The Biggest Political Story of the Decade.

[kentuck]

Although the Republicans wish to downplay the story as insignificant and the Democrats have chosen not to discuss it, the "scandal" of Pastor Ted Haggard is huge and devastating for the Republican Party. Perhaps if we ignore it, it will go away? I doubt it.

When 30,000,000 Evangelicals are embarrassed by their leader, it is no small story. And Ted Haggard was the "Leader" of the Evangelical movement in this country. One can only imagine the embarrassment, the disappointment, the anger that many in the "movement" must be experiencing today? How many just can't wait to go to the polls to vote for the Republican Party after this?

But, the story is much more far-reaching than that. These folks will have to re-examine their church and their basic beliefs. Many must feel used by Pastor Haggard and others. No way that I can see anything good coming from this "scandal" that will be beneficial to the Republican Party. This is disastrous. This could have consequences for years to come.

[aquart]

1. Is it too much to ask that they'll examine their attitudes toward gays?

Oh, probably.

[Bluebear]

3. Hahahahahahaha

Good one :)

[tritsofme]

2. He leads 30,000,000?

I've honestly never heard of this person before the scandal.

Is he really that big of a player to the average evangelical?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Apparently. Head/founder of I suppose the biggest megachurch around.

[Rick Myers]

6. He's head of the National Assoc of Evangelicals

And their combined membership (all churches) is 30 million.

I can't believe he still has his 'official' website up and running.

www.tedhaggard.com

[kestrel91316]

10. I emailed them and suggested they take down his website as it was

making their church a national laughingstock along with him.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. SOMETHING seems to be missing from the "In the News" page on his site... can't

quite figure it out... but something's missing...

http://www.tedhaggard.com/inTheNews.jsp

Reality stems from pastor's Vision
The Colorado Springs Gazette

The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America
Time Magazine

All the Candidates' Clergy
The Wall Street Journal

Good Morning, Evangelicals!
Christianity Today

Evangelical power
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Christian runs with big dogs
The Rocky Mountain News

Man of Cloth and Clout
The Denver Post

:rofl:

[luckyleftyme2]

9. YUP

AND THEY ARE TRYING HARD TO BURY IT! THEY OWN THE MEDIA(ADMINISTRATION)-KEEP IT ALIVE IN THE BLOGS-THE PASTOR HAS ALREADY ADMITTED TO BUYING DRUGS FROM HIS ESCORT,BUT DIDN'T USE THEM-AND DIDN'T HAVE SEX-= AND THEY CONTROLLED THE PRESS FOR TWO WEEKS ON CLINTON SMOKING A JOINT????

VOTE THE CORRUPT ASSHOLES OUT TUESDAY,THEY'RE USERS AND THEY BLIND SIDED THE MORAL MAJORITY.
IF YOU KNOW ONE WAKE HIM OR HER UP BEFORE TUESDAY-THEY'VE BEEN USED LONG ENOUGH!

VOTE FOR CHANGE -VOTE DEMOCRAT!!!!
WENSEDAY WILL BE A NEW BLUE BEGINING!

[JohnnyLib2]

4. Good point.

They need each other. Rove welded them together. This is a crack in the whole damn structure. Happy day!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

7. I hope that you are correct . . .

. . . and that they do re-examine their basic beliefs.

Cuz these 30 million numbskulls would run the Jesus Christ of the gospels outta town on a rail.

Course, how do people . . . who've never learned to think for themselves . . . start to do that?

It's an interesting, twisted time that we live in . . .

Thanks for the thoughtful post.

[Old and In the Way]

8. If 10% of those 30MM have an epiphany that there is a corrupt linkage

between the Republicans and the so-called religious leadership...I'll be happy. I do think it will lead to some amount of reflection. Now we need records of pastor wives who have had abortions.

[brook]

11. I caught

a little of a C-Span 2 show with John Dean and Gore Vidal this morning and Dean was saying something about the Evangelical leaders being 'authoritarian' and so the sheep follow. He also warned that after
the midterm, they will be regrouping and organizing anew to regain whatever they've lost. IOW, we still have to be on our toes. I think Dean's new book deals with this - I intend to get it.

[PassingFair]

12. You DO NOT *UCK WITH MIKEY WEINSTEIN'S KID!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071501032_pf.html

snip:

"The Last Straw

To Weinstein, it's also personal, and has been from the start: July 29, 2004.

He visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that day as a proud parent. His son Curtis, who was entering his second year at the academy, had just finished three weeks of combat survival training. Weinstein spotted him across a room and knew instantly that something was wrong. They drove off campus, in stormy silence, and pulled into a McDonald's.

"All right, Curtis . . . I can't take any more of this. What the hell have you done?" Weinstein remembers asking.

"It's not what I've done, Dad. It's what I'm going to do," Curtis answered, according to his father. "I'm going to beat the <. . .> out of the next person that calls me a <. . .> Jew or accuses me or our people of killing Jesus Christ."



Snip:

Last year, Weinstein exchanged vitriolic e-mails with the Rev. Ted Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals. The private messages became public when one of Haggard's associate pastors gave them to a blogger, hoping to embarrass Weinstein by publishing his torrent of incomplete sentences punctuated with !!! and ??? together with Haggard's calm, composed replies.

Since then, Weinstein, who boxed in his academy days, has repeatedly offered to go three rounds in the ring with Haggard, a former football player. "We'll do it for charity. That can include the Christian Children's Fund and also, I think, the United Way and the United Jewish Appeal," Weinstein says. And though he is smiling, he is not kidding.

[WilliamPitt]

13. NOTHING

that happens within this community, short of Jesus coming back and denouncing them from the Capitol dome, will keep these voters from going to the polls and voting straight GOP.

The reason: their stance on abortion. They are immovable single-issue voters, and that is that.

They are also 25% of the body of voters who can be counted on to vote. They are a huge force - any national GOP candidate who spouts anti-choice views has that 25% in their hip pocket when they get up on election day - and nothing that happens to Haggard will change that.

They're "saving lives" and "stopping a holocaust," in their minds. Period, end of file.

[indepat]

14. Their basic beliefs are whatever W wants, no matter how antithetical to

Christian doctrine, even wholesale slaughter, is a-tweety-pie-o.k. and hunkie dorie. :)

[NightOwwl]

15. Why re-examine their church and their way of thinking...

when it can all be blamed on SATAN!

It's so much easier than actually challenging one's own core belief system.

[symbolman]

17. Uh, let's not forget

the damage done by the fellow in charge of the Faith Based Unit, told by Rove to "Get me a fucking faith based SOMETHING and now.."

Remember, not more than a month ago they were talking about it all over the media, about that book, the revelations that ROVE and BUSH, etc were MAKING FUN OF THE EVANGELS, calling them KOOKS and shit like that..

I think THAT will make a difference alone.

There ARE SMART and Ethical Christians who Feel SHAME and May NOT want to be involved as the very least with these assholes, having been GAMED by them.