New Ted Haggard news

[christa08]

I just read this on AOL news.

Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard's former church disclosed Friday that the gay sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard

Here is the link to the article.

http://news.aol.com/article/disgrace...026x1201178957

I think it's kind of good that he described his sexuality as "complex" instead of claiming to be totally straight. I think it would be great if he would just come out and say outright that he is a gay christian and then work for equality and use his "fame" (or whatever you want to call it) for good things.

[Daniel]

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.

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.

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...

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."

[christa08]

Originally Posted by Daniel

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 an ex-member of New Life Church, I am almost positive he is not out and self-accepting.

I found it kind of strange and suspicious that the beginning of the article said the agreement was that all parties involved would not speak about it publicly but then they had a quote from Brady Boyd that the money was not hush money.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by christa08

As an ex-member of New Life Church, I am almost positive he is not out and self-accepting.

I found it kind of strange and suspicious that the beginning of the article said the agreement was that all parties involved would not speak about it publicly but then they had a quote from Brady Boyd that the money was not hush money.

Yes. I thought the same thing. The church's action will be viewed as hush money. Otherwise, why not just help the young man out without restriction? Preventing him from talking about it only furthers the damage.

One good thing? The church says it will not prevent this man from speaking now. Know what? The young man may not even be gay. That would be an interesting twist. Though, that would strain credibility too, would it not?

What a tangled mess.

Addendum: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/01/new-ted-haggard.html

KRDO, which is set to air the interview with the volunteer, played a clip of it for viewers yesterday. In the clip, the volunteer says: "Sometime, somewhere, some reporter will ultimately get to me and they'll say what about BLEEP? And I will say what BLEEP said was true."

The BLEEPs, the station says, were in place to protect the identity of the volunteer.
KRDO reports: "A member of New Life Church tells NEWSCHANNEL 13 that Haggard took advantage of him sexually one night. The man, in his early 20's, claims he was paid a large sum of money by New Life Church to keep the abuse quiet. Under an agreement with the church he was not supposed to speak of the allegations with anyone outside the church. If he did, he would violate the agreement and would forfeit the money and could be sued by the church."

More to come it seems...

http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9725700

[Daniel]

Ted Haggard Escort Mike Jones: I Knew There Were Others

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/01/ted-haggard-esc.html

Following the recent revelations that Ted Haggard had sex with a male church volunteer, and perhaps others, escort Mike Jones unleashes on those who have mocked him for coming out with his Haggard story and made assumptions about his reasons for doing so, as well as the Human Rights Campaign, and New Life Church.

Says Jones in a new video:

"With all the recent news that’s coming out right now, I hope people understand why I had to say something. Because if I hadn’t said something, this would still be going on at the church. And it’d probably be even worse. I’ve always been a bit disappointed in the gay community and some gay groups. I have been ostracized by the gay community. I contacted groups like the Human Rights Campaign when my world was coming apart for help. They refused to even return my phone call. In Denver, I have been spit on, I’ve been yelled at, I’ve been called just a whore. And I would be lying if I didn’t say that hurt. But I am sick of people also making decisions based on headlines. Do you know just the other day, the LA Times printed something about the upcoming documentary coming out, and stated that Ted Haggard and Mike Jones did drugs together. I never did drugs with Ted Haggard. Never. Ted Haggard has said it’s a good thing Mike Jones spoke up. Otherwise he would probably be a drug addict and he would probably continue his deceitful path. The reason I am saying this is because no one else will. So if you want to continue with your nastiness towards me and your jokes, I want to ask you to look in the mirror and ask yourself, “What have I done to make a difference in this world?"

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/01/25/8366

Partial transcipt

I knew that there were others, others that I could not publicly out. They had to do it themselves. But they were scared. Some of their parents knew about what was going on at the church. And some of the parents just wanted to turn a blind eye to it.

I also realized it was going to be just probably me, out there all alone facing the press, facing the criticism.

Now when Brady Boyd took over as pastor of New Life Church, I contacted him. I wanted to talk to him about these other young men that were coming to me with their stories. This was serious.

And you know, Pastor Boyd refused to meet with me.

[M]ost of my anger is at New Life Church. For over two years, I have suffered being all alone out there, taking all the heat for all that’s going on. For all this time, they knew there were others. And they paid hush money to this man to be quiet, when they could have admitted it, that there were others right at that moment. And that would have helped me out so much, instead of putting me out there to face it all on my own.

I am so angry at the church. They stated at that time that Mike Jones was the only man out there that had relations with Ted Haggard. And it’s wrong and it was a lie. And they owe me an apology.

[sjbouza]

I am sure there were many more than we will ever know about. I am sure they will be coming out of the woodwork now that this documentary is airing. Everyone wants a piece of the spotlight.

As to the cover up by the church. Should we expect any more? Look at how long the Catholics dolled out the hush money to the child molesters that they have in their midst. Look at the hush money that has been paid out to hundreds if not thousands of people so they won't make the "church look bad". Well now more is coming to light. For the church not to call it "hush money" then tell the person to sign a legal document saying he will not speak of this, by definition that is hush money. Would they have given the money without him signing any legal documents? I don't really think so. So that tells me something about the morals of this church and the people involved in it.

Face it all you fanatics out there. A person cannot change who they are. A homo cannot become hetero or vise versa. Get over the lies. You have told them for so long that you actually believe them. No matter how many times you call a rose a cat, it still remains a rose.

Peace,
Scott