Contorting theology, twisted minds...

After watching this interview I was in complete disbelief that Ted Haggard could ever say to another living human being: "This is America! You can't use your religion to tyrannize others!".... this was uttered by Ted Haggard, who even after his own embarrassingly scandalous expulsion from the mega-church he founded after it was revealed that he liked to snort meth and swallow cum (from his hired boy-toy) right before he went on his nation-wide homophobic campaigns, still has not been able to find within himself the humility and spiritual clarity to realize the reprehensible nature of his theology and actions. Instead he blames the whistle blowers for being unhelpful.

If he had not been outed in a firestorm of scandal he would still be sucking cock and praising Yahweh, until he was discovered overdosed and castrated, with a dildo up his rear and a bible on his chest.

Then there's Sister Donnie one of the biggest closet queens I have ever beheld. This man has done so much damage to so many young gay christians that he might as well have sexually molested them. His spiritual assault is so much more sinister.

This is a man that when asked to explain his definition of "deliverance from homosexuality" used the following metaphor:

"I’m a diabetic now and I don’t eat sugar, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want sugar. The more I don’t eat the sugar, the more I lose the taste for sugar and the more my diet starts to change permanently – I can’t stand a regular soda now because it’s too much sugar. So, the more I don’t intake the sugar, the more it leaves out of my desire."

le fuq?

What is so insidious about his rhetoric is that on the face of it, it's enough to illicit a head-nod from even the staunchest of his critics. It appears to be reasonable. However it is truly a self-flagellating, theological contortion, that likens same-sex attraction to a chronic medical condition that can be cured, or at least diminished if one lives a life as prescribed by Doctor Donnie.

I often wonder just how many of the women in these churches clapping, shouting and screaming hallelujah when Donnie speaks of the transformative power of Christ, and the redemptive philosophy of his particular evangelical mission, would actually marry an ex-gay, or "struggling" man such as Donnie. How many would even date a man that admits to having those proclivities?

How many truly believe in redemption or is it just lip-service?

This is my major problem with evangelicals. They pump themselves up so much, are so charismatic, are so believable, that they almost always appear to be over-compensating for latent guilt or regret. They try so hard to convince themselves first, then those around them, that they are pious, righteous and on the godly path and then insert the almost obligatory addendum, "But, I am of the flesh". That is the exit clause they conveniently use to humanize themselves in order to automatically excuse their inevitable hypocrisy.

Watching Ted Haggard, even after all he has been through, look bare faced at the world and appear unmoved by the impetus to purge and reflect that his own scandal signified, makes me angry yet deeply sympathetic. He is such a twisted product of a hateful belief system that I can't help but feel sorry for him. The vitriol spewed by persons of his ilk makes me wish for their demise.

I want there to be more scandals such as this so that the hypocrites may be exposed for the world to see that the types of persons they so vilify, they also personify.

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