Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Husband, Father, Raging Hypocrite

This is the worst form of hypocrisy, don't you think? Sure, sexuality is complicated and not easily black or white for many people. Sure, some people find themselves trapped into a situation (like marriage for instance) because of fear, circumstance, indecision or expectation. Sure, if you are raised in a strictly religious Christian background then confusion, expectation and fear might be increased. (I say "might" because I dont want to infer that all strict Christians are intolerant of difference.)

But you know what? If you stand up and add your voice to the chorus of those seeking to deny rights to gay people, while paying a gay sex worker every month for 3 years then you are worthy of scorn and being labelled the worst kind of hypocrite. How many conscious decisions did it take to keep that secret Ted? How many times did you lie to your family, cover your tracks, make the phone calls for sex, and for drugs? You can pretend that you were "weak", but this isn't a minor slip we are talking about. This took planning and hundreds, maybe thousands, of lies.

I read the quote from his letter where he says "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." On one hand I find that incredibly sad, that degree of self-loathing. On the other hand, he isn't just talking about the drugs and the sex workers here, they're comparatively recent guests at the party, he's talking about homosexuality as well. Dark. Repulsive. By association he tars me with that same brush.

So I say, Pastor Haggard... fuck you, you self-loathing, lying scumbag.

11 comments:

Ur-spo said...

gads, the hypocrisy of some religious people.
I find it tragic and at the same time hard to empathize with such a case as this man.
Sadder still to hear he will split it off as 'not him' and blacken it, as will all the others.

Anonymous said...

Amen!

I don't know how he can disassociate these actions from his 'real self'. Is it not his penis he uses?

I'm with you absolutely and entirely. This was thousands of lies.

Mikey (TLE) said...

I've been following this stiory for a while. Frankly it sickens me. And that whole "dark and repulsive" line just makes me (really) angry. I agree it is mostly his self-loathing but I resent that and I resent that it portrays all of us as so fucked up. I may have an issue with falling for straight men, but I am proud and happy to be gay and wouldn't want to change that even if it were possible. Contrast his attitude with that of Neil Patrick Harris. Bring on doogie, I say

Anonymous said...

Ya know, if he had been brought up in a different family he might have made one hell of a gay rights activist, with as charismatic and persuasive as he is. But as it stands he has only succeeded in alienating anyone who might have supported him.

and yes, he used a stunt penis ;)

freakgirl said...

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart had a few words to say to him. Through a glory hole.

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=77875

freakgirl said...

Oops, sorry - this one:

http://tinyurl.com/yfatm3

yani said...

It's interesting... the whole "full confession" is a little bit of a "well DUR!" moment...

I was interested to read a few additional things about his record though on monotonous dot net...

But I also know where you're coming from Andrew...

Like Mikey says, Bring on Doogie!

Michael said...

There's glory all around you, Reverend! Just not in a hole.

Great link, FG. Jon Stewart distills it, per usual.

The worse thing about this whole seedy tableau is that this time next year, Haggard is gonna be the poster boy for that whole Reformed Gay movement.

worldpeace and a speedboat said...

great post TOA!

worldpeace and a speedboat said...

btw TOA, how do I backtrack? I've just posted about Jesus Camp at For Battle.

The Other Andrew said...

I heart Jon Stewart, if I ever spotted anyone's face through a glory hole I would so want it to be his, you know?

Speedy, I'm not sure how you go about backtracking, but if you ever want the permalink for any of these entries just click the date at the bottom of the enty - it take you to a permalink. All blogger blogs work the same way.

Yani, I could have been a bit more forgiving were it not for the "repulsive and dark" quote - he kind of nailed the coffin shut with that one.