I felt sorry for him...
...typical Christian nonsense. He was right, some people would rather he murdered, than had sex with a man.
share...typical Christian nonsense. He was right, some people would rather he murdered, than had sex with a man.
shareIt was so unbelievably sad. I remember laughing when I first heard about him, but after seeing this, my heart really goes out to him.
shareI watched this tonight and I also felt sorry for him.
He seems like such a sweet man and it breaks my heart that
some people would turn on him. God bless the strangers who opened
their homes to him and his family...it reminded me of the Biblical passage:
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25: 37-40
If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it copy this and make it your signature!
I really felt bad for the guy, and how he kept smiling just astonished me.
But the point I have to make, having watched a similar experience in my life at a Methodist church, is really organized religion is a scam. If not religion itself.
I really, really tried to believe, and did just for the that so I fit in. People there finally made me sick and I left. My marriage was undermined and destroyed by my feelings that I should have kept to myself, but I say what I feel and think and make determinations on whats right and whats wrong.
I think Ted did wrong and saw he was lying while doing all this. Here's what really gets me.
If people go to church to confess their sins and to try to be better people and want to be forgiven for mistakes they made, why dont they practice what they preach and forgive Ted? That's what makes my ass bleed.
Churches and preachers are on the same scale in my book as the carnival that comes to town and its manager. Thing is, you're already wary of the carnie.
I'm done with organized religion as long as I live and encourage other to do what? Dont go? NO. Do what makes YOU feel good. Not going makes me feel really good and my golf game improved dramatically since I play on Sundays. Even feel closer to God, and there isnt the fashion show amongst the egomaniacs that is just sickening.
"The only thing, in this world, that gives orders, is balls."
As a former member of New Life Church, I have to affirm that Ted Haggard is an INCREDIBLY sweet man. But not only that, he was an incredible preacher, teacher, leader and friend. I have not been a member of NLC for quite some time, and I am not sure the entire details of what happened in the church, but I can assure you this...The MAJORITY of the members of the church loved and still love Ted. Personally, my heart sunk when the news first came out, and it sunk even further when I found out that some, if not all, of the accusations were true. But it didn't sink for myself or for NLC, it sunk for Ted. I don't have any inkling of an idea of what he has gone through since, but at that moment I knew it was going to be incredibly hard.
The fact that he has been able to come out of it as well as he has is a true testament to the love of Jesus Christ, the character of Ted Haggard and the faithfulness of his family to stand beside him. It says in the Bible that God can turn any situation for the good...I believe that turn is starting to surface. People are going to learn so much from Ted and his situation and seeing someone else's mistakes will save countless other people from making the same type of mistake.
For all of the non-believers that state, "Just another reason that Christianity is a joke," know this. Most Christians do not (and ALL Christians SHOULD NOT) put their faith in a human being. Ted himself said in a sermon the week before this surfaced that every person does things that do not align with their personal beliefs, morals or wishes...that's what makes us sinners and that's what makes Jesus the only thing we can put our faith in.
Personally, my heart sunk when the news first came out, and it sunk even further when I found out that some, if not all, of the accusations were true.
"People are going to learn so much from Ted and his situation and seeing someone else's mistakes will save countless other people from making the same type of mistake."
What mistake will it save some people from ? For those closeted, having lied to themselves for years and married (with or without kids, let's say) due to being repressed or bowing to societal pressure to conform/fear of punishment/ostracization, what are they supposed to take away from this ? Are you coming at this from your church's angle, that they should just continue to be in a sham of a marriage (they can love eachother just like Ted Haggard seems to genuinely love his wife, but if one spouse isn't getting everything they need out of the relationship due to basic genetics/wiring in the brain, what are they expected to do?) ? Or do you mean it will save people from making the mistake of denying their sexuality in the first place (the positive option that leads to personal growth and increases the chances that the individual will find contentment in life) ? Because ideally, and I know this gets messy because the way things worked out, Ted had kids and it's weird to think that if his life had worked out a different way that they wouldn't exist, but ideally he should never have gotten married to a woman (or become a preacher in a homophobic church, for that matter).
This films evokes sympathy and shows us a case of exile at the hands of one kind of church, but it doesn't offer solutions (mostly because the main figures--Ted and his wife--are continuing to live the lie...maybe for seemingly noble reasons like sticking together for the kids, or maybe simply out of fear of what it would mean to have to honestly confront the fact that Ted likes dudes and will continue to have an eye for them his whole life). Unless you use it as a cautionary tale of what not to do, how not to end up, it's just your usual documentary showing what happened/how it's effected those depicted, it doesn't necessarily offer a message.
I almost teared up when he's got his box of stuff and says something along the lines of 'marshmallows are essential.' The documentary humanized him in a way that made me think of my own father. Before seeing it I just thought that he got what he deserved, but now I can't watch it when it's on because it's just too sad to see their family's struggles.
shareWell said! I felt sorry for Haggard too more and for his wife and children. The big elephant in the room will forever be present in that family.
My mother/sister were/are Christian fanatics so I have been subjected to a lot of sermons on TV. Haggard never struck me as an angry, fearful preacher so it was really hard to feel anything but pity for the man.
Had he been a Jerry Fallwell type pastor, I would've celebrated his misery.
-If ignorance is bliss then I envy the ignorant.