Ted Haggard Completes "Spiritual Restoration Program"
By Logan Murphy Tuesday Jun 24, 2008 11:00am
The evangelist forced out of his job after being caught up in a sex scandal involving a male prostitute has left a "spiritual restoration program" and no longer has any ties to the megachurch he founded, the congregation's new pastor said Sunday.
Under a severance deal that Ted Haggard reached with the church in 2006, he agreed to leave Colorado Springs and not talk about the scandal publicly. The deal expired at the end of 2007. New pastor Brady Boyd said Haggard was now free to live where he wanted and has returned to Colorado Springs.
Haggard and church officials clashed last summer after Haggard sent an e-mail to a Colorado Springs television station outlining his plans to work as a counselor at a Christian-run halfway house in Phoenix. The e-mail also solicited financial support. A four-pastor team of overseers said that those plans were unacceptable and that Haggard would seek secular employment instead. Read on...
There is a part of me that actually feels for Ted. Living a lie, being shunned by all he knew and loved, and even being forced to leave his own home must have been rough. Stories like this make up just one of many reasons I chose to walk away from organized religion many years ago. Did you catch the line above in bold? The brutal manner in which these awful people treated and controlled Haggard should anger and disgust anyone living in civilized society. At the very least, I hope Ted and his family find peace one day...
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Screw em! The sanctimonious, self righteous bastard got deserved everything he got...AND MORE!
Don't feel sorry for Ted. Karma was just doing a little evening out there.
Fuck Ted Haggard and his bullshit lying sack of shit family. All Christians are liars. No exceptions.
No, don't feel sorry for him. This was a severance agreement. Don't think for one minute he wasn't paid very well to agree to these terms. Lots of money changed hands in that transaction and now Ted is set for life.
I don't feel sorry either--he chose to live a lie and profit from its telling.
Too bad liars are often caught.
Its official. He no longer craves dick and meth.
bob @ 3:
Thank you for your judgmental condemnation.
Please do not feel sorry for this man. Watch "Jesus Camp" and you'll learn what a slimeball he is. He was not only living a lie sexually, he was also living a huge lie religiously. The amount of lies he's told in megachurches is astounding. And it has karmic reprecussions.
To hell with this guy.
bob @ 3:
Pretty broad brush you got there buddie.
He'll never be happy as long as he refuses to admit to himself who he is.
I wonder when Lindsey Graham is gonna enter this program.
Organized religion does not always mean homophobia
http://www.ucc.org/beliefs/
But there is much about Haggard's story that is truly tragic.
Florida governor Crist
Well, if you run with the wolves, one of them might bite you on the ass.
I guess this means he can start sucking cock again.
Logan Murphy said, "At the very least, I hope Ted and his family find peace one day…" This guy deserves sympathy from no one. He wasn't just a hypocrite, he ruined lives with his intensely homophobic preaching. And let's not forget, his anti-gay shtick earned him fame, fortune and political influence - all while he indulged himself on a regular basis with male prostitutes.
A special place is reserved for him among the hypocrites in the afterlife. It's not in heaven.
pissed off patricia @ 10:
Even though James Dobson didn't have time for him he was still cured of whatever it was that he didn't have.
Gretchen @ 7:
Bob missed the "judge not", and "the beam in your eye", and "those without sin" part and skipped on to the part where all Christians are liars - not anyone else, mind you - just Christians
MN Senator Norm Coleman
JeffS @ 11:
As soon as someone can get his tongue out of McStupid's ass..................
I want to feel sorry for Ted (and if I did he would be way at the end of a line of millions of Americans for whom I have sympathy), but quite frankly he has to unfuck himself first and atone for the harm he has caused. It was his system that made him run around with hookers and pay for sex and drugs instead of just be able to love whomever he wanted to love. It was his system that put him through the absurd gay cure. It was his system that hates and shuns.
I have found that anyone embracing a god is just embracing a mirror of his own character. The good and loving Jimmy Carter has a good and loving god; the morally depraved and evil Jerry Falwell has a depraved and evil god; the crazy, twisted, deceitful, and self-hating Ted Haggard has a crazy, twisted, deceitful, hating god. They all got the god they deserved.
dcblogger @ 12:
Amen, dc. here's another non-homophobic organized religious group: http://www.unityonline.org/
If your God doesn't like the way He made you then it's time to CHANGE YOUR GOD!!
bob @ 3:
I agree with what you said about Haggard, but not what sweeping generalization about "all Christians" There ARE some who ACTUALLY live up to the precepts embodied in "The Sermon On The Mount". They are few & far between these days, but nevertheless...
Col Kilgore @ 6:
He now craves children and X.
Gretchen @ 7:
Bob sounds bitter.
