years ago that he struggled with same-sex attractions, or, as she put it, "some thoughts."

This story is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

technorati: Ted Haggard

Focus on the Fundies: Ted Haggard may have another skeleton in closet

Now that disgraced former pastor Ted Haggard is promoting an upcoming HBO documentary about his 2006 outing and firing, the folks at his former church are none too happy about it. The current head of the congregation, seemingly resentful that Haggard is back in the public eye, has revealed that a former church volunteer alleged a consensual gay affair with the one-time evangelical superstar.

The documentary, by Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of the House Speaker), premieres on HBO this coming Thursday.

A Colorado Springs religion columnist separately interviewed Pelosi and Haggard, and also uncovers an odd note. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied she ever met Haggard after the disgraced preacher said in an interview in US News and World Report that she comforted him while her daughter was shooting the film. Here's the statement from her office.

technorati: Ted Haggard, New Life Church, Colorado Springs

Focus on the Fundies: Ted Haggard is preaching again

For some reason, disgraced, defrocked religious leaders always seem to be able to attract new or old followers by allowing the suckers to "forgive" them and thus feel virtuous. And in America, there has never been a shortage of either. Disgraced Colorado Springs megachurch leader Ted Haggard, whose outing as a meth-snorting, gay prostitute-paying hypocrite played a role in 2006's Republican election debacle, and in the disillusionment of right-wing Christians with the Republican party, is preaching again, appearing at a rural Illinois church.

Then the 50-year-old president of the National Association of Evangelicals and a symbol of the relationship between the Christian Right and the Republican Party, Haggard was outed by the male prostitute whom he had patronized and bought drugs from over several years in Colorado. His very public fall, coming just days before the 2006 election, was preceded a month earlier by the fall of Mark Foley, and marked the beginning of the end of Republican domination of electoral politics in the U.S. for several years.

Be sure to read to the end of today's story where an elder of Haggard's former church compares him to a "mouse" in his present state.

Update: Courtesy Jeff Sharlett, here's an ABC News story -- with audio excerpts from Haggard's sermon if you play the video.

technorati: Ted Haggard, Christians, televangelists

Focus on the Fundies: Anti-abortion prop, vague fears stoke New Lifers

Salon visited New Life Church, Ted Haggard's old stomping grounds, now somewhat diminished by changing demographics and Bush fatigue. In addition to the kind of sentiments you'd expect -- one woman had "heard Obama wanted to change the flag and the symbols of the country somehow. 'He wants it to be this one big -- I don't know -- it's not America. It's going to be something else, and I don't know what it's going to be'" -- the writer found a former Bush supporter ready to vote for Obama. It's people like the last guy who are going to give Colorado to Obama this time.

Read previous posts about New Life Church.

technorati: New Life Church, Colorado Springs, election

Reporter visits New Life Church, manages not to mention Ted Haggard

On Huffington Post, a reporter visits Colorado Springs, and writes 1600 words about New Life Church without mentioning its disgraced founder Ted Haggard. How impressively fair.

Strangest thing in the story is her description of "a half-used tray of communion wine, its thimbles of juice with frayed pull-tops." They have little bitty juice containers with pull-tops for communion? Now that's déclassé.

technorati: New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Ted Haggard

Focus on the Fundies: Swinging pendulum hits foamers

This NYT magazine article on the changing political winds among evangelical (formerly hard-right-wing) Christian churches is fascinating. Finally disenchanted with the Karl Roves and Dick Cheneys and perhaps becoming more sensitive to what their religion actually says about caring for poor people and the earth, the denizens of meagachurches can no longer be counted on to vote straight Republican. The more politicized see no presidential candidate to vote for; the less politicized realize they've sold their silk purse for a sow's ear.

Important milestones in the disillusionment include the fall of Ted Haggard and David Kuo's book about Rove's manipulation of Christians for political gain.

technorati: Republicans, fundamentalists, politics, churches

Haggard's molester buddy: I had no idea

The Colorado Springs Gazette finally caught up to the story on Haggard's fundraising letter, interviewing Paul Huberty -- the registered sex offender whose organization Families with a Mission Haggard said would collect donations to him "if you want a tax deduction" for supporting the disgraced minister. According to Huberty, he had no agreement with Haggard to collect funds for him.

It gets better. The head of the "Dream Center" halfway house in downtown Phoenix said Haggard will not be working there, contrary to his letter. The Associated Press quotes a minister associated with the church that runs the halfway house: "That was premature. That is not part of his restoration plan. I think he visited the Dream Center saw it was a good place for people to rehab and got excited."

