June 23, 2008 9:35 AM
Ted Haggard's back - silently for the moment
Ted Haggard is back in Colorado Springs and, for the moment, he's not talking.
"I can't talk to you. I am forbidden from talking to the media," Haggard said Saturday evening after answering the doorbell at his home on Old Ranch Road in north Colorado Springs.He declined to elaborate.
Haggard and his wife, Gayle, still are listed as the owners of the five-bedroom, three-bath home whose market value was assessed at $715,000 earlier this year, according to the El Paso County Assessor's Office.
It sits behind a gated entrance on 5.1 acres two miles from the 14,000-member megachurch Haggard originally founded in his basement.
He was asked to leave in late 2006 after admitting to unspecified "sexual immorality."
The confession came after he first denied knowing a former male prostitute from Denver who claimed Haggard paid him for sex nearly every month for three years.
At the time, Haggard was a national player in the politically powerful evangelical movement.
He was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the nation by Time magazine in 2005.
The magazine reported that he was among "a handful of Christian conservatives" who participated in weekly teleconferences with the White House to help plan conservative strategy on gay rights, abortion and other social issues.
After his ouster, Haggard was given a severance package that paid his salary through the end of 2007.
Water was burbling from an electric fountain in the front yard, and five vehicles sat near a multicar garage, including two motorcycles and a cream-colored Cadillac Escalade.
And wouldn't George Carlin have had something to say about this.
June 23, 2008
3:18 PM
Tree writes:
And wouldn't George Carlin have had something to say about this. - From above.
Yeah, I just posted it on the George Carlin blog, speak of the Devil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
June 23, 2008
3:21 PM
AverageCitizen writes:
This guy has got cajones the size of church bells. What he and all his cronies are involved in is NOT religion, but politics and power! And, yet how many people follow this shmuck and believe every word that spills out of his mouth? This has nothing to do with 'Christian forgiveness' -- this is a simple matter of 'wake up, think for yourself, use your common sense and see these clowns for what they really are'!
Duhhhhhhh....
June 23, 2008
3:33 PM
gr8fuldude writes:
This clown represents EVERYTHING I would not want in a faith. Several vehicles, an overpriced home and all the conspicuous consumption that you can stand to see. Didn't the Bible say something about going out to spread the Gospel taking with you only the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet? Sorry, but imho, a Cadillac Escalade is the last thing I would find inspirational.
Hogar, you ever see the film "The Poseidon Adventure"? (The original, that is) I think Hackman's character nailed the only type of pastor I would find sincere. A man profoundly aware of his character flaws.
June 23, 2008
5:31 PM
jay writes:
poor haggard. he's like the walking talking embodiment of religious hypocrisy.
if he wasn't a bigot it would never have been a story.
June 23, 2008
6:05 PM
Hogar De Vuelta (العودة) Jesus died, was buried and rose again. writes:
Gr8,
When I had something to say on the issue, I always lobbied for our pastor to be paid at the median income of the surrounding area. Here is what Jesus had to say on the subject.
Luke 7:33-35 (NASB)
33"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'
34"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'
35"Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
John the Baptist was an ascetic while Jesus had a reputation of living a little high on the hog by His critics and had tunic that they did want to divide following His crucifixion, because it was an expensive piece of clothing.
His point in the above verses is that if someone doesn't like you, they are going to criticise you no matter how you live.
Paul also touched on the subject.
Philippians 4:11-13 (NASB)
11Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Contentment is the over ridding principle, and people can be discontented in any level of affluence. I am far more concerned with Ted's moral failures and what he has done to build accountability into his life.
June 23, 2008
6:16 PM
Kim writes:
Hey guys, pretty easy to know just what a Christian is and isn't, hope you're living it! Throwing stones is fun when it's not you in all the papers. He blew it..no doubt! Let's just hope you can stay strong and not be a stumbling block to anyone by what you act like in private or public...the lesson is that there is nothing kept secret for long...
June 23, 2008
8:44 PM
Anonymous writes:
Seems a couple of you may have missed the point the first people were making. Here's the points:
1. Don't be a hypocrite. The reason I left the church and the Ministry was I looked around at all of these people's antics and realized they fit the Pharisee's description to a "T". Seems me New Life and the Gospel of Jesus are the antithesis of each other. Haggard was the one throwing stones. Like most "Christians" he preached against the very things he practiced- only in that sick dark way that repression always manifests, and all the while publicly damning those who did the very same things he did.
2. The reference to materialism, if I'm not mistaken was that Ted seems to be living high on the hog on the Church's money. (An Escalade? Give me a break.) A lot of honest (albeit duped) people gave their hard earned money to New Life thinking it would go to "the Gospel", but instead it went to the shephard that fleeced them- that deceived them, and took the money, and walked. I don't think the church had any business giving him any severance at all. Let him go homeless and he can really learn about Jesus.
