In one of the more bizarre stories this fall, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelicals, Ted Haggard, just resigned as President of the 14,000 member Colorado Springs-based New Life Church and the National Association of Evangelicals. He was a weekly participant in conference calls with George W. Bush and a key player in the push to ban same-sex marriage. Why did he resign? A gay male prostitute in Denver claims that Haggard was one of his clients the last three years. The prostitute, Mike Jones, has envelopes he says are from Haggard as well as voice mails. He reported this to a local radio station, and a TV station in Denver had been following it for months. Jones also says he saw Haggard use methamphetamine. Jones says he’ll take a polygraph to prove his charge.
Haggard insists that he never had a relationship with Jones. And the resignation was supposedly a standard procedure in cases of “immoral charges.” Supporters of Haggard planned to hold a meeting in support of him, but the church told them not to.
It’s hard to know if this story is true or not. But the allegations are pretty significant considering Haggard’s role in promoting a gay marriage amendment in Colorado this year. I don’t know if this will have any effect on the election or not. It could dampen turnout among evangelicals in Colorado, where two fundamentalist Christians are running in close races. But it is a pretty shocking story nonetheless.
Salon has a good article on just how important Ted Haggard is in the evangelical movement. He may be the most important figure in the entire Christian Right. Also check Holly’s link below to an article about the New Life Church in Harper’s.
UPDATE: A voice expert contends the voice on the voice mails to Jones talking about drug buys sounds like Haggard. h/t Americablog
UPDATE II
Looks like Ted Haggard has admitted to at least some of the revelations. Let’s be clear about something here. If ANY part of this story is true, Ted Haggard is ruined. Mike Jones is a male prostitute. There is no reason for Haggard to have any contact with Jones except for the purposes of having sex. There are also allegations that Haggard used crystal meth, and Jones has voice mails of Haggard asking Jones for some of it. Remember, Jones says Haggard used the name “Art” in his correspondence. Haggard’s middle name is Arthur.
Now that this is more-or-less confirmed, we can conclude that this bombshell will shake up the evangelical community in Colorado. I am not an evangelical so I can’t speak to how other evangelicals will respond, but this has got to be the worst possible news for two hard-right Republican candidates running for Congress in Colorado, Doug Lamborn and Marilyn Musgrave.