Now that's a disturbing image.

Makes you wonder what Haggard was on when he sent that fundraising appeal, which you can read in its entirety here. And Dan Savage, who has been covering the latest news with relish, posts updates.

technorati: Ted Haggard, fundamentalists, closet cases

More on Haggard: His new buddy is a registered sex offender

Courtesy Colorado Confidential, a posting from Stranger columnist Dan Savage that follows up on the story I posted about yesterday. It seems the person heading the organization Haggard is asking followers to send money to is actually a registered sex offender. Read the details.

Some of my favorite blog entries on the story:

• A 32-year-old MySpace user "Religious Heather," whose page is named "sinnersmustdie," says "Do not support this sinner!!! Why doesn't he try to get a REAL job like the rest of us and not be bitter about being a religious hypocrite? I mean, if you're going to be holy, then don't fudge-pack male prostitutes. Atleast go to a gay bar like a lot of closet married men and get it for free. Nevermind -- I've seen what he looks like. No wonder he has to pay for it!"


• A blog named "Revolution" says "I have three words for this jerk-off who is responsible for giving pastors everywhere a bad name and setting us back, yet again, to the Swaggart-Baker era: GET A JOB!"

Haggard, after raking in six figures, begs followers for money

Showing that a televangelist's greatest asset is his email database, disgraced fundie pastor Ted Haggard has sent followers a letter begging for money despite having made more than $300,000 since the beginning of 2006. Haggard's religious "overseers" sound pissed that he did something like this without asking them, but the really great thing in the story is how he's moving his whole family, including his two boys who are aged something like 9 and 12, into a halfway house in downtown Phoenix with former convicts, drug dealers, prostitutes and "street kids."

I'm sure that's the kind of terrific judgment he's going to show once he gets his degree in "counseling" from the University of Phoenix. How'd you like to have him as your shrink?

technorati: Ted Haggard, fundamentalists, televangelists

Focus on the Fundies: Haggard's church in 12% staff layoff

New Life Church, the former fiefdom of Ted Haggard, has suffered such a drop in attendance and donations that it has been forced to lay off 44 staffers, about 12% of its 350-strong workforce.

Of course it's not just the drop in attendance and dough. They also paid at least $130,000 as go-away money to the formerly influental Republican fund-raiser and secret cock-sucking meth snorter. That could have paid for more than a few staffers, because I'll bet most of the minions at a place like that get paid pretty bad -- and are expected to tithe ten percent of it back to their employer, to boot.

In other news, a blogger asks, "Why is Ann Coulter the darling of the religious right?" That's a good question, as she ought to scare them nearly as much as she does blue-staters. But by calling John Edwards a faggot, she showed how much she has in common with foamers like Rod Parsley and Ken Blackwell.

In other news, there's a new book out called The Jesus Machine, about James Dobson and his ilk; its author was interviewed on Terry Gross today. Contrary to the book's subtitle ("How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War"), the interview was mainly about how the generation of Dobson and Jerry Falwell is about to pass from the scene and the Christianists have no one obvious to replace him with, especially now that Haggard is out.

technorati: Ted Haggard, James Dobson, Jesus Machine, New Life Church, John Edwards, Ann Coulter

Restructuing, layoffs at Haggard's former church

Staff layoffs are ahead for the former church of exposed Big Gay drugs user and hypocrite Ted Haggard, the Colo. Springs Gazette reported today; the layoffs amount to between 30 and 50 people, according to local TV station. Contributions are no doubt down at New Life CHurch, Haggard's former fief.

This gives me an irresistible opportuntiy to quote from Jeff Sharlett's 2005 profile of Haggard and New Life Church.

New Lifers, Pastor Ted writes with evident pride, "like the benefits, risks, and maybe above all, the excitement of a free-market society." They like the stimulation of a new brand. "Have you ever switched your toothpaste brand, just for the fun of it?" Pastor Ted asks. Admit it, he insists. All the way home, you felt a "secret little thrill," as excited questions ran through your mind: "Will it make my teeth whiter? My breath fresher?" This is the sensation Ted wants pastors to bring to the Christian experience.