JeffS @ 11:
Graham would wet himself with joy to get a deal like Ted got. Ted knew he had the church in a tough spot - there were more people than just him making a load of money off a lot of people and if the 'fearless leader' went down in a sex and drug scandal the sheep would blow the fold. The deal was brokered to keep him out of the way and quiet for "spiritual restoration" while a new 'fearless leader' was quickly put into place to keep things together. They wanted him out of the picture to give the leadership time to gain the trust of the flock. They've let him off the hook early because the bottom line has held and the money is still coming in at the previous rate.
Now he has that cash from the "severance", everything he squirreled away before (which is considerable) and stands to make millions off of his "spiritual restoration". Thats how these guys work.
Only a matter of time til Haggard joins Hagee's demon discharge program. He won't even have to give up swallowing if he's willing to go the bulimia route...
Albatross @ 18:
Albatross @ 13:
Yeah , a pair of assholes...............
bob @ 3:
Technically he is correct about "All Christians are liars." All humans at one point or another do lie. So, yes, 'Bob' is accurate.
I'm confused. Is he cured of teh gay or not?
JeffS @ 11:
Or B***h McConnell. He's a closet case!!!
Amazing part is the church gave him a six figure severance package.
Totally tax free, of course.
I got a friend at my local pub that is a Christian music producer and social activist. He is gay and HATES himself for it.
He is a solid evangelical and our initial conversations were political and religious (The Venice Cafe in St Louis is a home away from
home for any progressives). I feel for the guy because he is borderline repub and evangelical and gay!
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 30:
They laid hands on him to cure him......over, and over, and over, and over.
"Ted Haggard is not a hypocrite, he did not gay marry anyone !!"
-Stephen Colbert-
How about Gregor Mendel - you know, genetics?
Matt in Texas @ 356:
yes we are, Matt. we are horribly deluded. :)
My main problem with modern Christianity is that there's a lot of people needing comfort, and the Church positions itself as a provider of comfort. But they torment their parishioners more often than they provide comfort. They set unrealistic rules of behavior so difficult to follow that you're set up to fail, feel guilt, and go to the source of the pain for your comfort.
It's a self-perpetuating circle.
and what about beer? without the German Monks there would be no standardized method of making Beer-Beer....
Matt in Texas @ 356:
no. I don't believe or disbelieve necessarily. I have stated that it is UNLIKELY that some omnipotent all one exists. The different paths of development of the universe ALL contribute to our understanding. I am open to the idea that there MAY be such a thing. Also, whether or not I am an asshole is not relevant. You say something exists? PROVE IT. It is impossible to prove a negative, but a positive is easily demonstrable. If I don't believe in chocolate ice cream, you can show me some and I will know. But a belief based on nothing but some guy told me, whether that guy is a priest or my grandma is bullshit.
General_Rennenkampf @ 359:
the trouble with apathy is that you just can't get anyone excited about it
Matt in Texas @ 360:
What does genetics have to do with theology? Did god give Mendel the knowledge?
ysbaddaden @ 362:
Eh, Buddhism is worse. Christianity may guilt you, but even Catholics and the Orthodoxies don't have 110+ rules to follow...or else! the way Buddhism does. Buddhism also denies gays the right to Nirvana and is just as anti-sex as Christianity is. People who think Buddhism is better are laughably ignorant. And in Buddhism, even the divine beings have to suffer the way Siddartha Gautama said to, or else they have to keep being reincarnated forever. I wonder what happens if someone gets reincarnated as an extremophile in the deep-sea vents, myself.
bob @ 366:
Again, what did Lemaitre invent. And no Googling it, either.
elysse @ 363:
German beer has nothing to do with jesus. German beer is dependent on the discovery of cold brewing and top fermentation. I prefer ale. It's all barley, water, hops and yeast. What does god have to do with it?
General_Rennenkampf @ 368:
I don't know so I will have to google. Lemaitre is outside my experience.
ysbaddaden @ 362:
Ah, but the primary driving force behind this is money. Get your comfort, you're very grateful, you write the check.
What they try to sweep under the rug is you will fail because you are human, God knows that and all you can do is try. They don't want you to question - they would rather see you weeping at that altar call.
Your problem with modern Christianity is one reason I was a non-believer for over 20 years. Well, that and the general hypocrisy I found in the Lutheran church.
bob @ 364:
Is it splitting hairs making a difference between an atheist and an agnostic? I am a nonbeliever, but I've never thought to describe myself using either of those terms. Does it matter to those who prefer one or the other terms?
bob @ 370:
If you accept the Big Bang model of the Universe's origins, you have Lemaitre to thank for it. He helped provide a large chunk of it, though the pantheist Jew Einstein provided the theoretical background for it.
You fail.
