Gay Male Prostitute Exposes Pastor

[Doug]

DOUG
Some of you may recall Pastor Ted Haggard of the megachurch Richard Dawkins visited in his movie "The Root of All Evil." Haggard came off as completely self-righteous--but the whole time he may have been secretly thinking of gay sex...

======================
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years...

"I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity," Haggard said in a written statement. "I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date."

He also told KUSA-TV late Wednesday: "Never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife."

The allegations come as voters in Colorado and seven other states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

Mike Jones, 49, of Denver told The Associated Press he decided to go public with his allegations because of the political fight. Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. Jones also said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

...Jones said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash, though he declined to make any of it available to the AP.

"There's some stuff on there (the voice mails) that's pretty damning," he said.

...Carolyn Haggard, spokeswoman for the New Life Church and the pastor's niece, said a four-member church panel will investigate the allegations. The board has the authority to discipline Haggard, including removing him from ministry work.

"This is really routine when any sort of situation like this arises, so we're prepared," Carolyn Haggard said. "The church is going to continue to serve and be welcoming to our community. That's a priority."

Read the whole article here.

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[Dardedar]

"The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals" having GAY HOOKER SEX.

This is TOO delicious. And perfect timing. Please be true, please be true.

[Dardedar]

You can watch a local news clip on this story here



I'll bet a nanny goat that Haggart is lying. He is so toast. The hypocrisy doesn't get any more pungent than this.

[Dardedar]

Here it comes:

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Pastor: Haggard admits to 'some' allegations
Evangelical leader earlier denied man's claim that he paid for sex, drugs

Updated: 24 minutes ago

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Rev. Ted Haggard, who stepped down as head of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday after allegations that include having gay sex, has confessed to some of the allegations, a fellow pastor said in an e-mail to church members.

"It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true,” Ross Parsley, the acting senior pastor at New Life Church stated. Haggard on Thursday also stepped aside as leader of the 14,000-member New Life Church, based in Colorado Springs.

“He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation,” the e-mail stated. A copy was obtained by KMGH-TV in Denver.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. Jones also said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.

Jones said he had advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and that a man who called himself Art contacted him. Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard.

He said that he last had sex with Haggard in August and that he did not warn him before making his allegations this week.

What's on alleged voice mails
Jones said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash. KUSA-TV reported excerpts from some of the alleged voice mails late Thursday.

“Hi Mike, this is Art,” one call began, according to the station. “Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply.”

A second message, left a few hours later, began: “Hi Mike, this is Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great. And I’ll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever.”

Jones said Haggard was referring to methamphetamine.

“There’s some stuff on there (the voice mails) that’s pretty damning,” he said.

link

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I'm still looking for the G--- Old Party synonym for Hypocrisy. Maybe it will even swing the election (probably not, between Diebold & Haggart "humbly confessing" ...)

[Doug]

Embattled minister Ted Haggard this morning admitted receiving a massage from the Denver man who claims to have exchanged sex for money with the Colorado Springs church leader for three years.
Haggard was driving out of his home with his wife Gayle and three of his five children when he gave a brief interview to a gathering of reporters.

Haggard stepped down Thursday as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church of Colorado Springs after Michael Jones, 49, said he had been having paid sex with Haggard once a month for three years and helped provided him with methamphetamine.

This morning, Haggard said he had never had sex with Jones but said he did buy methamphetamine out of curiosity.

Haggard said he never consumed it but threw it away.

Haggard said he was referred to Jones for a massage by a hotel in Denver. The minister said he travels to Denver to write books.

Haggard drew a silent stare from his wife when he told the gathered reporters that he received a massage from Jones.

See here.

[Doug]

"Bill Clinton's White House was the most responsive in recent history," he said. "He really wanted to please evangelical Christians. He's a Bible-believing Christian himself; his problem was, he was a sex addict."
--Pastor Ted Haggard

Here.

[Dardedar]

Get your Bush/Haggard pictures quick before they erase them all:

[WindFem3]

If you step back from this story for a moment and just look at it, the weirdest thing (not the most repugnant or revolting, just the weirdest) is that a gay male drug-dealing hooker actually ended up having more integrity and credibility than Mr. "Fine-Upstanding-Pillar-of-the-Community" Pastor Haggard.



