Fall from Grace

This past Thursday, HBO Documentary Films premiered Alexandra Pelosi's 45-minute documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard. This is the follow-up to her previous documentary, Friends of God. Ms. Pelosi shows Ted Haggard's fall from grace; at one point he was one of the most powerful and influential Evangelicals in the country. He founded the megachurch, New Life Church, which boasts a membership of about 15,000. He was an icon and spoke to stadium crowds.

Unfortunately, Mr. Haggard was hiding and battling very serious and overwhelming demons. He admitted to having had homosexual tendencies at the age of 7 and, I believe, that religion was his way of trying to rehabiliate himself. At the age of 50, he confessed to buying meth from a male escort and masseuse. Just over the last couple of days he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a 20 yr old male. The New Life Church exiled Mr. Haggard from Colorado Springs to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he and his family essentially lived out of a Uhaul, relying on the help of strangers. He is now back in Colorado selling life insurance. The church he founded has excommunicated him, and gave the 20 yr old male an undisclosed amount to keep quiet.

Some of you may be wondering where is my anger and outrage. I can empathize with Mr Haggard. I, too, have had to deal with my own demons. He is a good person, who unfortunately, could not admit to this behavior while preaching morality. Evangelical Christianity holds homosexuality with such disdain, that in some circles, it is worse than murder. Some of you may consider him a hypocrite who prosleytized God's word, yet committed egregious sins. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Mr. Haggard. The New Life Church required him to undergo a "spiritual restoration". The press had reported that he was now "completely heterosexual", which he denied. I thought Christians were supposed to be forgiving, yet, the church he founded has abandoned him. I hated him several years ago when Friends of God was released on HBO. I thought he was self-righteous, arrogant, and a moral absolutist, now I realize that he is human, scared, destroyed and, as he says, " a loser".

Give him a break, if you want to be angry, blame Evangelical Christianity.