However, if you accept the Static Universe or Oscillating Universe models, then it still won't matter and I guess Big Bang people are also terribly deluded.
Matt in Texas @ 360:
Actually Gregor Mendel had a predecessor, also Christian. That was Phillipus Arturus Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim (also known as Paracelsus). He gave his life to the healing arts. Insisted medicine was a calling not a profession concerned with money and status. He believed in teaching in the vernacular not Latin. If cures don't work, throw them out, because he said they weren't worth keeping just because it is written. He would study with other successful healers including Witches and Gypsies which got him in trouble on occassion. He believed in Alchemy to a certain extent, primarily distilling medicine from plants, and was among the first to use metallic medicine like mercury. He practiced a holistic form of medicine that was to take in the entirity of how the patient lived and try to answer medical questions that way. He advocate 8 hours sleep, cleanliness, and eating in the right balance the food of the area. He was against the medicine of humors like blood-letting and leeches.
Where Paracelsus preceded Mendel was how in his writing he described people as having seeds. A seed for this arm or this leg or this head. He said if all the seeds came from your father you would be an exact duplicate of your father, but you aren't because some of your seeds came from your mother. He was saying this about 400 years before Gregor Mendel.
Paracelus wasn't clergy, but was extraordinarily devout, and couched his writings in religious terms, possibly because that was not only how he felt, but he had to avoid the Inquisition and the rumors that he was a sorceror. Paracelus and Silvanus (I forget his first name, and I'd have to hunt for my notes) were the inspiration for the figure of Faust, particularly as they travelled through Transylvania.
bob @ 370:
Now, having googled it, I fail to see how his theology and the Big Bang have anything to do with one another. Did God tell him about it or did science?
bob @ 365:
LOL.
Matt in Texas @ 372:
It did to me when I was a non-believer. I was a questioner and preferred agnostic.
General_Rennenkampf @ 373:
Wrong, you fail. You have not shown the big bang true or false nor have you provided that his "theology" led to it. In fact it WAS the atheist Einstein whose discoveries led to it. The Big Bang also implies the Big Suck as in Oscillating models. These things are MODELS that lead to deeper understanding. Now provide and example of THEOLOGY doing the same thing.
I forgot to mention Paracelusus and Silvanus became the prototype of Faust, who since then has been surpassed by Victor Frankenstein and all his mad scientist progeny.
I'm a dyslexic atheist
I don't believe in Dog.
And I'm an anti-fecalist. I don't believe in shit.
According to the Book of the SubGenius it's a mark of Bob's divinity that whether you spell it forewards or backwards it comes out the same.
It's a sign of Bob's omniscience that if you just thumb through the phone book his name is found everywhere: Bob's Air Conditioning Repair, Bob's Plumbing, Bob's Electronics, Bob's Brothels etc.
Gretchen @ 377:
Gretchen, I promise not to be mean, but would you mind telling me what made you a believer? A prayer "answered" really wouldn't convince me, I've had a few quasi-religious ecstatic type experiences, wonder and all that, but nothing in those experiences has led me to believe in a personal god.
I, on the other hand was once a believer. The lack of evidence for ANYTHING I was told in church finally had me looking. Example like Bacon, Mendel and LeMaitre prove that it was SCIENCE not religion that made those discoveries. The Church EVENTUALLY accepts science with a 100-500 year lag. Galileo anyone?
ysbaddaden @ 382:
I am bob. Your salesman. And I grant slack. Infinite slack.
ysbaddaden @ 380:
Matt in Texas @ 381:
I have two large dogs and a back yard full of shit. Y'all are free to come to my house to experience the evidence for yourself if you care to believe!
bob @ 369:
mainly, men who have devoted themselves to a life of servitude to their FAITH, thus having the time and means to standardize methods.
the thing about all of this, from this point of view over here, is that all ideologies (or lack thereof) have the ability to create great good *and* great harm to societies. to associate yourself with one to specifically be the detriment of others.. be it political, religious, whatever... is to associate yourself mainly with the ills of the idea you perpetuate.
if you can see both camps' sides, as in this Christianity v. Atheism discussion, you see that from their points of view they both have equal and equally understandable arguments against each other. to completely decry faith is to remove people's personal attachments to their culture/tribe. humans are generally very social animals, and many do need the pomp that comes with ritual to feel complete. you can't take a whack at someone's cultural standing and expect them not to fight back. so too: you can't immerse a person in an ideology that they don't agree with and expect them to fall in line without a fight. if you make moves in either direction to prove your own point in such a way that is not respectful of the human you are talking to, and their culture, then they will not be receptive to the idea you want to convey. it's as personal to most AS what goes on in their bedrooms.
from here i won't fall in line with faith, or-no-faith, until there is an idea that is absolutely able to answer questions that i have in such a way that it cannot be logically disproven. this is very difficult since all camps claim to have answers beyond a doubt. despite what many seem to think, there is a middle ground where one's personal ritual and cultural influence can coincide with one's ideas on the world at large, and i'll be damned if i'm going to be a person to insult another's choices simply because they may have had less questions than me.
