Evangelical leaders knew Haggard was gay????

[donheld]

http://thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13253 towards the bottom of the articule.
I don't know anything about this publication, but I still thought it worth posting.


(Lou)Sheldon disclosed that he and “a lot” of others knew about Haggard’s homosexuality “for awhile ... but we weren’t sure just how to deal with it.”

Months before a male prostitute publicly revealed Haggard’s secret relationship with him, and the reverend’s drug use as well, “Ted and I had a discussion,” explained Sheldon, who said Haggard gave him a telltale signal then: “He said homosexuality is genetic. I said, no it isn’t. But I just knew he was covering up. They need to say that.”

[acmavm]

1. Yep, and they just let him keep on ranting about how gays are

going to hell.

Hypocrites.

[Bassic]

2. "They need to say that"

They need to say because it's true, dumbass.

[skypilot]

12. We need to say that.

It's in the Gay Agenda Orientation Manual that we all get when we are recruited.

[Bassic]

15. Is it conditionnal to getting the toaster? nt

[skypilot]

17. Toaster?

Puh-leez.

Espresso machine, baby. And hair care products, of course. You'd "choose" to be gay too if people gave you lots of stuff.

[Skinner]

3. Interesting. Look at the "proof" that Sheldon offers to show that Haggard is gay.

Sheldon: "He (Ted Haggard) said homosexuality is genetic. I said, no it isn’t. But I just knew he was covering up. They need to say that."

The way I read this is that Sheldon thought he knew Haggard was gay, but he did not really know that Haggard was gay. Basically, Sheldon is basing his "knowledge" on the fact that Haggard said homosexuality was genetic.

By this standard, I am also gay, along with a large percentage of Americans.

Unless I am missing something here, I don't think this actualy proves that Sheldon or a lot of evangelical leaders actually knew Haggard's sexual orientation. What it does show is their own bigotry.

It kind of makes me feel sorry for Haggard, actually. He tells other evangelical leaders that gays are born that way -- something which is very likely true, and something that evangelical leaders need to understand -- and rather than trying to understand they all privately whisper to each other that the guy must be gay.

[Binka]

4. Sheldon & His Daughter Look At Gay Porn For....RESEARCH!

I don't have the link right before me but it has been widely rumored that Sheldon is gay and his daughter is a lesbian. (Genetics). They admit that they look at gay porn and read the Blade (gay paper). Much like Haggard cruising gay bars for christian "converts."

edit for link: About half way through.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41187-2004May19.html

[donheld]

7. Where do I sign up

Yes, it's research, i do it so well. ;):D

[donheld]

5. You're right about Sheldon's "evidence" It's a whole tangled mess

I sent the link to Peter Boyles, the Radio Talk show host who helped break the story. Maybe he'll investigate.

[Spangle]

8. I was thinking the exact same thing.

Anyone who thinks it's genitic, must be gay. WTF? LOL! I guess that makes me gay. Boy will my family be suprised.

I guess I need to leave hubby and find me a gal. Geee.. all those years. And to think that I was gay! I really love him and sex is great. But If I'm gay, then it wouldn't be fair to stay with him.

Wow! Glad that I have good Christian leadership to 'straighten" me out! If he hadn't told me, then I might never had known. Who knew?

[Mabus]

20. Oh my goodness, I'm in a gay marriage

Both my husband and I believe that homosexuality is genetic. I guess that makes us a gay couple? :shrug:

If we are gay, then it is what I've already suspected: gay marriages do work.

[gratuitous]

6. After the fact rationalization from Sheldon

If he or any evangelical really thought Haggard was gay, they would have been on him like a goose on a junebug. Look at their reaction once it was confirmed that Haggard wasn't who they thought he was: Stripped of his congregation, turned out of his position with the NAE, disgraced, humiliated and isolated. There'a a modicum of brave talk about "reconciliation," but it will come down solely to whether Haggard can convincingly promise, and his erstwhile ideological allies belive him, that he can deny himself and his very nature for the rest of his life.

Shameful, Mr. Sheldon.

