sometimes i come across stories and i'm not always sure what to do with them. do i keep it to myself? do i put it up here?
with that in mind, i saw this story about ted haggard, head of the national association of evangelicals. a man in colorado is accusing him of being gay, and of having homosexual relations with him. haggard has stepped down from his position as well as his pastorate, awaiting the matter to be further investigated.
i'm not posting this here because i want to say, "gotcha!" i think i'm posting this so we can see haggard as a human, who struggles with a lot of issues in life. and, if it's true, i hope that he carries on in life with a lot more grace towards those he has vehemently opposed.
i realize that some may see this story, and add him too the list of hypocritical Xians out there. if that's your response, i understand. others will say, this guy has always been a jerk, and i'm not surprised. hey, i don't know the guy, and all we can usually know is from the public personna out there. and all i know is that if these allegations are true, mr. haggard needs to do some explaining.
so, finally, i'm wondering, if you found out something about a person you believed in, their ideas, writings, whatnot, did something that compromised their message, how do you handle that? (not that i followed haggard at all.) do you throw out what they've done? or does it just taint the work? or, do you just carry on?
4 comments:
He was a total greaseball at the end of Jesus Camp. Creeepy.
Anywho, I'd have a hard time continuing to follow someone who has done something completely antithetical to what they've been saying for many years.
I mean, people foul up but, if this is true. If this guy really did do this, I'd be out. To preach vehemently against a lifestyle and make every attempt to deny a whole section of of society rights, to have the President on the phone every week and be whispering this garbage in his ear, all the while behaving in a completely opposite manner behind everyone's back. That's a bit too much for me.
Looks like he's admitted to the meth usage but not teh gay sex.
Although, he found Jones on a webpage called Rentboy.com.
Uh huh, that's where everyone shops for meth. Suuuure.
I've been trying not to adopt the Haha attitude, although there is always a tinge of righteousness (albeit misplaced) when christian crusaders fall on their faces. I think its because public crusaders so often display the opposite of Christ's attitude towards the world. I started reaading A Generous Orthodoxy (Brian McLaren) and he makes the point that if Christ were alive today, he would probably not be a christian as it is practiced today.
As for what to do with the legacy of the person, I'm torn. We all know the accusations made against Bill, and those of us who know him, know the great things he did, and have a hard time throwing out the belief that he is a great person. But then I think that the true message is that all people fall, and that forgiveness is an essential part of true christianity. Compassion, so rarely shown to the "enemies" of conservative christains should be the cornerstone of that christianity.
The situation is interesting. I have been using this topic in the last couple of days in discussion with my students as we have read "The Crucible." We have been dicussing how moral panic leads to rumors, gossip, accusations, etc. Moral panic is not just for conservatives; liberals have issues with their sense of morality being attacked as deviant. All in all, it is sad that anyone, conservatives or liberals, use their version of morality to attempt to persecute others. These "witch hunts" will continue as society is always looking for its next "witch." I cannot say that I haven't adopted the "AH-HA" attitude, but what I have been doing is making an attempt to understand WHY I have. By the way...whose version of deviant behavior is going to end up governing the US anyway?
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