The Disingenuous Resurrection of Pastor Ted Haggard

I am continually amazed at the efforts of the Christian Right to rehabilitate liars and frauds such as former "ex-gay for pay" Michael Johnston - who Wayne Besen and I exposed as a fraud in August of 2003. The latest attempted resurrection involves Ted "I'm into Male Prostitutes and Drugs" Haggard, formerly the pastor of the mega church, New Life Church, in Colorado Springs. All I can assume is that some of these folks like Haggard are so used to living well of of the snake oil they have peddled for years that they have no other marketable skill. Or at least not one that will support them in the comfortable style in which they are accustomed. Why anyone would want or trust Haggard to be the pastor of a church again is beyond baffling. It's just plain bizarre. But then so is so much of the Christian Right lunacy. The Colorado Springs Independent has a story on Haggard's attempted resurrection back into the pulpit. Here are some highlights:

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Nearly three years after his downfall, Ted Haggard rises again in Colorado Springs. . . . The scandal-plagued pastor fell into an extended depression after he and his family relocated to Phoenix in 2007, following the very public exposure of his liaisons with a male escort and his purchase of methamphetamines. According to the terms of an agreement he signed with his former church, Haggard was not only banished from New Life but also — in a provision more typical of TV westerns and medieval decrees — forbidden from ever returning to the state of Colorado.

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So virtually no one expected to find Haggard and his family back in their comfortable Colorado Springs home, less than a mile from the mega-church that started nearly 25 years ago as a basement gathering of worshippers. Gayle, Ted's wife for the last 30 years, has written a book called Why I Stayed, which is slated for January release by Christian publisher Tyndale House. Ted, meanwhile, has begun speaking at churches around the country and recently posted to the Internet that he's "motivated for the first time in 2.5 years to re-enter full-time ministry."

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Indy: So I understand you met earlier today with some people who want to start a church here in Colorado Springs?

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TH: They're a couple who want to do a church plant amongst the Hispanic community. And so we spoke with them about where we felt the greatest need was for a significant Spanish ministry, which is right there around the Citadel area — that geographical area of the city would be a great place for some more significant Spanish ministry. There is some real good Spanish ministry right now, but based on what I'm seeing on the news and what I'm hearing from the newspaper, they have some significant problems with gangs, and violence and things like that, and sometimes ministry can help that.

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Somehow I think I'd believe the BS lines of a crack whore before I'd believe Haggard. I suspect he and his wife Gayle want back on the gravy train that they enjoyed for so many years. As for why anyone would want him to head up a church, they must be as delusional as Haggard. I guess some people want to be duped and ripped off.