After the fall
Will the Haggard scandal usher in a new age of Christian tolerance or increase the religious right's homophobia?
By Lauren Sandler
Read more: Politics, News, 2006 Elections
AP Photo/Erik Stenbakken
The Rev. Ted Haggard in Denver (undated photo).
Nov. 7, 2006 | COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- At last night's evening worship at New Life Church, prayers continued for former pastor Ted Haggard. On Sunday morning, congregants had listened as a letter was read aloud in which Haggard confessed to being a "deceiver and liar" who had waged a lifelong struggle with "repulsive" homosexual urges. On Sunday night worshippers dabbed at their eyes and lifted their palms heavenward, pleading for God to forgive their fallen leader. But anyone who had been at the same Sunday night service a week earlier for what would turn out to be Haggard's final sermon would think they had heard something like biblical prophecy.
"Father, we pray that lies would be exposed. That deception would be exposed," he said during his final appearance in this massive sanctuary in the round. Haggard's prayers were answered quickly. Just days after his sermon, he was accused by a male escort, Mike Jones, of a three-year sexual relationship.
Even Haggard's choice of Bible passages on Oct. 29 foreshadowed his fall. From the Old Testament, he preached about God's rejection of Saul from Israel's throne. As Haggard told his flock, Saul was cast out for disobedience. "There are positions that God has for us in our life, but by our obedience or our disobedience we will fulfill the calling of that position ... And he may, depending on the level of disobedience, reject us personally."
Haggard then closed his sermon with a blinding smile. "Enjoy the candidates out front, and don't forget the amendment effort." He was referring both to the political candidates waiting outside the church to meet some of its 14,000 parishioners, and to Amendment 43, the initiative to ban gay marriage in Colorado. Haggard was a proponent -- and, it's rumored, an author -- of Amendment 43.
It's a dark irony that a political pitch about homosexuality was to be Haggard's final message to the church he founded two decades ago and built into one of the most powerful megachurches in the nation. Mike Jones says he came forward to expose the hypocrisy of the ginger-haired pastor, who was also the head of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the most important conservative Christian leaders in the country. On many people's minds here is just how Haggard's admission will affect both Tuesday's election, locally and nationally, and future political battles. But the fallout of the Haggard scandal extends far beyond electoral politics. Equally in question is how the long standoff between evangelical and gay Americans will be affected by the revelation of one man's sexual identity. Will the Haggard scandal decrease tolerance in privately held beliefs and at the polls?
Richard Cizik, the vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who is known to uphold the compassionate side of "compassionate conservatism," sees the potential for positive change in the sexuality wars. He admits his optimism may seem counterintuitive coming out of such a negatively charged event. "Both communities," gay and conservative Christian, "are going to have to come to some mutual understandings that might help actually restore some of the broken fabric of this country. Maybe Ted Haggard can help us learn to do that.
"Evangelicals have to acknowledge that there are people in our own churches who struggle with this temptation. Including leaders. We all know Ted has struggled with this issue. That's shouldn't be a big surprise. The gay community resents it when we don't acknowledge it. And he did."
Cizik is quick to note that instead of carrying the standard-issue homophobic cross, Haggard broke from his evangelical brethren to oppose anti-sodomy laws and invite members of gay-friendly churches to speak and sing at his church, even though he spoke out against homosexuality as recently as last week. But neither Haggard, nor Cizik, nor any other prominent conservative Christian has suggested that it's time to rethink the notion that homosexuality is an abomination. Never is it seen as anything but sin, failure and rebellion against God. As Cizik notes, the response to Mike Jones may have been less vitriolic than some may have predicted, but it's still of the "love the sinner, hate the sin" variety, just as it has been for Ted Haggard in churches and Bible study classes across the country.
Haggard himself offered quite a mixed message. Since the scandal exploded on front pages across the nation, some people believe that his complicated example of tolerance mixed with homophobia may leave nothing but intolerance in its wake. Michael Cobb, the author of "God Hates Fags: The Rhetorics of Religious Violence," thinks it will make evangelicals regard anything except withering disapproval of homosexuality as evidence of a personal secret. "If you demonstrate any symptoms of tolerance," says Cobb, "that might be pointing to something dark lurking in your history. It's all about suspicion. If Ted Haggard can be a homosexual, then everyone can. That's the whole message. And if you have a connection to someone who is queer, or even tolerate them, does that rub off on you?"
