Says he’s Christian
Wow! He doesn’t have the time for something of this magnitude, not even when it’s someone he has described as a friend of his? Is the flock naive enough to take his words at face value? Give me a break!
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson on Tuesday backed out of joining a panel of evangelical leaders responsible for further investigating and counseling fallen evangelical leader Ted Haggard.
“It is with great regret – and after much prayer and discussion with friends and family – that I have had to reconsider my involvement in the panel overseeing Ted’s restoration,” Dobson said in a statement. “Emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to be of help – but the reality is I don’t have the time to devote to such a critical responsibility.”
By “after much prayer,” I take it that God told him not to help Ted.
Oh.. and he’s still blaming the media for everything:
“You know, the media is just salivating out there, it seems, over yet another example of what they see as hypocrisy.” (Focus on the Family Broadcast, November 6).
Hot Potato
Well, maybe he knows something we don’t? Maybe Haggard is beyond help/repair/restoration? Why waste time?
Can’t help it, but maybe this is the reason:
This just in:
As Colorado just cleared the way for gay marriages, Haggard has now decided to fully accept his desires and has in an astonishing public proposal asked Jones to marry him 🙂
I must have misread that part about forsaking the flock to go retrieve the lost sheep.
Oh, I forgot, I am too busy!!
“what they see as hypocrisy”?!
Haggard in public was absolutely against the gay lifestyle. However, in private he paid guys to f#ck him up the ass. How is that not hypocrisy?! Does Dobson have some different definition of hypocrisy he’s not telling us?!
In all of this, it seems like there’s the real possibility that some of Ted’s fellow ministers might come face to face with the inconvenient truth, and gain a different perspective on homosexuality. I don’t think Dobson wants to have his horizons broadened. That’s sad.
the rel problem here is that all of these religious types are too damn homophobic. fix that problem and you’ve fixed the other.
No, they equally don’t like lesbians as well.
RBG
Gee, and anybody would expect the Reverend Ted to be more popular with high-profile evangelicals than Jack Abramhoff because why, exactly? Besides all the bad press and public backlash Haggard will be leaving behind on sofas and door knobs and those unfortunate individuals in public life who can’t avoid taking his calls, the one thing his situation is screaming louder than “spun out butt slut” at the moment is “future recidivist”.
The last thing Dobson wants to do is accept responsibility for rehabilitating Haggard or any association that could be described as the equivalent of such. The instant Haggard’s arrest report turns up on Smoking Gun detailing how he was arrested in the men’s room at a rest area for soliciting truck drivers, then it’s DOBSON’S fault that Ted can’t shake his big, gay affliction.
While my ability to tolerate the Moral Research Family Majority and it’s spokesidealogues, Dr. Dobson is a special case in that he’s both considered an authority on child rearing and I had the misfortune of encountering an anecdote from one of his books intended to illustrate the parent-child relationship that entailed how he’d used a belt to beat his dachshund into submission when it wouldn’t sleep where he wanted it to. Besides being a crappy pet owner, apparently he’s a weakling and a pussy, too.
While it occurs in hindsight that the passage might provide an explanation for his association with Haggard beyond the professional relationship that would result from having the same employer, my overriding impression is that while I’m not surprised at Dobson’s transparent and chickenscratch decision to choose good politics over the opportunity to display empathy and compassion, he’s actually doing Ted a favor.
However effective he might be in helping Haggard back into his closet, Haggard’s still going to be subject to improvised public stonings and amateur exorcisms initiated in the 7-11 check out line that the last thing he needs is friends like Dr. James.
k.. i get it…
KB. Is the trash talkin’ sister
Please, show a little compassion for gay people. That said, you wouldn’t catch a good heterosexual Republican doing those kinds of things.
RBG
RBG,
I think that is the point, no one in the church in question even appears straight. The church is filled with people who have “fought a battle” with homosexual demons. Myself, I have never experienced my sexuality that way. I have always been sexually attracted to women, and never even considered men as sexual partners. What the heck is going on in this church that all those men are battling those homosexual demons? If they can’t accept that people are born gay, why can’t they at least accept that peope are born straight? I guess Haggert and his homosexual church are more or less proof that people are born gay.
The panel of evangelical leader meeting minutes:
Speaker1: “Oh here-yee, here- yee, the panel shall come to order….”
Dobson : ” Oh, shut your piehole, we’re not being televised..”
Speaker2: “Oh, that’s right… guys, we gotta big freek’n problem..”
Dobson: ” That’s right, honey, listen up. We can’t let our good sunday customers get away with this scandel. Let’s do the GOP thing and run the hell away from this stink hole, OK? ..”
All: ” Yeah, !!! Ya got the order.. now .. Let’s get shit faced!…”
I didn’t even read the news and this comment is totally off topic… Just to say how thrilled I am that the Democrats have won the House. Congratulations, America!!!! 😀
Even though I don’t live in America, I am so happy because the world is usually a better place when America has the Democrats in power.
Next stop, 2008 and let’s just hope the Dems do it again.
GregA, great comment
As far as Dobson joining the Haggard “rehabilitation” Monday and dropping out Tuesday, I guess that either there are a lot more scandals in the New Life Church, or Haggard refuses to acknowledge what he did.
#9, Please, show a little compassion for gay people. That said, you wouldn’t catch a good heterosexual Republican doing those kinds of things.
RBG
Comment by RBG — 11/7/2006 @ 11:59 pm
Isn’t that an oxymoron?
Just to show there are no hard feelings, maybe we should get together and send Dobson a lovely gift basket of snakes to handle 😉
Yeah.
No one should ever pray about a big decision. Just jump right in, right?
Don’t worry, you can write me off as just another ‘religious nutjob’.