Gretchen @ 385:
Wouldn't matter - I'd forget it the next day. I suffer from CRAFT syndrome: Can't Remember A F***in' Thing.
bob @ 383:
But I believe (and I'm not gonna scroll through 350+ posts to find it) you asked for examples of theologians you could respect, hence the examples you got. Or do I not remember the question correctly? (See post #387.)
elysse @ 386:
What if the faith was in beer, not god? I don't see how god is necessary. Atheists aren't going around killing christians for being christians. And don't give me Mao, he hates Buddhists and Taoists, too. Persistence doesn't exist without god? Come on.......... I'll stick with George Carlin. Or was he an atheist asshole dogmatic in his thinking?
Yeah, SURE he did! And later tonight I'm going to get high with some ladies of the evening for hot sex, not.
bob @ 3:
Wow, a guy after my own heart.
What if the faith was in beer, not god?
I've seen the light!! I believe!! I'll practice my new religion tonight!
Does this make me a Bud-ist?
I just had a religious moment.
When I saw this thread had 390 comments
I exclaimed
Jesus!
384 bob Says
I am bob. Your salesman. And I grant slack. Infinite slack.
________________________________________________________
Wouldn't that make you a tailor too?
bilhelm-axis of-X @ 391:
You've missed all the fun, bilhelm. Unless you've scrolled through all 390 comments, and if so you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
shutterbug98 @ 23:
"The Sermon on the Mount" was Haggard preaching while getting on top of his male prostitute................
Dr. (Fast Eddie Hussein) Matt @ 34:
Happy endings start somewhere.
Dr. (Fast Eddie Hussein) Matt @ 29:
Now that one I will give you!
What would Jesus think ...
.... of the insanity of his followers today ?
All ideologies, including any religion, require that the individual/citizen become passive before the all-encompassing, inevitable "truths" that comprise the ideology. Critical thinking and disinterested decision-making are anathema. The common weal or public good cannot flourish or even survive in that type of self-governance. Haggard bought into the Xtian ideology and he has paid the price. Fuck him and his self-loathing dependency.
Religion was developed as a means for a few to control many. Great means for royalty to live in complete luxury while having the peasants slave in the fields 15 hours a day.
Formula still works.
Dave @ 20:
Amen! Man makes God in his own image.
God knows, they don't want to do anything to upset the cash flow. Nothing worse than derailing the Gravey Train of Glory™©®
I DO feel sorry for Ted; I have sympathy for his humanity. Forgive him? Not just yet. He has a lot to make up for, but it isn't up to me to determine when he has paid his penance or come correct. Hey, he has to live with himself, I don't. At any rate, if there is a god, he will sort ol' Teddy out; t'ain't my job.
May it encourage you to note a growing split among evangelicals that favors Democrats as described by Frances Fitzgerald in this weeks New Yorker.
A growing number of younger aspirants are paying more attention to the 'help the poor and needy' side of the Jesus mythos and are distancing themselves from the hell fire and brimstone pile of grim bible pounders.
And they are also coming to realize their faith is compromised and cheapened when they make political alignments.
The more rabid pounders are also in a deep funk as they have begun to notice that they have been 'played' by the Rove scheme for base building as W has mainly pandered them while delivering little of substance. Oh, and they really don't care for McCain.
As for me, I'm a pagan.
Logan Murphy, you are one compassionate individual. I'm with Seth C. -"Watch "Jesus Camp" and you'll see what a slimeball this guy really is" "Jesus Camp" should be required viewing for leftists/centrists. These Kree-yist-yins spend a large part of their time lying to children and frightening them into total obedience. Harry Potter is a satanist....sheesh....
I personally don't give a damn about Haggard or any other pseudo xtian...they can all go piss up their own arses for all I care.
Buncha fake ass so called "men of god" selling snake-oil to weak minded sheep...fuck them all.
Dionysus and Bacchus were Gods of Wine
The elitists!
Who's the God of beer?
Matt in Texas @ 388:
bob @ 397:
oops, accident. Yes, I asked about theologians and was given examples of scientists. That they were also christian is irrelevant to the science. Their theology is what I question. I also asked what it was in YOUR personal experience that leads you to believe that there is a universal god who had a son named Jesus born of a virgin.
bob @ 383:
A part of me requires faith. That is just the way I am. I left the Lutherans on basis of theology - they couldn't explain christmas and easter to my satisfaction, nor how Sunday came to be declared as the Sabbath over Saturday. I cannot reconcile hypocrisy. So I was a non-believer. However, I eventually came to be a practicing Buddhist since I couldn't deny that part of me that calls for faith in something. I was perfectly happy for years (even though those 110+ are a real bitch as the General pointed out).
