Leading Evangelical Accused of Gay Sex

With eight states set to vote Tuesday on gay marriage statutes the leader of one of the organizations leading the fight against gay marriage has stepped aside amid allegations that he paid for gay sex monthly for the past three years. Apparently, Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, has admitted some of the allegations are true.



Is this Mark Foley II? What is going on behind the scenes in this country? Is every person in a powerful position, espousing their obligatory views, secretly practicing the very things they rail against in public? It certainly seems so.

What's next? Will we find out the head of the NOW is a transsexual? Will Tom Cruise and Oprah come out and admit they are gay? (wait, that wouldn't be a big surprise)

How much more of these seedy, unseemly revelations can the American public take before our confidence in the swiss cheesy facade of the public and private decency of high officials and celebrities completely unravels?

As you can probably tell, mine already has.

The stronger and the harder a public figure rallies and advocates against something, the more you can suspect them from being involved in the very thing they seem to be against.

Its been like this for a long time and I'm actualy surprised that people are surprised when they find out about this sort of things.

Religion, ha, biggest scam in human history, and oh yeah it must suck to be this dude right about now.

[edit on 3-11-2006 by WestPoint23]

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
Is every person in a powerful position, espousing their obligatory views, secretly practicing the very things they rail against in public?

Pretty much, I think. Look at oour contry's leadership's claims about religion, torture and terrorism and you'll see that practicing what they preach is not a high priority.

Several things I find interesting about this case are:

1) He immediately resigned. Does an innocent man immediately resign?
2) He admitted to 'some indiscretion'... What?
3) His defense was "I have never had a gay relationship with anybody" He didn't say he had never had gay sex. Perhaps he doesn't consider paying a prostitute once a month to be a 'relationship'. In other words, it depends on what the definition of 'relationship' is... Sound familiar?
4) Allegations of drug use.

Apparently Mike Jones (the escort) has some amount of evidence.

None of it really makes any difference to me. I don't care who has sex with whom and his 'relationship' with his wife and church is their business, not mine.

What bothers me about this is the same thing that bothers the OP. Seems like everyone in power who "preaches" against certain practices is up to his own elbows in it! It's a great way to deflect suspicion. And you can bet we are aware of only a small portion of it. It's happening in our government to a great degree, I'm sure.

I saw this guy on a show about religion on the history channel a few months ago. He came across as a pompus, arrogant, self righteous bigot. If the allegations are true its proof karma works.

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
How much more of these seedy, unseemly revelations can the American public take before our confidence in the swiss cheesy facade of the public and private decency of high officials and celebrities completely unravels?

As you can probably tell, mine already has.

Mine as well IR. What I find astonishing is the lame excuses the "devotes" to authority/cult figures, try to use to try and prop up thier Gods.


Unquestioning devotion is as sick as the offences the "leaders" commit. Well...maybe not quite.

I always party a little when an authority fiqure is shown to have feet of clay and falls off their pedestal.

A little off topic.

I'm just waiting for this man to come out of the closet.

files.abovetopsecret.com...

On topic:

This doesn't surprise me at all. It reminds me of the quote "The lady doth protest too much, methinks". - William Shakespeare (Hamlet)

en.wikiquote.org...

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
How much more of these seedy, unseemly revelations can the American public take before our confidence in the swiss cheesy facade of the public and private decency of high officials and celebrities completely unravels?

As you can probably tell, mine already has.

It's a sad testimony that this kind of stuff fascinates people. The worst thing about is is the hypocrisy of the man.

I don't know if you meant to equate homosexuality with lack of decency; I doubt you did. But the higher we put these people up on pedestals, the lower they sink in our estimation when we realize they are actually mere mortals.

The voicemail recordings can be found here:

abcnews.go.com...

Here are the transcripts:

Jones played for ABC News two voice-mail messages he says were left for him by Haggard.

He says Haggard used the pseudonym "Art."

The man on the tape says: "Hi Mike, this is Art. Hey, I was just calling to see if we can get any more. Either a $100 or $200 supply. And I can pick it up really anytime tomorrow, or we can wait until next week sometime. And so, I also wanted to get your address so I can send you some money for inventory. But that's obviously not working, so if you have it go ahead and get what you can. I may buzz up there. I don't know, maybe even later today, but I don't know if your schedule would allow that unless you have some in the house. So, I'll check in with you later today. Thanks bye."

On the other voice mail, the man says:

"Hi Mike, this is Art. Hey, I am here in Denver. Sorry that I missed you. But as I said if you want to go ahead and get the stuff then that would be great. I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whatever. I will call you though early next week and see what is most convenient to you. Ok, thanks a lot. Bye."

The voice mails played for ABC News did not contain any explicit mention of sex or drugs.

abcnews.go.com

I don't really know if the man on the tape is Haggard or not, but to me it sounds a lot more like a drug deal than a sex deal, although I guess there's nothing to prevent having sex with one's dealer.

Now, however, Haggard is admitting to some indiscretoins, whereas before, he denied any wrongdoing:

Haggard, a married father of five, had denied the allegations in a television interview, but Ross Parsley, the acting senior pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado, said he had admitted to some wrongdoing.

"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt," Parsley told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.

ibid.

