Posted on 08/19/2018 5:28:46 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Ted Haggard was once one of the most power evangelical leaders in America.
New Life Church leader Ted Haggard was once one of America's most charismatic and powerful evangelical leaders, with an audience of more than 30 million people. Ted began counseling foreign dignitaries and consulting on a weekly basis with President George W. Bush. By 2005, Time magazine named him one of the most influential evangelicals in America.
But no one—not even his devoted wife, five children and his Colorado Springs, Colorado-based congregation—suspected that Ted was paying an admitted male escort for crystal meth. In November 2006, Mike Jones publicly alleged he'd engaged in a three-year sexual relationship with the pastor, which Ted immediately denied. Three days after the scandal broke and after a voice mail featuring Ted asking Mike for drugs was released, Ted's story unraveled. Eventually, Ted admitted to sexual immorality and to buying drugs. He later resigned from the church he helped to found.
In his first television interview since the scandal, Ted talks with Oprah about why he kept secret a part of his life he calls dark and repulsive...
Ted says he and Gayle, as church leaders, made their private lives more public than many others in their position. "We were very open, very transparent, about everything—except this one area of my heart," he says.
Why did he keep such an important part of his life hidden from his church? "I thought it would go away," Ted says. "Unfortunately, that's the state in a lot of leadership roles. And when you're in a leadership role, whether it's political or a religious leadership role, that exists. And I'm not saying that as an excuse."
(Excerpt) Read more at oprah.com ...
Couldn’t agree more The RCC needs to be purged top down. It has become a crime syndicate of drugs pedophilia and massive coverups. The posting of these is a simple dodge to deflect attention rather than condemn the indefensible
That said I will NOT defend the indefensible in a Protestant congregation either no matter how small in comparison. It pains me to see so many RCC here tying themselves in pretzels to avoid calling systematic evil what it is
I agree....however it was never reported to the authorities. Therein lays part of the problem....If or not she was raped was questionable ‘by the girls parents’ as she was already sexually active before this. The idea was however that the Pastor was removed regardless, if she was a willing participant or not..she was still 14 yrs. old by law a minor.
I love how they lie without any hesitation.
I’ll splain you how this works.
1) Lie about it. Blame people for baseless accusations and faithlessness
2) Tearful confession
3) Go to rehab and declare they are healed
4) Blame others for “throwing the first stone”, “judging”.
5) Justify by claiming they have a “disease” IOW it wasn’t their fault. They are the victim.
Billy Graham’s grandson:
A Liberty University law professor and grandson of Billy Graham told reporters Sept. 26 that he thinks evangelicals “are worse” than Catholics when it comes to responding to sexual abuse by clergy.
“Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics,” Boz Tchividjian, executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), told journalists attending the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Austin, Texas.
“The Protestant culture is defined by independence,” Tchividjian said in comments reported by Religion News Service.
Evangelicals often frown upon transparency and accountability, he said, as many Protestants rely on Scripture more than religious leaders, compared to Catholics. Abusers discourage whistle-blowing by condemning gossip to try to keep people from reporting abuse, he said. Victims are also told to protect the reputation of Jesus.
Tchividjian said too many Protestant institutions have sacrificed souls in order to protect their institutions. “We’ve got the Gospels backwards,” he said.
Advocates for victims of clergy-sex abuse agreed.
“I say ‘thank you’ to Boz Tchividjian for continuing to publicly speak out about the extent of clergy abuse and cover-ups among evangelicals,” said Christa Brown, a blogger who details her uphill battle to report her molestation decades earlier by a Southern Baptist youth minister in a 2009 book titled This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang.
“For those of us — and we are many — who were abused by the sexual predation of evangelical ministers and re-abused by the bullying of other evangelical leaders who wanted the abuse kept quiet, Tchividjian’s words of truth are a balm for the heart,” Brown said.
More at:
Its damage control. She tried the Luther-Hitler-Jews connection and which resulted in Catholic antisemitism being exposes, versus evangelical favor of them, and now, as said in the last attempt by to take the focus off the latest exposure of the tragic abuse in Catholicism (mostly recent treads),
Yes we and I all have sinned, and thank God there is forgiveness if we are penitent in faith, yet some sins directly hurt others and sexual abuse of kids is most intolerable. But as posted as a comparison? A young church volunteer versus ordained priests in long-term abuse of boys,often shuffled around from parish to parish, and accusations of sexual abuse of women versus Catholic homosexual predators.
Which posting is the RC response to articles such as How the Church Hoodwinked Its Anti-Abuse Experts
Also,'
Finally, rather than secularism being the answer:
“Look over there!! Ignore systemic the evil of Rome!!”
“I agree....however it was never reported to the authorities.”
You were aware of the rape of a child and you elected not to report it to the authorities?
“In the end...this guyz sin is no greater than mine or yours or the next persons.”
Sure I have sinned, but my sins never included gay hookers, crystal meth, and swindling Christians out of their hard earned cash.
Perfect response. Thank you. I’m tired of the gloating about others acting in isolation by those who should be repenting of the organized disgrace and criminality in their own back yard.
Would you not agree? If ol Teddy turned from it, sincerely began the effort of healing and asked for forgiveness (which was provided even before he asked), he will be just fine.
Not my words...this would be God's.
The truth NEEDS to be told.
Having a dry spell in real life?
Feeling covetous?
Into titillation?
Lost your copy of Fifty Shades of Gray?
It is the realization that horrible sexual abuse sins is not confined to just one church. Thank-you for detailing what needs to be told. God Bless.
We prot/evangs are way ahead of you guys on that. Wake up.
“It seems to be giving you a vicarious thrill to repeat the words “gay hooker” over and over and over.”
Do you find the term “gay hooker” to be perjoritive?
Is there a more politically correct term you would prefer I use to refer to a homosexual that trades gay sex for cash?
Rather the Pope has. He put out a letter tiday. Read a few postings this weekend. The bishop of a Madison WI pulled no punches. He was very angry.
Keep an eye on the laity. They are fit to be tied.
Would it surprise you that two other churches, the SBC and a church by the name of Willowcreek were both hit with sexual abuse issues.
Kid you not.
Basyle "Boz" Tchividjian: It's hard to answer that with any degree of certainty, because the research out there is pretty minimal. If you accept the general statistic that one in four women and one in six men will have been sexually victimized before they turn 18, then you have to acknowledge that those same people are inside of our churches and faith communities. So if you had 100 men and 100 women in your church, 20.5 percent of your church would be survivors of child sexual abuse."
Wouldn't quote someone who thinks like that in judging the level of sexual abuse in Protestant churches.
The SBC has not been hit with sexual abuse accusations. The SBC has been hit with accusations that respected leaders recommended (in the 60s) a woman to stay with an abusive husband. And the same guy admitted men notice when a beautiful teen girl walks by - as I do, at 60. I don’t drool over them. But I notice!
As the saying goes, you can’t prevent a bird from landing on your head, but you can prevent it from building a nest there...
I’m 100% certain that among the 45,0000 member churches in the SBC, there has been sexual abuse. But it is not systemic and it doesn’t involve higher church leaders covering things up BECAUSE THERE ARE NO HIGHER CHURCH LEADERS IN THE SBC. Each congregation is autonomous. Each one does its own hiring & firing, and no one can transfer anyone anywhere.
It also rarely involves homosexuality, although it SOMETIMES does.
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