I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Savonarola]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I choose laugh.

[Savonarola]

Haggard now admits to a "lifelong" sexual problem and to being "a deceiver and a liar."

Well duh.

"I am guilty of sexual immorality," he wrote in a letter.

story

So with Haggard and Hovind, overall a pretty bad weekend for religious nutjobs. Let's hope it gets even worse for them come Tuesday night.

[Betsy]

I heard a political ad today from some Republican woman saying she'll fight for "family values" ---- I don't know, but I think they've pretty much worn that platform out, don't you? Too many of them have shown their TRUE values.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

First comment to anyone saying they'll fight for family values is "Define Family Values" - The Rs usual definition is something nobody should be fighting for.

[Doug]

For a man witnessing a debacle in real time, Rev. Louis Sheldon, a leader of the Christian Right political movement, sounded amazingly sanguine Tuesday night – even as an early AP exit poll indicated that almost one-third of white Evangelicals chose a Democrat for Congress.

“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.”

...there was the disgrace of Sheldon’s own friend and colleague, Rev. Ted Haggard, the Colorado mega-church leader and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an even bigger pillar of Republican support on the Christian right. 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.”

See here.

[Doug]

"From the Christian perspective, we think in terms of prayer, we think in terms of what we call godly counsel, where godly men who are clean themselves insert themselves in the life of the one who is struggling," London said.

The symbolic laying on of hands may also be a part of the recovery, London said.

"I'm sure there will be those who lay their hands on Pastor Haggard as an act of faith, calling on the act of God to restore and heal," he said. "The prayer can be therapeutic, the laying on of hands can be ceremonial."

See here.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Nobody had the gall to claim to be "godly" or "without sin" in Jesus' presence. Interesting that so many of the judgers have forgotten that "by the measure that you judge, so shall you be judged" - Moses was at it again last week. Same spiel - I can judge you, but you can't judge me, because I'm godly and you're not. GOP is right - G in spanish is pronounced like the H in hypocrisy.

[Betsy]

Whatever happened to the good old days, when Billy Graham was the only "big" preacher, and as far as I can tell, he's a sincere Christian in the best sense of the word. It would be nice if the real Christians would take back their religion.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Betsy, there have always been the wingnut sects of christianity - and probably every other dominance religion - Father Coughlin in the 1930s comes to mind. What we didn't have was an MSM owned by 5 or 6 "conservative" corporations giving us 24/7 coast to coast and border to border coverage of them. It would be nice if christians could get back "control" of their religion, just like it would be nice if republicans could get back control of their party. Don't look for either to happen any time soon.

[Doug]

Jan. 22, 2007 — Much has been made of America's so-called religious divide, but few of the discussions and debates resemble Alexandra Pelosi's new film, "Friends of God."

The HBO documentary shows the Rev. Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, talking frankly about how evangelical Christians have sex more than any other religious group.

Haggard resigned from the church in 2006, after a scandal linked him to drugs and a male prostitute.

Haggard served as Pelosi's tour guide through the evangelical community. In the film, he proclaims that evangelicals have the best sex lives in the world.

"You know all the surveys say that evangelicals have the best sex life of any other group," he says.

In the documentary, Haggard asks an evangelical next to him how often he has sex with his wife. The man replies, "Every day." Haggard then explains that evangelicals have a lot of love and says to Pelosi, "You don't think these babies come out of nowhere?"

For Pelosi, the scandal surrounding Haggard is hard to comprehend.

"Because Pastor Ted was my tour guide, he was so good to me. He took me under his wing," she said.

"Most people think of evangelicals as being these holy roller, Jesus freaks, and Ted wasn't like that," she said. "It was interesting for me to say, these are good people. He was a reasonable, normal everyday man. So, it was hard to stomach what had happened."

See here.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I wonder if you'd get the same "best sex" response if you asked his wife? The patriarchal religions not only teach that a woman should always be sexually available to her husband, they teach (some covertly, some overtly) that marital rape is an appropriate response to the woman not being sexually available to her husband (as well as the appropriate "reprimand" for any other unapproved behavior).

I do hope Ms. Pelosi outgrows being suckered by schmooze. Sure the Fundies are well organized. So were the Nazis.