…and pull out your stockpile of rotten tomatoes – Ted Haggard is back! HBO will debut a 41-minute documentary this Thursday, January 29th, about the quest of the meth-and-gigolo disgraced televangelist to regain his place as an influential baloney peddler megaminister. The Trials of Ted Haggard is the brainchild of filmmaker Alexandra (daughter of Nancy) Pelosi, whose previous documentary Friends of God also featured Haggard and is (in my opinion) must-see TV for freethinkers who want insights into what makes Red State America tick.
After watching Haggard on Larry King last night, the most I can say for him is his sense of accountability and that he appears to have been open and honest with his family. Still, he clings to this delusion that his homosexuality is a “sin” and that Christianity can “cure” him…the worst part was he gave this advice to a gay Christian caller. Ted, if Christianity would be able to remove your gay, it would have done so a LONG time ago…maybe you should start thinking for yourself.
He is unstable. This insanity is magnified, if not caused, by the conflict between his true-self and religious dogma. How sad that he nor his wife will consider for even a second that their belief-system is flawed and the solution to their problems is not to further immerse themselves in it. I honestly feel sorry for any homosexual person that has had to endure a strict Christian upbringing and indoctrination. I don’t know any stats, but surely it drives some to suicide. At a minimum, ongoing misery. Big problem with all of this is that Ted will continue to denounce homosexuality as a defect and encourage Christianity as the solution to all problems, especially this one. If anyone with similar conflicts looks up to him as some sort of role-model in this, they will be further damaged. For crying out loud people, wake up! This is just one example of how damaging religious fundamentalism can be.