Ted Haggard Breaks His Silence on Gay Sex and Meth

Ted Haggard broke his silence on his gay escapades in two recent sermons.

Says Haggard: "The first thing I want you to know is that I sinned. I really did sin. And I'm very, very sorry that I sinned...My wife - all my sin and shame fell on her. People treated her as if she had fallen. And my children...they all went through carrying my shame. And I'm so sorry that I did that to my family..."

Haggard blames his experiences with gay sex and meth on sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

According to the AP, "Haggard said church leaders missed an opportunity to use his scandal to 'communicate the gospel worldwide through secular media.'...'We consistently blow it' when those opportunities arise, he said."

We all know the only thing Haggard consistently blows are male escorts.

Watch the GMA report, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Protestors Hit Dallas Church That Advertised 'Gay is Not OK' Sermon

Last week I posted about First Baptist Church in Dallas which was to be the target of protest for a marquee advertising a sermon titled "Gay is Not Ok". About 100 people showed up to march outside the church on Sunday:

"Singing 'Jesus Loves Me,' about 100 people stood outside the First Baptist Church of Dallas in protest to the sermon, which was part of a series called 'Politically Incorrect.' Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress told First Baptist members to not believe the hate-speech hype and called the protest a plan to silence any criticism of homosexuality. 'In Romans I, it says because they rejected the true God and exchanged the truth of God for a lie, God gave them over to degrading passions - men with men and women with women,' he said. 'And so, the Bible says when the people reject the truth of God's word, they're open to any kind of immorality.' But Michael Robinson, the founder of Unified Community Against Gay Hate Crimes, said sermons like Jeffress' can lead to very serious hate crimes. 'What they are preaching from the pulpit is hate and that breeds these type of people to come out and do these type of crimes,' he said."

Watch the news clip from WFAA.

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Assemblies of God Welcomes Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin visits her childhood church the Assemblies Of God.

Sullivan writes: "She comes across as a charismatic, Pentecostalist charmer in favor of the Iraq war as part of God's plan. Track has a Jesus tattoo on his calf, by the way. My favorite quote: 'Y'all are a bunch of cool-looking Christians.' Her pastor speaks after her of the 'last days' when the lower 48 states may have to seek refuge in Alaska. This governor is on a path, by her own testimony, that is being guided by God. When you see this clip, you can see evangelical Christianism coming ever closer to the White House."

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

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John Hagee Videos Removed from YouTube

The Huffington Post reports that at least 120 videos featuring controversial pastor John Hagee have been removed from YoutTube:

"The timing was, perhaps, more peculiar than the move itself. Clips that had been online for well over a year were now being subjected to 'third-party' copyright infringement claims. And while Hagee had not been in the mainstream press since he and Sen. John McCain ended their official relationship a month prior, Hagee's Christians United for Israel annual summit is just days away, and at least one prominent McCain backer (Sen. Joseph Lieberman) is set to be in attendance."

The clips removed include Hagee's 1990 sermon in which the pastor said Hitler was acting on God's behalf in "hunting" the Jews so that they might establish the state of Israel.

Said Max Blumenthal: "Obviously Hagee's minions orchestrated this move to suppress bad publicity ahead of their July summit. This is a response to the McCain debacle and concern over bad publicity for Lieberman's appearance."

They did, however, miss Talking Points Memo's wrapup, of Hagee statements bashing Catholics and gays, which you can view AFTER THE JUMP...

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'Christian' Says Gay Former Pop Star Ian Watkins like Jeffrey Dahmer

Ian Watkins (pictured, formerly of the British pop band Steps), who came out publicly in January 2007, was recently filming a special on Wales for the BBC and was confronted by a "Christian campaigner" who told him that being gay is no better than being a serial killer, the BBC reports:

"Christian Voice director, Stephen Green, told Watkins his lifestyle was 'sinful', and made him no better than US mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer. Mr Green also told the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant he could become straight if he wanted to. The comparison to Dahmer who was jailed for life in 1992 after the Wisconsin trial heard evidence of his cannibalism after murdering his victims came when Watkins told Mr Green he was 'completely happy' being gay and that he was in a loving relationship. Mr Green added: 'Jeremy (sic) Dahmer was happy murdering people, does that make it right?' The comment shocked Watkins and he responded: 'So, being completely happy and at one with yourself, and being in a happy, loving relationship is the same as murdering somebody?' But Mr Green stuck to his guns during the exchange: 'Sin is sin...in the eyes of God, sin is sin...' When Watkins referred to people being born gay, Mr Green told him: 'I don't believe anybody is born homosexual. God wouldn't allow anybody to be born homosexual.' Watkins, who came out when he was in the Big Brother house alongside Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody, says he was 'absolutely flabbergasted' by the comments."

