Associated Press:

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...