[atommom]

9. Probably true. He thought back and seized on that one "suspicious"

comment (which I'm sure did bother him at the time). I wish these people would wake up and realize that yes, many people are gay, and no, it's not a moral failing. If they were capable of thinking rationally, these gay scandals could have been a wake-up call. They could have realized that gay people live among them, living only half a life because they fear being shunned if they come out. They could have realized that homosexuality has nothing to do with evil, and that it is no threat to anyone else.

Add me to the list of people-who-must-be-gay-since-we-think-homosexuality-is-genetic. I'm sure it will come as a shock to my husband, but since he likes to listen to show tunes, he's probably gay too anyway. :)

[Arkansas Granny]

10. Although I hate the hypocrisy that this whole affair has dredged

up, I cannot imagine having to live the lie that Haggard has been living. I truly feel sorry for Haggard, not so much that he was "outed", but because of the self-loathing he must feel towards himself. It must have been terrible to feel that he would have been considered an "abomination" in the eyes of the homophobic church that he served for something that was not a choice. I wonder if trying to suppress those feelings, or make atonement for them, might have been part of his decision to preach. Maybe he thought that he could exorcise his demons in that way.

I also feel sorry for his wife and children. With coast to coast coverage of Haggard's "indiscretions", I don't see any way for them to excape the fallout from this, regardless where they go.

[Canuckistanian]

11. It's probably a very crowded closet there

Repression city.

[progressoid]

13. Not Gay, just a sinner...

:sarcasm:

[tuvor]

14. They "weren’t sure just how to deal with it"???

Funny how they did so, and did so expeditiously, once his hypocrisy was exposed.

[donco6]

16. Sheldon didn't know.

He just accuses anyone who disagrees with him of being gay. Oldest trick in the book.

[yellowcanine]

18. Exactly. He can't conceive of the notion that a hetero might consider

gayness to be genetic.

Sheldon disclosed that he and “a lot” of others knew about Haggard’s homosexuality “for awhile ... but we weren’t sure just how to deal with it.”

Months before a male prostitute publicly revealed Haggard’s secret relationship with him, and the reverend’s drug use as well, “Ted and I had a discussion,” explained Sheldon, who said Haggard gave him a telltale signal then: “He said homosexuality is genetic. I said, no it isn’t. But I just knew he was covering up. They need to say that.”


Not to mention that this little admission raises the question of how they could allow Ted out against gays if they knew he was gay himself? So they enabled hypocrisy?

[SoCalDem]

19. "Willful ignorance" always plays a part in the look back

It must be a coping mechanism that people everywhere just use..

Mothers whose kids have been molested say the same sort of things when they look back at the signs.

People whose family members commit crimes say the same things too.

The signs of a person's life are there, but when people "need" to ignore things, in order to rationalize things, they just do.

I AM IN NO WAY EQUATING BEING GAY WITH THE EXAMPLES GIVEN... I used those because those two examples are what we often read about in articles that end up on the news or in the papers.

The wife and family of a guy who embezzles brazillions of dollars never seems to question where ALL that money is coming from,.,UNTIL her hubby is taken away in an orange jumpsuit.. (see: Linda Lay)

These hypocritical evangelical leaders "had" to pretend not to know, because Ole Ted was raking in lots of dough for them , and raising their profiles along with his own. To admit that their "main guy" was the very person he professed to demonize in public, would have raised a lot of doubts in their faithful followers.

I guess there's a lot of soul searching these days, and who knows... maybe they will all come to understand that they need to go back to just staying out of people's personal lives..

Probably every family in America has a gay member, or at least knows someone who is gay. To have churches tell them that those people are somehow "bad", for just being who they are, is ridiculous.

It all reminds me of the "brown hair/blond hair" or "brown eyes/blue eyes" studies.

It's about the hypocrisy.. These high-powered haters have used hypocrisy to advance their political agenda, and they are now blanching from the spotlight being focused on them...,

Churches ALL OF THEM need to get out of the political arena...

[badgerpup]

21. I want to know more about this 'tell-tale' signal...

...if it's such a secret code, how come Sheldon's got the cipher...
and what IS the signal?
My gaydar is pretty good, but it's nice to have some confirmation with a 'tell-tale signal'.

Makes for easier social interaction..."I know, you know I know...so what's yours?" :beer:

[devilgrrl]

22. "Some say" that Helen Keller knew as well...

not that it wasn't obvious or anything. :crazy: