A megachurch paid a 20-year-old man to keep silent about a sexual relationship he had with disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, a senior church pastor said. Haggard, who was fired amid allegations that he used drugs and patronized a male prostitute in 2006, had a sexual relationship with a second man — a 20-year-old volunteer at his megachurch, said the Rev. Brady Boyd.
The church agreed to pay the man in exchange for his pledges not to talk publicly about the relationship, Boyd said, referring to a settlement reached by the man’s lawyer and the church’s insurance company. Under the settlement, the church provided the man money to pay his college tuition, moving expenses and counseling, Boyd said. “This was compassionate assistance. It was to help him move forward, not a settlement to keep him quiet,” said Boyd…
In the last three weeks, Boyd said, the young man told him that he was considering going public with his story because Haggard was portraying himself as a victim in an upcoming HBO documentary called “The Trial of Ted Haggard,” which is scheduled to air Thursday…
In a settlement with New Life, the church and Haggard agreed that he would retain his six-figure salary for a year, leave the Colorado Springs area, receive counseling, and not speak publicly about what had happened for one year, according to a church staff member with knowledge of the settlement who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Despite the fresh scandal, Boyd said he is hopeful for the future.
So, will HBO add an afterward to their documentary? Of course, the “compassionate” kind.
#20–Gary==we are both being too clever. I have seen studies about a complex of genes that tend to make people “less logical” more into imagination, less practical, more religious. It is more complex than sexual orientation which is difficult enough but pretty plain that by an earlier age the genetics/enviornoment/choices/influences have been set in concrete.
No amount of praying is going to turn me gay, and I assume my gay brothers are just the same as me==except for the gay part.
#29 Dallas, it’s clear you got the “funny” gene 😉
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#30 contempt wrote “There is an outcry to allow the fruitloop crowd to become minsters then when one acts as a fruitloop normally does there is outrage and surprise.”
I can’t really comment on the behavior you might be seeing in your own family, but among society at large, using crystal meth and engaging a male prostitute while continuing to preach sermons on the sinfulness of homosexuality does not constitute acting “as a fruitloop normally does.”
It’s interesting that condemnation for homosexuality comes almost entirely from the church, while condemnation for deceit and hypocrisy seems to come more from the secular society that is so often criticized by the church for its lack of values.
I guess we just have different values.
#32 – GTDI
>>I can’t really comment on the behavior you
>>might be seeing in your own family
Not to worry about ‘tempt. He’s just spewing out as much crap as his stubby little fingers will type, hoping that if he inundates dvorak dot org slash blog with bullshit postings, we will forget the numerous LIES that he has been busted on.
Come on. Jesus had a whore in his bed and never did her, and jesus hung around with a bunch of men in isolation.
haggard is just honoring the religion’s value system.