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Creep of the Week: Ted Haggard

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OK, would every anti-gay right-winger who isn't secretly gay please step forward?
At the rate gay-bashing members of the religious right and Republican Party are being outted they just might need to build themselves their own "log cabin" – only this one would be made of glass. Just think of the reality show possibilities.
The latest head on the "I hate gays because I hate myself" chopping block is Ted Haggard. His "I bought crystal meth from that male escort but I never did either one of them" claim makes Bill Clinton's infamous "I didn't inhale" and "I did not have sex with that woman" statements sound like Biblical truth.
Up until last week when he resigned in shame, Haggard was the head of the president of the National Evangelical Association, which represents 30 million evangelical Christians. And up until Nov. 4 he was head of the New Life Church, a 14,000-member strong mega church in Colorado Springs.
That was until Mike Jones of Denver publicly revealed that Haggard had been paying him for sex for the past three years.
Something wicked this way comes, indeed.
At first Haggard denied the allegations, but things unraveled quickly and it didn't take long for his church to throw him out on his gay-sex-having ass.
On Nov. 5 Haggard apologized to his flock via a letter read from the pulpit. "I am guilty of sexual immorality," it read. "I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life. For extended periods of time, I would enjoy victory and rejoice in freedom. Then … I would find myself thinking thoughts and experiencing desires that were contrary to everything I believe and teach."
Yes, things like: gays are evil.
The letter goes on, "Through the years, I've sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn't want to hurt or disappoint them."
How considerate of him.
Of course, when it came to the gay and lesbian families, not to mention members of his congregation struggling with their own sexuality, Haggard was more than happy to trumpet their immorality and pound his manly chest in favor of anti-gay marriage amendments. Which is exactly why Jones outted him.
"My intent was never to destroy his family," Jones told The Associated Press. "My intent was to expose a hypocrite."
What does Haggard have to say about Jones? "Thank God for him," Haggard said in his Nov. 5 letter. "I am trusting that his actions will make me, my wife and family, and ultimately all of you, stronger. He didn't violate you; I did."
So true. Yet something tells me we aren't about to see Haggard or his followers waving a rainbow flag anytime soon.

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