Now that we know more about Pastor Ted's "secret little thrills," passages like that one are priceless.

technorati: Ted Haggard, New Life Church

End of the Haggard era: 'Overseers' give report

The committee of "overseers" of Ted Haggard's church -- a group of evangelical pastor-CEOs hired to hash out the hypocrite's exit from their ranks and "restore" him to blessed (though secular) heterosexuality -- today gave a report to Haggard's former congregation. Among the interesting revelations:

• They found "numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand
  knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships."
• The three-year relationship with gay prostitute Mike Jones was only the "culmination" of this "pattern of behavior."
• They consider Jones' outing of Haggard not a betrayal but "a matter of grace" that allowed Haggard's perfidy to be exposed. It was "not only warranted, but also merciful to him and to the church.
• Haggard's "enormous personality" is the main reason he had to leave not only his own church but, apparently, the whole state.
• The church "will continue to support Haggard and his family through 2007." (It should be noted that the sale of the very large Haggard mansion, which was his property, should net over a million dollars, and it will be much cheaper to live where he said he would move to, Iowa or Missouri, so Haggard was hardly in need of this golden parachute.) They also paid for the three weeks of "counseling" that Haggard bragged had been equal to three years of therapy.
• Their "investigation is not complete;" indeed, they say they are still tracking down "rumors."

What fun for them. There's something of the Puritanical zeal of Kenneth Starr in these overseers. I think their whole thing has developed into some kind of parable for the evangelicals. What happened to Haggard -- disgrace and magnanimous forgiveness -- is, no doubt, what they hoped to do to Bill Clinton.

Here's the main story from the local paper on the scene at Haggard's former church. Among the added details is that Haggard's former salary was $130,000 and that this amount is roughly equal to the cash La Familie Haggard will receive as "support," called by some commentators hush money or a payoff.

technorati: Ted Haggard, New Life Church, fundamentalists

As Haggards flee Colorado, locals say good riddance

After being scooped by a local TV station, the Colorado Springs Gazette ran their story on Ted Haggard's decision to leave Colorado Springs. There's little new in the story, but just read the comments! The the usual spipes from haters and bigots are one thing, but the hostility from Colorado Springs people saying "Get lost" is overwhelming.

Ted Haggard, Colorado Springs

Keeping up with the Haggards

Hmm, and I was just wondering what Ted Haggard was up to, now that he has graduated from rehab and is back in Colorado Springs. The answer is, he is booking out of there to pursue "a degree in psychology." Let's wish him well, and hope his studies give him a little better understanding of the field than he obviously does now, since in his statement he mentioned that his rehab program was "a three-week psychological intensive that gave us three years worth of analysis and treatment."

Man, that's some program! If they all worked that well, I know plenty of psychologists who would be out of a job. Perhaps for that reason, Haggard anticipates some openings in the field. Or maybe he has some other career in mind for him and his wife:

We are both planning on getting our masters in Psychology so we can work together serving others the rest of our lives. Since we are taking our classes on-line, we can live anywhere that's affordable. Then we'll travel to location for short in-class requirements.

Ah... an on-line Master's in Psychology. Okay. Finally, he explains:

For the last three months, I've not been communicative because I've been paralyzed by shame.

And here I thought it was because he was on lock-down. That just shows how much I know.

More information, of a kind, about the process Haggard went through is here. And for a generic treatment of the psychological condition that has become almost synonymous with Haggard's name, consider this blogger's essay:

Hypocrisy is a traditional American value, which is why liberals are opposed to it. Although my father smoked and drank, he always made it clear that smoking and drinking were wrong and that he had higher standards for me. I can still feel the sting of his slap when I pointed out that he smoked after he caught me with a cigarette. I have passed on these very same values to my own children. When my kids catch me sneaking a cigarette or smell alcohol on my breath, I repeat the words my father said to me, which his father said to him, "Do what Daddy says, not what Daddy does." And someday my children will instill these same values in their children.

I think he's kidding.

Haggard sprung from rehab as 'accuser' visits church

As soon as I saw this headline, I said to myself: "Uh oh."

Haggard's accuser visits New Life Church

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The former male prostitute whose accusations against New Life Church founder Ted Haggard led to Haggard's dismissal as pastor visited the megachurch Sunday.

Mike Jones, who has a forthcoming book, told The Denver Post that several people shook his hand and told him, "God bless you."

"I had read a lot about the church, but there's nothing like seeing it for yourself," Jones told the newspaper. "It wasn't to rub anyone's face in it by any means. I was wanting to get some perspective, to see where they are coming from, what the magnet is."

The story ends with the note: "Haggard and his wife, Gayle, completed a counseling program in Arizona and are back in Colorado Springs."