Green obviously attended the Sally Kern school of lower education.

Previously
Former Steps Singer Ian Watkins: I'm Gay [tr]

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Charles Barkley Accused of Irrational, Anti-Christian Bigotry

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is calling on former pro basketball star Charles Barkley to apologize for comments he made to Wolf Blitzer regarding "fake Christians."

Said Barkley: "I think they -- they want to be judge and jury. Like, I'm for gay marriage. It's none of my business if gay people want to get married. I'm pro-choice. And I think these Christians -- first of all, they're supposed to be -- they're not supposed to judge other people. But they're the most hypocritical judge of people we have in this country. And it bugs the hell out of me. They act like their Christians. And they're not forgiving at all...they should read the part about they're not supposed to judge other people. They forget that one when it doesn't fit what they want it to say."

Said Chairman and CEO of the CADC Dr. Gary Cass: "We respect Barkley as an expert on basketball, but he is obviously not an expert on Christian moral theology. The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission calls on Barkley to apologize for his hateful remarks. We are hopeful that he will do the right thing. For Barkley to think that Christians cannot have an opinion about matters of public policy and personal morality is astonishing. Jesus forbids judging by hypocritical double standards, but he requires Christians to make just and sound judgments everyday according to biblical precepts. Ironically, Barkley engaged in the very activity of judging others that he condemned in conservatives. Barkley's words reveal an unfortunate, irrational anti-Christian bigotry."

Group Calls for Apology from Charles Barkley for Anti-Christian Remarks [earned media]

Previously
Charles Barkley Supports Gay Marriage, Slams 'Fake' GOP Christians [tr]

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UK Christian Group Ad Claims Gays Aim To Abolish the Family

An advertisement from the Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV) claiming that the main goal of gay people is to "Abolish the Family" has been criticized by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, which told the group to "ensure future campaigns were not presented in a way that could cause serious offence or which might lead to antisocial behaviour."

The BBC reports: "The ASA upheld complaints against the ad, ruling that it could be inflammatory. The poster broke advertising rules on social responsibility, decency, matters of opinion and truthfulness, the ASA said. A complainant had said the advert did not accurately represent gay people's views and was offensive. The watchdog said that a modern family was increasingly less likely to include a married man, woman and their children. 'We considered the statement and the way it appeared was likely to cause offence both to the mainstream gay community and supporters of equality,' said an ASA spokesman."

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Ted Haggard Quits 'Spiritual Restoration', Cuts Ties with Church

Reverend Ted Haggard, the New Life church pastor who agreed to undergo a "spiritual restoration" aka "pray the gay away" following revelations that he was involved with escort Mike Jones, has reportedly quit that program and cut ties with his old church.

Haggard was forced from his position as the head of the megachurch following his admission of "sexually immorality" after Jones came forward saying the pastor paid him for sex over a period of three years.

The Denver Post reports: "Ted Haggard's leadership of New Life Church for many years was extraordinary and the depth of spiritual maturity that is found today in the church is in large part attributed to his leadership as the founding senior pastor," the statement said, adding that the church's 'overseers' and 'restorers' would not make further comment about Haggard's 'spiritual restoration.' New Life added that Haggard has joined another mega-church, Phoenix First Assembly of God, and that its founding pastor, Tommy Barnett, is overseeing an 'accountability relationship' with the disgraced Colorado pastor. Barnett could not be reached Tuesday night. New Life has been at odds with its former pastor since he left. In its statement Tuesday night, church officials said, 'New Life recognizes the process of restoring Ted Haggard is incomplete and maintains its original stance that he should not return to vocational ministry. However, we wish him and his family only success in the future.'"

