Nope, doesn't hurt me at all. I'm far more likely to suffer consequences from people who can't think running around claiming to be conservatives than I am from some guy doing meth and then losing his pulpit. You read far too much into my defense. I defended the idea that a man is innocent until proven guilty.
I go by common sense, and it makes no sense that he steps down if these are outrageous lies.
It appears now that Haggard did do at least some of this stuff, but that doesn't change this: You condemned this guy on no evidence but the word of a prostitute and meth user and think that's "common sense." The fact that he stepped down meant bupkis, as it did in the Gingrich incident.
Guys, it doesn't mean a thing that the guy stepped down. The congregational by-laws...legal requirement for the 501c(3) corporate structure of that congregation required the accused to step down from his position until disposition of the matter was complete. (in this case, investigation by four independent...outside that church...ministers)
In my small Presbyterian denomination, such a person would be temporarily suspended from the excercise of his ministerial functions by the Presbytery, until the disposition of the matter. It has often been done over much lesser matters, and should be no basis for suspicion at all.
I think this guy is a complete hypocrite, and the fact that a gay prostitute selling meth ruled the day for this religious leader and he's admitting to "some" of it makes me once again know I can trust my own instincts.