I found the church I attend now, when I was looking for a church to take my Korean, Christian daughter to (long story). I found it rather ironic that after attending for 6 months every single week, not ONE person had asked me to accept Jesus. Nor had they asked me for a check, or if I wanted to become a member. They actually LIKED it when I would blurt out a "But what if..." as I sometimes do, and on at least one occasion that led to a great deal of study, discussion, new translation and a change of opinion on the part of the pastor. They accept me for who I am. They believe that to "spread the good news" is not to run your mouth off or shove Christianity down the collective throats of all, but to keep your mouth shut and live the Word.
I personally don't care about anyone's sin but my own. I cannot make a judgement on whether or not another person is going to hell based on their beliefs or actions because I'm not God. I can't even say I'm not going there let alone anyone else who doesn't believe as I do. We are told, however, we do have the right to call bullshit on those using Christianity or God for their personal gain. We can and we do, as I've done on this thread. We have the responsibility to raise educated children, who will make the decision on their beliefs when they are old enough to do so and can accept faith on their own free will.
And that is basically it. You may see now why I object so strongly to Hagee, Dobson and the rest.
ysbaddaden @ 396:
Homerus Simpsonys
Ted Haggard seems to have tricked himself out of happiness in order to extract easy money and a faked self-esteem from others, sadly, but more importantly and overshadowing that point into a fading glimmering dot, he tricked so many other gullible people into swallowing his perverted christian beliefs. His charisma seduced many off the thinking path and onto the death-oriented path of demeaning the human survival tool of working to integrate reality. He encouraged people to drop their natural life-oriented problem-solving capacity to build a better world for themselves and others, in exchange for his lazy, hateful, death-oriented stupidity religion. These teaming throngs of mega-victims have no way to get back that misspent precious time.
ysbaddaden @ 396:
Barney Gumbel
bob @ 398:
Er, wrong person. The believer is Gretchen, and her response is at #399.
bob @ 383:
Example like Bacon
______________________
Mmm....Bacon (drool).
402 bob
Is Barney Gumbel the white sheep in Bryant Gumbel's family?
bob @ 389:
What if the faith was in beer, not god? I don't see how god is necessary.
here is where you fail as a critical thinker, better suited for a faith where you are told the answers rather than than a lack of one where you have to figure it out..
if you use what you know to make a roughly correct assumption: i.e. that Monks standardized German Beer, and whittle it down to what you know about monks: Monks are men who have chosen to live a life of piety in service of their specific faith, and that the Monk's personal idea of faith was or was not is no longer in your reach (seeing as that you can't very well go and talk to the Monk today).. the conclusion that can be made is that as long as the Monk was continuously a Monk, he was continuously a man faith. seeing as that they were Christian Monks, their devotion would have been to God. those men of faith developed a great good for the world (or great evil, depending on whether one is hungover or not) in the cloisters of their faith. in the realm of What Did Happen: men of the Christian god did indeed create standardized german beer (among other things).
if you can't actually pick out what DID happen versus what COULD HAVE happened then you find yourself arguing in circles, especially about faith, and trying to make yourself feel superior by insulting others and cherrypicking what is said. actually, GOP has that down pretty well too..
Gretchen @ 399:
So, we basically agree. But to accept christianity is to accept virgin birth, walking on water, resurrection after death and some other things, NOT just the easter bunny. I can understand that you want meaning in your life, but doesn't the meaning come in the living? I'll admit to a certain amount of disdain, but I certainly have not spoken in this thread nearly as harshly as George Carlin, for example. My point is that most of the good in the west is attributable NOT to Jesus, but to man's own discoveries.
Oh Rapture. God likes me when I have sex with women! Damn you Satan, Damn you Jordache Genes! Must believe.. Must believe.. Must believe..
elysse @ 406:
here is where you fail as a critical thinker, better suited for a faith where you are told the answers rather than than a lack of one where you have to figure it out..
if you use what you know to make a roughly correct assumption: i.e. that Monks standardized German Beer, and whittle it down to what you know about monks: Monks are men who have chosen to live a life of piety in service of their specific faith, and that the Monk's personal idea of faith was or was not is no longer in your reach (seeing as that you can't very well go and talk to the Monk today).. the conclusion that can be made is that as long as the Monk was continuously a Monk, he was continuously a man faith. seeing as that they were Christian Monks, their devotion would have been to God. those men of faith developed a great good for the world (or great evil, depending on whether one is hungover or not) in the cloisters of their faith. in the realm of What Did Happen: men of the Christian god did indeed create standardized german beer (among other things).
if you can't actually pick out what DID happen versus what COULD HAVE happened then you find yourself arguing in circles, especially about faith, and trying to make yourself feel superior by insulting others and cherrypicking what is said. actually, GOP has that down pretty well too..
