Interesting article. It indicates that the young man saw himself as being victimized. Intimating that the church wanted to keep him from talking about the affair.
Quote:
Boyd said the church reached a legal settlement to pay the man for counseling and college tuition, with one condition being that none of the parties involved discuss the matter publicly.
Boyd said a Colorado Springs TV station reached him Thursday to say the young man was planning to provide a detailed report of his relationship with Haggard to the station. Boyd said the church preferred to keep the matter private, but it was the man's decision to go public.
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Guess we will have to wait to see what over developments there are. As it is, I wonder what has happened with this young man. Is he gay? Is he out, and self-accepting?
Or has he gone the way of Exodus?
As for Haggard, this puts him in something of a different light. He's gone from being the self-proclaimed victim to a victimizer.
I don't care who you are. It's a breach of ethics to have sex with those you are- essentially- under one's pastoral care. The power difference in the relationship can only bring harm. As noted in the article...
Quote:
David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — which has largely focused on the Catholic sexual abuse scandal but also speaks out on cases involving Protestant clergy — said the new disclosures about Haggard are more disturbing because they involves a church volunteer.
"Technically, legally, they were both adults," Clohessy said. "Psychologically and emotionally, Haggard was dramatically more powerful. ... By definition, any sexual contact between a congregant and minister is inherently abusive and manipulative."
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