[edit on 2006/11/3 by GradyPhilpott]

Here's an update on this story. Haggard is admitting he received massages and bought meth from the accuser, but did not have sex with him and threw the drugs away.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- The Rev. Ted Haggard, who resigned as one of the nation's top evangelical leaders, admitted Friday he had contacted male prostitute Mike Jones "for a massage" and bought drugs from him.

Haggard said he never had sex with Jones and never used the methamphetamine drug he bought.

www.cnn.com...

Well that explains the voice mail conversations, but I wonder if that is really all there was to it.

Why did he buy the drugs if he wasn't going to use it? BTW, it is still illegal to buy drugs....possession. So, even if he didn't use them, he still did something illegal.

Also. Wouldn't getting a "massage" by a gay prostitute be a "sin" anyway? Sex or no sex? I don't buy the no sex line anyway. There is a huge difference in getting a massage by a professional massuse (sp?) and getting a "massage" by a gay prostitute. In "The Washington Blade" (a gay news paper here in DC) there is a special section for "massages" by gay "escorts" and then there is a normal section for massages by licensed professionals. Why are they seperated if they are the same?

What is the problem if this guy is gay? and he takes drugs? aren't we supposed to be tolerant and accepting? Why is anyone making a big deal over this? So what, he's gay.
I think everyone accepts the fact that there are gay people in the world. I think everyone accepts the fact that people take drugs. So, this guy was a priest - or reverand "man of the cloth". So what? Isn't he a human being? Isn't he allowed to make mistakes and given the chance to redeem himself?

Originally posted by ProfTom
What is the problem if this guy is gay? and he takes drugs? aren't we supposed to be tolerant and accepting?

It is not that fact that he is gay that most people have a problem with, it is that he is an "outspoken opponent of gay marriage," all the while, seemingly, having some fun with male prostitutes. It is 'somewhat' hypocritical no?

Originally posted by ProfTom
What is the problem if this guy is gay? and he takes drugs? aren't we supposed to be tolerant and accepting? Why is anyone making a big deal over this? So what, he's gay.
I think everyone accepts the fact that there are gay people in the world. I think everyone accepts the fact that people take drugs. So, this guy was a priest - or reverand "man of the cloth". So what? Isn't he a human being? Isn't he allowed to make mistakes and given the chance to redeem himself?

I believe the big deal is that he is a hypocrit. He went out of his way to make homosexuals "second class" citizens by advocating denying marriages to homosexuals. Then turns around and has "massages" by gay prostitutes? Hypocrit.

Just like Foley, the man is a hypocrit. Foley got laws passed about child sexual abuse and then did what he advocated against....same as this man.

Originally posted by ProfTom
What is the problem if this guy is gay?

It is because he has preached against gays and advocated a bill banning gay marriage that is up for vote in the area. This is why the male prostitute came forward because he found out who he was and thought he was a hypocrite.

[edit on 11/3/2006 by Hal9000]

Originally posted by Icarus Rising


What's next? Will we find out the head of the NOW is a transsexual?

I thought it was supposed to be Ann Coulter.

There is a huge difference in getting a massage by a professional massuse (sp?) and getting a "massage" by a gay prostitute.

Yes....I saw on an HBO show once that the latter usally has a "Happy Ending"

[edit on 3-11-2006 by etshrtslr]

OK, people . . . but on this one . . . for some reason . . . I can not actually see that is true.

I don't know why . . . but . . . Mr. Haggard may have been framed, on this one.

Perhaps he did a something stupid about the drugs but for some reason I feel that he has been framed.

I am getting soft now:Lil: for believing that he was framed?

Or perhaps I am just tired of the dirty politics that has been played around, one thing that bothers me the most is how these dirty rags are coming out now, when elections are so near.

Why no before?

I hate it.

[edit on 3-11-2006 by marg6043]

Originally posted by marg6043
OK, people . . . but on this one . . . for some reason . . . I can not actually see that is true.

I don't know why . . . but . . . Mr. Haggard may have been framed, on this one.

Perhaps he did a something stupid about the drugs but for some reason I feel that he has been framed.

I am getting soft now:Lil:

for believing that he was framed?

Or perhaps I am just tired of the dirty politics that has been played around, one thing that bothers me the most is how these dirty rags are coming out now, when elections are so near.

Why no before?

I hate it.

[edit on 3-11-2006 by marg6043]

If he was framed why did he resign? Why did he intially deny knowing the guy then addmitted knowing him later? Why was he buying drugs from this guy? These are not the actions of someone who is framed these are the actions of someone who is CYA.
I think this is the classic example of someone not practicing what they preach.

So what if he's against gay marriage. Two people of the same sex marrying is an absurdity regardless of anyone's sexual orientation.

Absurdity is absurdity, and frankly, I don't see any hypocrisy in being gay and opposing gay marriage.

Having logical thought processes doesn't make one a hypocrite.

However, being married and carrying on an affair on the side with anyone, while professing to be a Christian is certainly being a hypocrite, as is the use of illicit drugs.

Not much has been confirmed at this point except that possibly Haggard left cryptic voice messages on Jones' phone.

Anything else is speculation.

I guess we can reasonably predict that Haggard is in hot water both personally and professionally. He can always pull off a Jimmy Swaggert or a Marvin Gorman, I guess.

[edit on 2006/11/3 by GradyPhilpott]