Sorry, irrelevant. What DID happen was that guys who had their food, clothing and shelter cared for had time to do something else. Their FAITH had nothing to do with it.
bob @407 -
Matt in Texas @ 372:
It did to me when I was a non-believer. I was a questioner and preferred agnostic.
Just for clarification, I did not make the above comment. It was made by (I believe) Gretchen in response to a question I asked.
While I'm certain it was just a mistake, it still matters to me that I clear that up.
Thanks.
I don't know why that didn't show the quote but..... Faith didn't make the fucking beer. MEN made it. They experimented out of a desire to make consistent beer. Jesus had NOT A FUCKING THING TO DO WITH IT. Jesus made wine out of water by faith. FAITH. Not fermentation. Your reasoning is completely specious.
Matt in Texas @ 410:
I knew that, Matt, but ok.
Guess he's a "team player." Hence why I hate (no, despise) teams so much. The biggest sychophant usually ends up being team leader.
The guy made a decision, a choice, and it was to lie about himself all for the almighty......the almighty dollar. It's a scam and he got caught. It's about time I would say. I don't care if he's gay or whatever, he stole from people and he got caught. He's just one of many, and there will always be more to follow.
I have my beliefs and they are valid for me, if someone doesn't agree that's fine, if they do that's fine, just don't try to steal from me with lies and claim you are a christian.
The guy got caught and has already tried to start yet another 'fund raiser' campaign for another 'cause'. He will never change, just change locals and causes. These guys are groomed to do just what he is doing.
Oh Rapture. God likes me when I have sex with women! Damn you Satan, Damn you Jordache Genes!
_____________________________________________________________________
Designer Genes?
How retro.
Now that this thread has gone through more perturbations than the evolution of a jellyfish
Or a republican party political debate
What sort of comments was this site looking for when they put up this story?
I used to have perspicacity
But some Right Guard cleared that right up.
MCMetal @ 36:
OMFG, so funny!
If once you crave dick, you'll always crave it. That will never change. One can only deny it and subjugate the desire. That leads to all sorts of peculiarities and peccadillos, and, hence, how he got in this place to begin with.
The right-wingers don't mind lives full of hypocrisy and denial, as long as you support the team.
bob @ 409:
except that without their devotion to faith, the monks would have been regular middle-ages men: poorly educated, poorly fed, without the time to devote to any real higher thought. even with 6 calls to prayer a day they still found it in them to create. if Anthropology ever taught me anything it's that it's not all stupid, actually, the whole human history and faith thing. and from personal experience: faith means a great deal more to Monks and Nuns than it ever will to the average joe. the higher up you go, though, the more it becomes a political hierarchy... which is where the big offenders sit.
so to close _this_ thread of the rather pointless internet argument i'll reiterate: bigotry is not only in faith, but ideas as well.. a person who considers themselves superior to others for *any* ideological reason makes themselves a bigot and a stain on their original ideology..be they Haggard or bob.
Thank you all for your comments, I have at least 30 minutes of time now to laugh my ass off and Cast judgement upon each and every one of you
-Drop Cheese caus Geezuz Christ is in teh house!
elysse @ 418:
bullshit
elysse @ 418:
Sorry.
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so.. because O-some-a....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
bob @ 420:
I make no claims of superiority. I claim to be awake. I despise christians for their repressive actions. I see no such repression among atheists through history. I see such mainly with christians. Christianity is the single most evil force in western thought. Progress has happened in the face of Christian dogma, not the reverse. If you want to believe in an imaginary friend, by all means do so. Just keep it out of the civic arena where your bullshit is translated into laws that limit my existence just for BELIEF, not harmful action.
shutterbug98 @ 23:
Yeah? So where are they and why do they keep silent while the "Christian" haters and bigots spew their filth? Silence equals assent as far as I'm concerned.
Figaro @ 423:
Eggs Actly
The day I meet someone who lives the Sermon on the Mount will be the first in the history of christianity.
bob @ 407:
The meaning of life does come with the living. Only for me, part of my living is faith. Yes, I do accept the things you listed on faith (except that easter bunny part - I don't do easter) and I realize that I do accept them purely on faith. That doesn't guarantee I'm "saved", though. Its just part of me and doesn't make me a better person. You are correct in stating most of the good in the west has come through man's discoveries, not Jesus. This is what most Christians cannot understand. They are not willing to admit that atrocities both past and present have been done in the name of the religion they have accepted. Intolerance and ignorance are not acceptable under any circumstances but IMHO are far worse when done under the pretext of any religion. Human beings, by their very nature, have a hard grasping that concept.