Just one year ago today, a four-member oversight board announced that after three weeks of intense counseling that Haggard was "completely heterosexual".

New Life cuts last ties with Haggard [denver post]
Haggard Quits Re-Straightifying Program [joemygod]

Previously
Church Overseers to Ted Haggard: Get a Job [tr]
Exodus: Ted Haggard Moves to Arizona for "Fresh Start" [tr]
New Life Church Holds 'Day of Hope' for Ted Haggard [tr]

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Gay Man Goes Through "Ex-Gay" Hell After Christian "Purity Siege"

Some of you may remember the piece I posted about Pat Robertson and the nutty evangelical "purity sieges" that have been going on around Interstate-35 in the midwest.

According to Robertson, God is using superhighway I-35 that runs from Canada to Mexico to purify America from sin. He says "I-35 is the highway spoken of in Isaiah 35:8 - "And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness." So, evangelical Christians have set aside 35 days to use the cities around I-35 to rid America of sin, meaning "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops." God is using "purity sieges" to set America free.

One of the main people featured in the clip posted below is James Stabile, who was apparently "cured" of his homosexuality by a minister at one of these purity sieges.

John Wright of the Dallas Voice attempted to track down Stabile and discovered what had happened to him after talking to Joe Oden, the midwest evangelist who has been organizing the "purity sieges" and who "touched" Stabile, allegedly transforming him from gay to straight in an instant:

Writes Wright: "Oden told me Stabile had been shipped off to Pure Life Ministries, which operates a residential treatment program in Northern Kentucky. 'It’s a program for people who’ve lived alternative lifestyles just to get totally clean,' Oden told me. Upon further investigation, I discovered Pure Life Ministries is also the place where Mike Johnston — remember him?! — is director of donor and media relations. Johnston’s the guy who contracted HIV before swearing off homosexuality and becoming a poster child for the ex-gay movement in the late 1980s. Then, in 2003, it was revealed that Johnston was living a double life — cruising men online and organizing unsafe sex parties while failing to disclose his HIV status to partners. Johnston eventually checked into Pure Life and later re-emerged in his current position. 'With good reason, people would question what I’m saying now,' Johnston told me recently during what he said was the only interview he’s given on the subject in four years."

Soon after, Oden told Wright that Stabile had been kicked out of Pure Life Ministries for being a "compulsive liar" so Wright tracked down Stabile's father (pastor of Cochran Chapel United Methodist Church, the oldest church in Dallas) to "get the real scoop."

According to Wright, "Joseph Stabile said he’s fully accepting of his son’s sexual orientation and believes being gay is neither a choice nor a sin. Joseph Stabile said James left home to go out that Friday night and never returned. Joseph said James, or 'B.J.' as his parents affectionately refer to him, is bipolar and had stopped taking his medication. James called a few days later and told his parents he was moving out, and that he’d be back to get his stuff. James apparently had moved in with some folks from Heartland. After that, it would be some time before James’ parents heard from him, as his church friends reportedly advised him not to contact them. Joseph Stabile said the Heartland folks also may have advised James to throw away his medication, telling him that God would cure his bipolar disorder, too. Joseph’s parents said James has a tendency to be less than truthful, especially when he’s off his medication, and that he loves attention. They said they don’t believe he’s ever questioned his sexuality, but that the folks from Heartland manipulated and exploited him for publicity."

So the Fundies basically emotionally kidnapped Stabile, took away medication that helps him act rationally, and that's not all. Apparently it cost James $2100 to get into the "ex-gay" program and another $150 a week while he was there. The people at Pure Life constantly told him he was going to Hell, he had to be clothed from the neck down even while sleeping. James is now home with his parents, describes his experience at "straight camp" as being "horrible" and is seeing a therapist.

There is a hell on earth apparently and these people are at the center of it.

I've attached the clip again below.

Dallas gay man adversely affected by Christian "purity siege" [pegasus news]
‘Purity sieges’ lead gay man into bipolar hell [dallas voice]

You may have missed...
Pat Robertson: God is Using I-35 to Rid USA of Gay Sin [tr]

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Pat Robertson: God is Using I-35 to Rid USA of Gay Sin

I really have no words, except this is why they're called wingnuts.

