Ted Haggard: The Cover-up is Worse Than the Crime

I live in Colorado Springs and I have attended New Life Church on a number of occasions. My husband and I ended up leaving the church because we felt that the church had too much pride and after making visits to several other churches, decided not to attend any. I have found that I cannot trust people to be spiritual guides because they, like the rest of us, are full of flaws but when they fall, faith in the church is lost. Instead, I place my complete love, trust and faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. While we may lose faith in religious 'leaders,' there is only one real leader and the behavior of one man can not and will not define God, nor should it affect our faith in Him. He won't fail us, but people will and Ted Haggard has let himself down, along with his family, his congregation and other believers.

Since all the facts aren't out, I will withhold making an opinion regarding whether he had gay trysts with the accuser, a 49-year-old gay prostitute named Michael Jones, who also failed a polygraph test on Friday morning.

However, I will mention my deep disappointment that a man in a place of leadership and trust would be so deceptive and evasive when caught in a grossly inappropriate situation.

When the allegations first arose, Ted Haggard denied everything but the next day admitted to buying methamphetamine (but not using) and also to receiving a massage from Michael Jones after a hotel gave him a referral. I find those explanations to be suspect and his image is now tarnished and he has no one to blame but himself.

Ted Haggard should, first and foremost, tell the complete truth, which he botched by lying when first confronted and that lie has now damaged his reputation and called into question his credibility, and because of that, it puts his newest confession under a cloud of suspicion and makes people wonder what else he might be hiding.

His position called for a higher standard of conduct and if circumstances were such in his personal life that he wanted an addictive and dangerous drug like methamphetamine, than he should have sought help and resigned his positions. I do wonder if he was a regular user since methamphetamine users are known for the physical effects of their drug use; open sores around the mouth, etc. That said, I think Jeremiah summed it up perfectly by writing, "A man who represents himself as a Christian leader while buying meth from a homosexual prostitute should never, ever do anything in a church ever again except sit in the back and listen."

Ted Haggard should be held accountable for what he's done and if he solicited drugs, he committed a crime and should be punished for doing so, but his accuser should also be penalized because he too committed a crime.

And through it all I think of Ted Haggard's wife, Gayle, and their five children. It is inexcusable that Ted would be so selfish to pursue something so contrary to the life he purports to live and to put his entire family at risk, which makes him worse than a hypocrite, even if all he was guilty of was purchasing methamphetamine.

Prior to writing this I spent several hours reading news articles and comments from both Christians and Homosexuals. Some Christians have said not to judge Ted Haggard but to pray for him. Not only will I pray for him (and his family) but I will also judge him because he chose to place himself in the public eye and what he does reflects upon other Christians, not to mention he's supposed to set an example for others and he has failed miserably with A; his conduct, and B; his denial when caught.

Furthermore, while reading comments from the homosexual community here in Colorado Springs, I was floored and appalled by the level of hatred and violence they espoused towards Christians and to Ted Haggard personally. If they think they are helping their cause by being so blatantly malicious, they're not, and I'm less likely to listen to them but if they offered their opinions with a modicum of decorum and respect to those of differing viewpoints, I would listen, happily so, but right now there are no winners…

And certainly not the media who were given this story two months ago but sat on it until five days before an election and the accuser (Michael Jones) also mentioned in an interview that he wanted to influence the outcome of the elections, which makes the timing politically suspect.

Nevertheless, the bottom line is if someone is going to preach about morality, they should live it and sadly, Ted Haggard, who achieved so much may end up losing just as much.