Look on the bright side, you aren't Mrs. Ted Haggard
These are truly terrible times. You may have been laid-off. You may have been on the receiving end of a lay-off rumor. You may have been arrested for cooking meth in the home you share with the future son-in-law of the future of the Republican Party.
Cheer up, little clown. At least you aren't Gayle Haggard.
Remember this lady? Her husband, former Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, admitted to having sex and meth with a male prostitute. Ted was removed from his position at the influential New Life Church, then kicked out of a de-gaying program and is now trying to sell insurance in Arizona. The couple, who have five children, are still married. Explains Gayle:
![]() | I know to restore the honor to our children is to help restore honor to their father.![]() |
Yes, it's easy to snicker. Ted is participating in a documentary in which he says he never claimed to be straight. Gayle's snotty statement above implies that gay people are without honor. We normally love to luxuriate in the hypocrisy of Christian homophobes like Gayle, but today, our feelings about her are a strange mix of schadenfreund and empathy.
Schadenfrempathy, if you will.
Imagine for a second that you take your marriage vows seriously. For Evangelicals, "in sickness and in health" is a catch-all that includes, "gay or straight." And Gayle's husband is ill. Very ill. Ted's fever for dick has left a cucumber-sized tumor in his mouth. If this lady were you or me, we would introduce him to our friend Bruce from college and wish them well. But this is Gayle. According to every truth she holds self-evident, she must stay and make this marriage work.
The fall from Pastor's Wife to Uncloseted Gay Insurance Salesman's Beard is a long, hard one. No matter what happens during this tough recession, let us be thankful that we are this one thing: not Gayle Haggard.
Filed under: Gayle Haggard, Ted Haggard, Haggard gay, ted haggard gay, gayle haggard and ted haggard, ted haggerd, haggard documentary, hbo, hbo ted haggard documentary, ted haggard on being gay, homosexuality, evangelicals, evangelical, evangelical leader











posted 6:27 am on 12/22/2008
You're now a Fan of mschlee.
See the pattern?
FREE AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY
posted 7:52 pm on 12/20/2008
You're now a Fan of southernyankee.
posted 5:54 pm on 12/20/2008
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posted 12:24 pm on 12/20/2008
You're now a Fan of lunchlady.
Being gay is not sinful, it's just part of the human experience. Haggard used to profit by preaching against gays, now he's trying to profit by preaching against gays from a new angle. He's the same old huckster, just not humiliated enough yet to see the true light. He apparently sees his outing as just a temporary setback, a minor obstacle.
posted 2:45 am on 12/20/2008
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posted 9:35 pm on 12/19/2008
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(Okay, That was just rude.)
**
posted 9:20 pm on 12/19/2008
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posted 7:37 pm on 12/19/2008
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posted 4:06 pm on 12/19/2008
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posted 3:28 pm on 12/19/2008
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