According to Pat Robertson, God is using superhighway I-35 that runs from Canada to Mexico through the midwest to purify America from sin. He says "I-35 is the highway spoken of in Isaiah 35:8 - "And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness."

So, evangelical Christians have set aside 35 days to use the cities around I-35 to rid America of sin, meaning "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops." God is using "purity sieges" to set America free.

And they're apparently working - homosexuals, like James Stabile, a drunk gay who stumbled across a purity siege, was cured when a pastor touched him and yelled "Fire!"

Stabile: "I didn't feel the desires to be with men like I felt before." Shazam!

Is God Using NAFTA Superhighway to Stop Homosexuality? [rightwingwatch]

(via wonkette)

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Max Blumenthal Reports from the Values Voters Summit

Another great report from Max Blumenthal of the Huffington Post.

Blumenthal writes: "If anything, the movement seemed more extreme and paranoid than it did four years ago. Rev. Lou Sheldon, dubbed 'Lucky Louie' by his former paymaster Jack Abramoff, told me that homosexuality is a 'pathological disorder' and 'a groove' that is difficult to escape from. He proceeded to passionately defend his friend, Senator Larry Craig, from allegations of homosexuality."

And much, much more. A must-watch, along with Blumenthal's commentary.

Theocracy Now: In Search of Values at the 2007 Value Voters Summit [huffington post]
(via AmericaBlog)

More Blumenthal...
Max Blumenthal: Tom Delay Ready for the Rapture [tr]
A Visit to the College Republican National Convention [tr]

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Max Blumenthal: Tom Delay Ready for the Rapture

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour from huffpost and Vimeo.

The Huffington Post's Max Blumenthal, whom you may remember brought us "Generation Chickenhawk: The
Unauthorized College Republican Convention Tour", takes his cameras to the "politically extreme" Christians United for Israel's annual Washington-Israel Summit, where plenty of people are preparing for the end of times.

Says Blumenthal: "...CUFI has an ulterior agenda: its support for Israel derives from the belief of [San Antonio-based megachurch pastor John] Hagee and his flock that Jesus will return to Jerusalem after the battle of Armageddon and cleanse the earth of evil. In the end, all the non-believers - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, mainline Christians, etc. - must convert or suffer the torture of eternal damnation. Over a dozen CUFI members eagerly revealed to me their excitement at the prospect of Armageddon occurring tomorrow."

Tons o' fun!

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour [huffington post]

And don't miss
A Visit to the College Republican National Convention [tr]
Politicians React to Ann Coulter Gay Slur and CPAC Events [tr]

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Christian Teen Group BattleCry Rallies Against "Gay Sin" in SF

More than 20,000 teenagers with the anti-gay evangelical Christian youth group BattleCry converged on San Francisco this weekend for a two-day confab of "Christian rock, religious speakers and worship." The weekend kicked off with a rally at City Hall which, according to Towleroad correspondent Michael Davis, became a heated confrontation between the group and progressives there to protest.

Davis sent Towleroad these photos from the event. A gay man argues with one of the BattleCry youths (above); a father and son broadcast their opinion on marriage; protestors gather on the mall; and young Christians pray for salvation (below).

Ron Luce, who runs the Texas-based ministry behind the event, told the AP: All the stuff that's being rammed down their throats, it's pillaging and raping this young generation of any virtue. They're saying 'we're tired, we're going to shape our culture in a different way...The Bible teaches us homosexuality's harmful and is a sin, period. There's lots of documentation that homosexuals have shorter life spans, and are more prone to suicide and depression, so it's not very loving of us to let them stay in that situation.

The mayor's office issued this statement on the event: "Their homophobic beliefs are offensive, but we hope they'll become more tolerant after spending the weekend in our famously tolerant city."

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A Dog That Moos: He Was Born Different

A dog named Norman, who moos rather than barks, is the star of a new campaign of five television ad spots (two of which I've posted here) and numerous print ads funded by the Gill Foundation that are designed to make people think of homosexuality in personal rather than religious or political terms. The ads are running in Colorado Springs, a city often at the center of the national gay rights debate that is also the home of damaged goods James Dobson and the location of his anti-gay group Focus on the Family's headquarters.

