{"id":406,"date":"2009-02-03T14:36:15","date_gmt":"2009-02-03T14:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/progressiverevival\/2009\/02\/ted-haggard-the-trials-of-a-ga.html"},"modified":"2009-02-03T14:36:15","modified_gmt":"2009-02-03T14:36:15","slug":"ted-haggard-the-trials-of-a-ga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2009\/02\/ted-haggard-the-trials-of-a-ga.html","title":{"rendered":"Ted Haggard, The Trials of a Gay Evangelical"},"content":{"rendered":"

HBO will be airing a new documentary about Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor and former President of the National Association of Evangelicals who fell from prominance when it was discovered that he was having extra-marital gay sex with a male prostitute.\u00a0The documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard<\/a>, by Alexandra Pelosi has sparked a lot of comment as Haggard has made the rounds on the talk shows. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Beliefnet blogger Patton Dodd, who worked with Haggard offers a heartfelt and compassionate reflection on the man and wonders why he would put himself through a documentary<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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I was hoping–against hope–that “The Trials of Ted Haggard” would document his walking into the light. It doesn’t. It captures his attempt to re-enter the limelight. It’s agonizing to watch Haggard gather the pieces of his life, shuffle from temporary home to temporary home, and learn how to make an honest buck. It’s terrible to watch him suffer. But what’s most painful is the question the documentary doesn’t ask:\u00a0Why<\/i>? Why, just a few months after Haggard and his family suffered an unspeakable tragedy in public view, would he invite the cameras back? Why would he want his story documented and sold in this way?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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Joan Garry breaks down the truth on her post ending with this critical note on Haggard, and ultimately on anti-gay rhetoric from religious leaders.<\/span><\/div>\n


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4)\u00a0Ted is part of the problem<\/u>. I beg of you. Watch this documentary with a critical eye. Beware of sympathetic homophobes. He is promoting this film (which I have not yet seen) because it no doubt tells the sad tale of Haggard’s journey. Please remember: he abused his power in the evangelical church and was dismissed. Sounds about right to me. Please remember: when he sympathetically talks about selling life insurance now, remember he should feel lucky he has a job. And please remember: his anti-gay rhetoric has been fanning the flames of prejudice and discrimination against gay and lesbian people for years. His sermons give permission – for name calling and gay jokes at the water cooler. Then it ramps up. Employment discrimination, violence. But it all starts with the words of people in positions of power, often those with pulpits.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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Finally, Sam Greenfield hopes that Haggard will be the first convincing gay evangelical preacher<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One day Haggard may become a transcendent force. One day he may be the first gay evangelical minister. One day those of his faith may come forward and open the closet door and find peace. I wish all this for him.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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I wonder. \u00a0Two other people who were married and are now major gay religious figures come to mind – Mel White, and Gene Robinson. \u00a0But neigher of them was famous until after they came out. \u00a0 Rev. Haggard has a harder road. \u00a0Pray for him. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HBO will be airing a new documentary about Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor and former President of the National Association of Evangelicals who fell from prominance when it was discovered that he was having extra-marital gay sex with a male prostitute.\u00a0The documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard, by Alexandra Pelosi has sparked a lot of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicals","category-homosexuality"],"yoast_head":"\nTed Haggard, The Trials of a Gay Evangelical - Progressive Revival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2009\/02\/ted-haggard-the-trials-of-a-ga.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ted Haggard, The Trials of a Gay Evangelical - 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Paul B. Raushenbush is the moderator of the Progressive Revival blog and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University. .An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., The Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York, and the New America Foundation. Rev. Raushenbush has served at Seattle First Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Chaplaincy at Columbia University and as College and Young Adult Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City. He has appeared on ABC World News Tonight and is a repeated guest on CNN. He has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post and is a contributing editor for Beliefnet.com. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (HCI) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book Christianity and the Social Crisis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c In the 21st Century (HarperOne). His work at Princeton includes strengthening the interfaith community on campus. He is the Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University. Rev. Raushenbush studied religion at Macalester College before attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he graduated with distinction.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/author\/praushenbush"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}