Disgraced pastor faces more gay sex accusations
By ERIC GORSKI
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 24, 2009Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s former church disclosed Friday that the gay sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard _ a revelation that comes as Haggard tries to repair his public image.
Brady Boyd, who succeeded Haggard as senior pastor of the 10,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, told The Associated Press that the man came forward to church officials in late 2006 shortly after a Denver male prostitute claimed to have had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with Haggard.
Boyd said an "overwhelming pool of evidence" pointed to an "inappropriate, consensual sexual relationship" that "went on for a long period of time…it wasn’t a one-time act." Boyd said the man was in his early 20s at the time. He said he was certain the man was of legal age when it began…
David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests _ which has largely focused on the Catholic sexual abuse scandal but also speaks out on cases involving Protestant clergy _ said the new disclosures about Haggard are more disturbing because they involves a church volunteer."Technically, legally, they were both adults," Clohessy said. "Psychologically and emotionally, Haggard was dramatically more powerful. … By definition, any sexual contact between a congregant and minister is inherently abusive and manipulative."
In an AP interview this month before an appearance in front of TV critics in California, Haggard described his sexuality as complex and something that can’t be put into "stereotypical boxes."
So when the Ted Haggard story broke, it became a symbol for the absurdity of this Religious Right position. Here was a leader of the Evangelical Community that was knee deep into the Religious Right’s war on sex, preaching on Sunday against homosexuality, who was a "closeted" gay man. The disgrace was not his homosexuality. It was his preaching. The sex part wasn’t complex. Human beings are driven to have sex with each other. That’s biology, plain and simple. People have to choose to preach ill of others. That’s of greater interest.
Now, we’re about to learn that he was sexually involved with a young man in his church. How many times have we heard about that? A preacher involved with some young thing in his church; a therapist involved with a younger client; a teacher involved with a student; a President involved with a young intern. These are situations where a person takes advantage of a position of authority for purposes of seduction. It’s not against the law, but in some of those instances, it is against the ethical mandates of the position. The sex part isn’t complex. Human beings are driven to have sex with each other. That’s biology, plain and simple. But people have to choose to be exploitive. And since we haven’t heard this story yet, we don’t know if that’s the case.
But as for Haggard’s comment, "Haggard described his sexuality as complex and something that can’t be put into ‘stereotypical boxes’." It’s not Haggard’s sexuality that’s complex, it’s the culture in which he was raised that has told him that the sexual feelings that he’s had since childhood are evil. The ‘stereotypical boxes’ are a creation of man, and he’s joined in that creation. His struggles are no different from the struggles of homosexual people since the dawn of time. His wish to be a good father and the biological urges within him are no different than those of countless men and women who came before him.
Thanks for writing this. I still have hopes for Pastor Ted to “see the light” and accept his sexuality for what it is, given to him by God, if you want to put it in that language — and then for him to become the evangelical spokesman for a more enlightened view on homosexuality. Maybe he and Rick Warren and Gene Robinson could have a series of discussions.
You’ve sold me on the idea that this man contains possibilities that can not only liberate him, but many others. All he has to do is the simplest of things, but often the hardest – admit that he was wrong. He’s still trying to explain how his former positions “make sense.” He’s bitter about his treatment by the church that he founded, even though they are being kind of big about things.
I’m not completely sure why, but he’s becoming a more sympathetic character to me. I hope it means that he’s nearing an “aha” experience that will give him some peace, and perhaps a direction for his life [like you’ve suggested from the start]. He’s kind of a “Freudian guy” – meaning that when he talks, you can see how incredibly conflicted he is. He doesn’t look like the “Kohutian guy” who is driven only by his self image. He feels his own pain, as Clinton was want to say…
Ted has come a long way already — from denying that his actual sessions with the male hooker were about sexual desire (just tension relief) to acknowledging that these sexual desires in him go back a long time and that he has struggled with them. He ended his “rehab” program saying it was “incomplete.” I believe he ended the prescribed program early, which suggests that he saw it was not going to work. And he repudiated the earlier statement that he was “completely heterosexual.”
So he’s no longer denying that he is attracted to men. That’s an important step. The next step is acceptance of the desire as a natural part of him, rather than something bad and not him. And then he has to deal with the idea that, even if the desire is a part of who he is, it’s a sin to act on it.
Other people have gone this route and made it through to a healthy gay identity. I hope he makes it.