I'm a big fan of George Carlin, BTW. He was the ultimate at calling bullshit. His commentaries on religion don't offend me at all - they are a part of who he was. And he was deadly accurate about the pitfalls of organized religion.
Again, why is religion the only thing in the galaxy that incredibly conveniently rebukes the burden of proof (untiil after the chump is dead)? Anyway, Ted will eventually break down and suck a dick, have no fear god-flockers, even your "faith" can't stop that! I apologize and somehow I don't, to all the god-creatures out there in TV land! That's all I have to say about that.
-Forest (and that guy who did that jesus movie with that albino guy)
Hell
If not here, when!?
Zeus,
Don't make me throw a lightnin' bolt atch-yo-ass Bitch!
Gretchen @ 426:
George was deadly accurate about the pitfalls of belief in god. Belief in bullshit leads to bullshit. You seem to me to be an intelligent person, who genuinely questions, but honestly, VIRGIN BIRTH? Get real. Resurrection? Get real. If you believe that, why not believe ALL the magic bullshit from other religions? God so loves you that he will condemn you for all time if you don't believe in him, via a zombie of a phantasm? I mean, why don't you believe in Thor, or Yggdrasil, or Ba'el. Why Jesus? What makes you think Yesua bar Joseph (or was it the Holy Spirit) of Nazareth was the dude? And if you believe he was a Nazarene, do you realize he would have had dreadlocks and would not allow wine to touch his lips?
The stalls in the mens room at the Colorado Springs airport are going to be busy.
The Exotic Chico Hussein Escuela @ 39:
I hope he has a sense of humor, if not he's probably pissed.
i'll give em about a year before he's at it again
Hierarchic religion was a product of the introduction of hydraulic agriculture and the need to rationalize the inequalities that resulted in the allocation and distribution therefrom in favor of the Hierarchs. If God/Thoth/ywh/cthulu SAYS this is how it's spozed t'be, who are you to argue?
social democrat @ 42:
You mean that if I were a religious sort my god would be a middle-aged, paunchy, balding, sometimes too cranky for his own good kind of god?
Big churches are often big businesses. They paid him to go away so they could keep their believers and their donations coming in. I believe there are good churches and good Christians. The bad ones just keep getting the press. I think our country is so spiritually and morally bankrupt right now, that good people of faith (any faith) getting together to better themselves and their community might not be a bad thing. Just don't go hating on gay people or blindly support elected officials because they say they believe in jeebus.
pissed off patricia @ 10:
He needs to call Dobson and set an appoinment to OPEN HIS MOUTH TO LET THE DEMONS OUT.
I won't feel sorry for Ted Haggard till he takes some responsibility and says:
"I sucked another mans cock while hepped up on meth and it was the best Goddamn sex I've ever had. So fuckin' what?".
bill doh @ 53:
Booty call.
Lettuce reserve our sympathy for people that were forced from their homes and jobs, family and livelihood for reasons. This pimp walked on the people and forced them to leave, and you feel sorry for him because suddenly he is the one being walked on?
Accountability is a reality that has it's own rewards. This fellow has been the source of misery and hatred for thousands of people. He deserves nothing but a chance to live the gay lifestyle that he has chosen. Perhaps one day he will do something to make up for his harm. That doesn't seem likely if he is trying to fellate the very group of scum that ousted him. Lessons don't seem to be learned by 'christians' Accountability is not a part of the religion. It is a convenient way to have no responsibility.
religion is the equivalent of hell. If you can't see it, you will never see it.
So...He's not gay now... Right? Is that the deal??? Uh-huh.. Ummm You'll just have to excuse me if, given who he is, what he did, and what he passed himself off as, I remain just a tad sceptical.... As far as the 'organized religion' part of this story??? Shheesh... Religion...waddayagonnado?? Some of it is hard to put up with it, but yas can't make it go away any more than we can make snakeoil salesmen or lobbyists go away...
We've all been around what? zero to 60 or 70, maybe 80 some years??? This thing has been workin its story and angles here for centuries... It's not going away... I just try to avoid the crazier patch of the organized stuff. I don't need a Haggard or a Swaggart, or an Oral Roberts or any of those other charlatans spouting their crap to inform me about a personal relationship or belief in a higher power of some sort..... JD
Teddy spent his Saturday nights doing meth on the "down low" with a male prostitute, and Sunday morning spewed his homophobic hate to the faithful. He gets a -10 on my sympathy meter but a 98+ on the old schadenfreude meter.