#16, even after praying about the invasion of Iraq, the President still went in, certain to find WMDs. Prayer often just reinforces what you’ve already decided. Dobson prayed, and “led him” to make a decision that was otherwise unpopular.
Don’t worry, you can write me off as just another ‘religious skeptic.’
#17
Excellent point.
And the reinforcement makes the “prayerer” feel really good. Which might be good in itself, but;
To claim a prayer grabs some info/guidance from a higher force would be a far fetch though. It’s been verified not to help.
Besides, given it did work/help, it would just prove the deity to be wicked and plain wrong. A politician who let a deity lead the way, is totally mislead. Think we have enough examples of this.
Dobson did not get his “Get lost Haggard”-message from his god. He’s probably smart enough to make a strategic choice. And smart enough to know that Haggard is gay and will stay that way.
#17
Excellent point.
The reinforcement makes the “prayerer” feel really good. Which might be good in itself, but;
To claim a prayer grabs some info/guidance/answer from a higher force is wishful thinking. It’s been verified not to help.
Besides, imagine it did work/help, it would just prove the deity to be wicked and plain wrong. A politician who let a deity lead the way, is totally mislead. Think we have enough examples of this.
Dobson did not get his “Get lost Haggard”-message from his god. He’s probably smart enough to make a strategic choice.
And smart enough to know that Haggard is gay and will stay that way. (Not that it is anything wrong with that.)
Well if the press is fully gay with self-importance at this development then this blog certainly is. It’s kinda funny that so many pro-gay individuals find themselves at great pains to disasociate themselves with the gay lifestyle, or whatever the PC police call it today. Still, since it’s so normal to be gay, I kinda of wonder why everyone is making such a big deal of this. It’s seems that at least the first 17 posters on this blog may be gay and I respect their right to choose whatever lifestyle they want.
So, on a different note when are we, as open minded individuals, going to get off our collective duff and legalize polygamy, zoophilia and nepiophilia. Really until such individuals have the right to freely express themselves can we really say we live in a free society.
#20.
Legalize polygamy? Sure – between consenting adults, why not? None of my business.
I think you missed the “consenting adults part”.
I’m curious as to why you feel what two adults do in the privacy of their own homes is your business?
I find that those who are the most anti-gay are such because they are closeted homosexuals themselves & having gays around is too much a temptation. Certainly recent events bare me out.
#20, the real issue in my mind is the increased injection of religion into these public policy debates. Unfortunately, the particular religion that condemns such things as abortion and homosexuality is a religion that revolves around the worship of a demon (Yahweh) that has by his own admission (the Bible) snuffed the life out of thousands of innocent children on more than one occasion, inspired untold acts of veangence and atrocity, and really has no rightful place in public policy discussions. Since many people like Dobson reject anything that doesn’t come straight from the Bible, often our only recourse is simply to continue pointing out what truly awful things God confesses to in that book.
So if you want to discuss whether or not to legalize polygamy, zoophilia and nepiophilia, let’s have that discussion without seeking approval from Yahweh, the Hebrew/Christian god. Let’s discuss it on the basis of whether or not it serves the public good, and leave Dobson out of the debate until he can make intellectual arguments on either side.
#21
Good one 🙂 and exactly my point.
What adults willingly and with consent do in the privacy of their home is not my damn business. It doesn’t cause me any pain or whatever. And I wouldn’t cause them any pain by damning them either.
I’m certainly not making a big deal out of homosexuality. It’s just that I don’t mind them being gay or lesbian. It has NO IMPACT on me. Get it?
But it is a big deal for christians and some other religions. Because their outdated “laws” from their man made scriptures, aka the bible, tell them it is a sin.
OMG A SIN. My approx 1900 year old book says so, so it’s gotta be true!
Give me a break 😀
Dobson is a H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E.
14. What’s an oxy?
10. Or proof that any cult-like organization can mess with your mind but good.
RBG
Isn’t it funny how the media can say what a horrible, evil man Ted Haggard is, and yet just a couple of years ago were extolling Gene Robinson. Lets recap shall we?
1) Gene Robinson leaves his wife and family and moves in with his gay lover. He his then promoted to a position as Bishop of NH for the Episcopal church. The media loves him and blast conservative Christians for being against this
2) A male prostitute accuses Ted Haggard of having an affair with him. Ted comes clean says that yes there was in appropriate behavior, but he did not have sex with the man. Suddenly Ted Haggard is a villain and all Christians are hypocrites.
I can’t say that I’m surprised the media and especially Dvorak has always been very anti Christian, but what amazes me is that this whole “scandal” was front page news across the country based on the accusation by a confessed homosexual prostitute!
Jason
#26
Do me a favor.
On top of this page is a “Search” field. Type in “Haggard”, and search. Then read what’s been said in the three or so different blogs.
And then, come back and post something.
I’m thinking “You’re not from around here, are you?” As in from another rock 😐
Part of the rest of the article:
Dobson continued: “All of us at Focus on the Family will continue to pray for Ted and Gayle and their children. I certainly hope to speak with him – friend to friend – as he moves forward.” … Dobson’s decision leaves two pastors to carry out the task of working with Haggard. (emphasis mine)
This isn’t Dobson leaving Haggard out to dry – this is him deciding not to make a professional commitment to help him, because he would not have time to fully honor that commitment.
#26.
Jason – if an avowed, nationally known, loud anti-communist ends up having supported the communist party, then its news.
If an avowed, nationally know, loud about it, anti-homosexual ends up being gay, then yes its national news. Its not the prostitute that makes it news, its the hypocrisy.
I believe that most “anti-christians” are really anti-christian hypocrisy.
Maybe Dobson can send Pastor Ted a Hallmark card, saying “I wish you well in recovering from your gayness!” Sometimes the right card makes all the difference.
That wouldn’t take so much time, would it? 😉