Public Interest, the agency that produced the ads, says that they are not tied to any kind of specific legislation, but the existence of domestic partnership legislation on the November ballot has raised the hackles of FOF, whose hackles would have most likely been raised anyway. Focus on the Family has responded with a website of their own, No-Moo-Lies, which spouts the usual nonsense about ex-gays.

"The campaign targets neither religious fundamentalists nor gay-rights activists, but a 'fat middle zone' of heterosexuals who have never seriously considered the nature of sexual orientation," according to Colorado Springs paper Indy.

Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and a city councilman have objected to the PSA's presence on city buses and lightposts. Said Councilman Bernie Herpin: "To me, that’s politicizing our message that we’re putting on our lampposts, and being city lampposts it gives some credibility that the city supports the campaign, which I know the city does not. The city hasn’t taken a stand one way or the other."

But other council members disagree: Said Councilman Jerry Heimlicher: "If it passed [the Downtown Partnership's] smell test for putting it on the poles, then that’s judgment enough for me. I don’t consider them political statements. I think they’re quite clever, and they certainly accomplish their goal of trying to get people to talk about ‘What does that stand for?’ So what’s the harm?"

Plus, well, that mooing dog is so damn cute.

Born Different [website]

Related
Soulforce Group Begins 65-mile March to James Dobson [tr]

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Hating Begins at Home: The Creation of James Dobson

James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, was abused as a child, according to a recent profile in Denver magazine 5280. He also enjoyed a family life punctuated by shin-kicking contests and dogfights, and his formative view of gay life seems to come from these earlier experiences and his participation in Ed Meese's commission on pornography, in which he experienced, first-hand, the lurid Times Square sex shops of the mid-80's.

A couple of choice excerpts, the first on how he was brought up:

"Myrtle Dobson was an amiable and social woman, but she didn't hesitate to whack her son with a shoe or belt when she felt it was required. Consequently, Dobson writes, he learned at an early age to stay out of striking distance when he back-talked to his mother. One day he made the mistake of mouthing off when she was only four feet away and heard a 16-pound girdle whistling through the air. 'The intended blow caught me across the chest, followed by a multitude of straps and buckles wrapping themselves around my midsection.'"

His high school years:

"...Dobson had two years of high school left, and when he started classes he found himself the target of a couple of bullies. Rather than turn the other cheek, Dobson wheeled around and threw his schoolbooks in the face of one annoying youth. 'By the time he could see me again I was on top of him,' Dobson writes. Dobson also tried a little bullying himself, targeting a boy whom he sized up as a "sissy." But the boy gave him such a thrashing that Dobson concluded bullying wasn't for him."

And, after the jump, his experience with Attorney General Ed Meese during the Reagan Administration:

"In the mid-’80s, Meese asked Dobson to serve on a blue-ribbon commission on pornography. For the next 14 months, the preacher’s boy from the heartland immersed himself in the world of hard-core porn.

Times Square was Beelzebub’s turf in the mid-’80s. Buildings bathed in the red glow of XXX signs, blocks of “adult bookstores,” and businesses offering sex aids and cellophane-wrapped magazines. Deciding they needed to sample their subject matter firsthand, members of the Meese Commission descended into the belly of the beast. Commission member James Dobson, middle-aged and beefy, ducked into one of the adult bookstores, which in other cities might offer visitors a private cubicle and 90 seconds of pornographic video. But in Times Square the fare was more, well, sumptuous: Customers pushed coins into a slot and a screen rolled up revealing an orgy. “Everything that is possible for heterosexuals, homosexuals, or lesbians to do was demonstrated a few feet from the viewers,” Dobson later wrote. “The booths from which these videos or live performers are viewed become filthy beyond description as the day progresses. Police investigators testified before our Commission that the stench is unbearable and that the floor becomes sticky with semen, urine, and saliva. Holes in the walls between the booths are often provided to permit male homosexuals to service one another.”

It would be an understatement to say such spectacles were a mind-warping experience for Dobson, who had been switched, paddled, and pummeled for sassing back and forbidden from saying “geez”—a man whose courtship with his wife included passing notes in soda bottles."

And on the Eighth Day, Dr. Dobson Created Himself [5280]

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