Dave @ 20:
Sounds like "And man made God in his own image." I just found out from my cousin that her grandfather--who Amen'ed and Hallelujah'ed on the front row w/the "best" of them every Sunday in a fundamentalist Pentecostal church--tried to rape her when she was about 11, and did sexually abuse every girl in the family, some of whom will admit it today, some still won't. Why is it always about sex?
She said it took her years to regain some faith, which she found in a 12-step program. I knew him when I was a kid, and I sensed that he was capable of evil. Of course, by then I had been sexually abused myself, but at least the perpetrator didn't pretend to be religious.
I must say, even though far from all christians are liars they are still living a lie, letting themselves being lied to by liars like Haggard.
There is no room to feel sorry for a guy like Haggard, he lived a meticulously planned life, deliberately hiding his true self, so he could make fame and fortune, standing on other's backs, perpetrating carefully crafted bad and evil deeds.
Every person calling himself christian, or even religous, is helping in making room for more evil people like Haggard and his ilk.
You call yourself a christian? If I have a kind day, I only say shame on you and go about my own business, ignoring you. If I have a bad day, feeling generally agitated, I will let you know what a scum-enabling moron you are...
So if Ted has a relapse, is it Ted's fault, or did God do a shoddy job?
Now, since we know God didn't do a shoddy job, so was Ted secretly unrepentant, or did his prayers simply not work?
Of course, We All Know that prayer works, so Ted must be secretly unrepentant, which means he's anything but cured.
Carver @ 58:
Hah! Well, while I have sympathy for the basic humanity of this miserable, closeted human person, I do have to admit that my schadenfreude meter is tacking towards red as well.
There is a lot of judgemental talk in this thread, and a lot of ruthless condemnation. Then again, this is the internet, where everyone can express their inner asshole and work through their own issues in front of us.
Certainly Haggart was a slimeball who certainly made the lives of others worse, but he was in the closet because he came from a region of the world wherein one cannot be openly gay without risking many consequences. No, I'm not talking about Saudi Arabia; I'm talking about the southern United States.
That aspect of his life is somewhat tragic.
We do this all the time to people, especially transsexuals, who we feel no compunction about exorcising them from jobs, housing, and families. They've done nothing wrong but try to tell the truth. And we punish them for it.
Someday, I hope we'll learn to grow up and be human beings with compassion, not condemnation.
And what the hell is a "Spiritual Restoration Program” anyway? These guys are making things up as they go. Anything to make and save a buck...
Someone told me last night he believed that when you forgive someone it opens up the path for Karma to do it's work. In this context, that means the grudge you hold against someone is actually a roadblock to the universe making things right.
Interesting way to look at things.
Bonkers @ 62:
"Human person"? what the heck does that mean? Hah....that's what happens when editing one's thoughts on the fly and not proof reading. I think I meant "fellow human" or somethin' like that.
Anyway!
Gretchen @ 7:
Christians pretend to know things they CAN'T know. Thus the lie. Not judgemental, just a fact. Lying to oneself is lying. Ted lied about his life for years. So do all Christians. A sin-based religion DEMANDS secrecy for the little things; a stolen candy bar, a stolen kiss, a bag of crank and a buttfuck are just degrees, aren't they?
Meat @ 63:
Speaking of making judgments.
You obviously have not been to Colorado Springs.
Col Kilgore @ 6:
The craving is there, it will be easier for him to get both now.
HAHAHAHAHAH What a tool. Wonder how long the brainwashing program will last. I LOVE the fact these people are in the news as it turns normal people away from religion. I hope they never go away.
ysbaddaden @ 394:
I can also often be found in skid row giving a bum a haircut
kclaf @ 414:
This is a guy who doesn't want to have to work for a living. Just like these future traders and real estate speculators. They're all humanities equivalant of tape worms.
bob @ 432:
Do the homeless guys mind that you're shaving their asses, or are they passed out?
Proud2bHumble @ 434:
Of COURSE they are passed out. I gave them each a fifth of Early Times to make them compliant! Sheesh, what a question!
bob @ 424:
Is that you, Vincent Price?
bob @ 378:
Sigh...I give up. Arguing with you is like arguing with a retarded brick wall.
What exactly would you require for proof? The equations and redshift evidence for the Big Bang, and the future evidence leading to Cold Death, not oscillation? Or, are you so wrapped up in your own egotism I could tell you that black is black and you'd say "Where's the proof?"
bob @ 378:
And General and Special Relativity do not directly imply the Big Bang, and Einstein would laugh at that interpretation. The discovery of a growing Universe and its expansion by people like Hubble convinced the priest Lemaitre that at one time all the Universe was at one point, one thing. Relativity as a theory had little to do with that discovery, astronomical discoveries, not physics led to that.
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