June 24, 2008
8:21 AM
gr8fuldude writes:
Kim - I don't think that any of us are claiming to be perfect, but rather expressing our lack of trust in a man who specifically claimed to be against the one thing that he fell into. Perhaps psychological compensation, perhaps self loathing, perhaps an amalgam of a lot of things. I would just never be drawn to someone who professed Christian values who lives in a gated home. Didn't Jesus hang with the rifraff? I doubt Jesus would have needed to live in a gated home or drive an escalade. More likely He would have been hanging out at the homeless shelter.
June 24, 2008
9:28 AM
JW writes:
"I doubt Jesus would have needed to live in a gated home or drive an escalade. More likely He would have been hanging out at the homeless shelter. "
I think he'd be in jail.
June 24, 2008
10:14 AM
Kevin J Jones writes:
Considering media focus on Haggard's hypocrisy likely encouraged Matthew Murray to shoot up New Life Church, Haggard's reticence is a good thing.
Sackcloth and ashes would say more.
June 24, 2008
3:34 PM
jay writes:
kevin, are you saying that matt murray wouldn't have known who spurned him from the church for being gay if the media didn't tell him?
the media didn't creat the bigotry or the hypocrisy.
June 24, 2008
3:51 PM
Kevin J Jones writes:
Jay, there's only evidence that Murray visited New Life one time. That's not enough for a grudge, that requires media stoking.
If I had claimed Murray shot up the church because he was allegedly bisexual (not gay), you'd call me a bigot. If you do it, you're an enlightened defender of minorities.
I really hope you aren't insinuating that alleged bigotry or hypocrisy justify shootings or even make them understandable.
June 24, 2008
6:33 PM
Anonymous writes:
bigotry and hatred never justify shooting someone, kevin.
but sometimes bigotry and hatred spawn the type of reaction seen at new life.
hate begets hate.
June 24, 2008
11:12 PM
Not So Perfect writes:
I hope you all are perfect because you're so willing to throw stones here. If you're not perfect, keep your opinions to yourself. I've read here that you call the man a clown, a shmuck, a fleecer, a bigot, a thief, a hypocrite, and you fault him for having a nice home and a fence around his property. You assume that's his Escalade (and what if it is?) and that he stole money from his parishoners to get it. You ever write a book? It takes a lot of time and hard work. Shouldn't the man be able to enjoy the fruit of his labor? Ever looked into the books at New Life? The man was paid a fare wage and never hid where the money went. When was the last time you gave 10% of your income to help others? Take a look into your own hearts and find the reason you're so eager to stone this man. Could it be that you hate what you see in others that reminds you of yourself? And Anonymous, just who is spreading hate?
June 24, 2008
11:13 PM
Not So Perfect writes:
I hope you all are perfect because you're so willing to throw stones here. If you're not perfect, keep your opinions to yourself. I've read here that you call the man a clown, a shmuck, a fleecer, a bigot, a thief, a hypocrite, and you fault him for having a nice home and a fence around his property. You assume that's his Escalade (and what if it is?) and that he stole money from his parishoners to get it. You ever write a book? It takes a lot of time and hard work. Shouldn't the man be able to enjoy the fruit of his labor? Ever looked into the books at New Life? The man was paid a fare wage and never hid where the money went. When was the last time you gave 10% of your income to help others? Take a look into your own hearts and find the reason you're so eager to stone this man. Could it be that you hate what you see in others that reminds you of yourself? And Anonymous, just who is spreading hate?
June 25, 2008
9:37 AM
emmarose writes:
i love how he was schtupping mike, the male prostitute, for THREE years and doing crytal meth and continued as pastor. i mean no guilt whatsoever. and mike's only the one we know about. there could have been younger guys that he had sex with in the parish or just local guys. who knows. and what other drugs did he maybe do? such a hypocrite. that's the most disturbing part. no guilt at all.
June 25, 2008
10:18 AM
Hogar De Vuelta (العودة) Wright is Wrong writes:
Ted's house $715,000
Wright's house $1,600,000
Whose congregation has more money?
Which situation represents a greater injustice?
Who did a better job of fleecing the flock?
Which congregation is being manipulated on a greater scale?
Ted was probably living no better than his average congregant. Wright was definitely living way above his congregants.
June 25, 2008
2:06 PM
Vaughan writes:
Comedy Central thinks Haggard would be the perfect albatross of a pastor for Bob Barr...
http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/06/25/congressional-confidential-belly-up-to-the-barr/
June 25, 2008
9:24 PM
Patty writes:
It is a very sad tale - how Ted's power and pride got the best of him. I was around in the 'early' days of New Life and Ted was a HUGE influence on my growing spirituality. It is hard to reconcile Ted then with Ted now - but I am still grateful for what I learned from him back then. We all fall short....and the higher you are, the harder you fall.
June 26, 2008
11:16 AM
jay writes:
patty i hope you missed the class on hypocrisy and bigotry 101.