The reason I said "Uh oh" is that when way-out-there rabble rousers start friendly visits to the fundie churches they've been sparring with, it's usually a short distance to a tearful conversion. In fact, if I were New Life's marketing guy, I would say "Hey, we've got an opportunity here. Haggard -- Jones -- they're the same in everyone's eyes now. Let's team them up!"

Just wait.

Focus on the fundies: The Ted Haggard Story

The Colorado Springs Gazette today published a long account of Ted Haggard's rise and fall. It contains this hilarious quip from a former Haggard colleague:

The church is still grieving. Haggard was pastor, mentor, even spiritual father to many.

"I always assumed that the grief cycle was like a Trivial Pursuit game, where you get your orange piece, and then your blue one," said associate pastor Rob Brendle. "And when you get them all, you check it off and you get your grief-cycle merit badge and you go on with life. What I found is that I'm on the grief-cycle wheel of fortune."

And a few days ago in the same city, the conservative rector of the city's largest Episcopal church -- for all intents and purposes, a megachurch not dissimilar from Haggard's nondenominational Christianist mall -- was suspended while his congregation investigates him for misuse of funds. (Link courtesy Pam Spaulding.)The Rev. Donald Armstrong was a vocal critic of the national church's sympathy for women and gays; the Rocky Mountain News called him a national leader of the homophobic movement.

Focus on the Fundies: Colorado Springs on downswing?

The Colorado Springs Gazette today has a major feature on the prospect of Colorado Springs losing its national influence with the disgrace of Ted Haggard and the midterm lelection loss by Republicans.

Personally I don't care whether Colorado Springs becomes "less influential" in the Republican party or the religious right, but there are a few eyebrow-raising things in the story of how an economically depressed provincial city created "a cluster economy based on Jesus" For one thing, a mysterious foundation donated millions of dollars to build Focus on the Family a headquarters and lure them from Southern California. Then a city development executive used her "born again" status to bond with other Xtian NGOs and draw them in as well.

For all this, the article says only 4000 people work for right-wing Xtian non-profits in Colo. Springs and it is only a "$1 billion industry." So they have been remarkably influential given their actual size.

Haggard rent boy inks book deal

That didn't take long: Mike Jones, the male hooker who outed right-wing Xtian Ted Haggard, has a book deal. The publish date is June and the publisher is Seven Stories Press.

Meanwhile I ran across this blog entry (courtesy some other evangelical's blog). In it the writer compares what he felt as a child when his family was shunned after his father was uncovered as a pedophile, and he is all concerned about protecting Ted Haggard's kids from the same public shame. Seems to miss the point, which is that Haggard himself helped to create the environment in which he is now shamed and mocked, by publicly condemning homosexuals and presenting himself as superior. His hard fall is a function of how high he rode that hobbyhorse before falling off.

But as for Haggard's children, they may be learning something entirely different from their father's situation than what the very concerned writer thinks they are learning. As we saw earlier this week, not only are many of Haggard's former followers so eager to demonstrate their pious forgiveness of his betrayal that they gave what I suppose are thousands of dollars for the family's support, but the congregation itself is calculating a severance package for the man. So what are the kids learning from that? That the consequences of extraordinarily bad behavior -- of lying to your family, your church, and Karl Rove; of tossing your reputation into the toilet; of doing drugs with a male prostitute -- are really not so bad?

Aw, he's no fun, he fell right over

Another Colorado megachurch pastor has quit after admitting same-sex relationships. The Rev. Paul Barnes, who helmed a Christian-themed arena in the Denver suburb of Englewood, quit in a videotaped address to his 2100-member congregation.

Unlike the huge church run by Ted Haggard in Colorado Springs, Barnes' church stayed out of the campaign over Colorado's anti-gay marriage amendment, according to the story. Here's an AP story.

I notice no one is saying this is politically movtivated, unlike the charges against Haggard.

Haggard update: receives "generous outpouring" of cash; severance TK

Now let's catch up with Ted Haggard. Remember Ted Haggard, the Colorado Springs megachurch head who was outed by a Denver rent boy as a meth-snorting, cocksucking sinner?

Well, this week he is due to officially begin his "restoration" -- a sort of hyper-Xtian rehab. A trio of fundie pastors will give him a thorough going-over, doesn't that sound like fun for him? But here's the point: now that he's out of a job (and has been for six weeks), how's his family making out?

According to the news story, members of the congregation he founded and then betrayed have made a "generous outpouring" of donations to the family, and the church is yet to decide on his severance package.

Severance? For living a double life as a drug-snorting cocksucker? Those nutty Republicans!