Men like the preacher only think of, only talk of homosexuality as if it's some terrible vice, a foul temptation that no good person would fall victim to. Remember, it's like alcoholism, right? It's just a narcissistic sex addiction.

And men living Haggard's kind of life do suffer terribly from exposure.

Truth is, Rev., I don't know anything about your sexuality. Have you been a secret homosexual all these years? Or was it just bi-curiousness? Each time you hired the guy, were you really afraid of burning in hell? Or was it a rip-roaring sexcapade, a brief vacation with your real self before going back to your bed of thorns?

I don't know, obviously, and apparently neither do you. But here's a suggestion: don't pressure yourself. A fair percentage of the male population craves sexual contact with other males. No idea what the percentage is, because I don't think people know themselves, and they wouldn't say it if they did. If you got a phone survey asking whether you were gay, I bet you would explode with anger and hang up.

But if you follow your heart, and search for the pure intention of what you do, eventually you will know, "I am straight. Or I am gay." And you will either return to your wife and child or leave for the Castro district.

And if you decide, yes, I am gay, and if you find a man you love, there's something you will need for your own dignity and the dignity of your lover: you will want to be married.

And we won't let you, you perv. While you were finding yourself, the Marriage Amendment to the Constitution passed as you cruised the steambaths.

No doubt it is standard practice for a minister to step down when accused of sexual impropriety, but I rather think that this would apply when he is accused of something with a parishioner, like an affair with a female (or male) congregant, fathering a child etc. I can hardly see a minister with a public ministry stepping down every time some nut job he has never met makes some kind of allegation

In fairness, you can be homosexual, yet opposed to gay marriage. I don't think Foley is a proponent of gay marriage either.

Where Haggard really falls down is in claiming that the Bible is unequivocally condemnatory of homosexuality and that gays face eternal punishment in hell.

The Bible actually has very little to say about homosexuality, other than describing it as an abomination, which sounds bad, but then eating shellfish is also an abomination, (which makes most of us abominable).

If the allegations are true, it makes rather his claims of being born-again, i.e. having experienced a supernatural spiritual transformation rather shallow.

This just in. Wikipedia says KUSA-TV released voice mails, in which a person purportedly Haggard, said "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply." Jones said "supply" referred to methamphetamine. This is sourced to AP.

Now, a question remains as to whether the person concerned is Haggard, but it seems very likely that it is.

An early letter writer here asked for personal experience. The following quote jumped out at me:

A gay man isn't going to steal your wife, or lead your straight son into perdition.

My brother is gay. He never "came out" to his family [all, except me, now dead], even though he has lived in the Castro since the 70's. [Duh.]

Shortly before he died (1981), my dad was lamenting to me about my brother and his [unacknowledged] partner [aka "roommate"]. I remember vividly one of his remarks to me: " 'these people' lead other people to their 'way of life'."

While a great guy in many respects, my dad was a product of his time. He'd be 91 if he were still alive. Of course, being dead for 25 years, his attitude has never had the opportunity to evolve!

But I don't know that it would have, and I think the sentiment he expressed -- love of his son and an inability to acknowledge/accept gay identity -- continues to exist in the country today.

I interpret the projecting of "seduction" by the "evil gays" as proof of the deepness of the conflict and hurt: which do I give up, my love for my child or my hatred and belief that I've held so long?

I think the lack of tolerance, the hatred and the preaching are nothing but evil. I wish those who practice these acts could remember the advice of their "Savior" to "do unto others."

My posting here was just an attempt to provide insight into the irrational source of some of the fear.

Haggard is just the latest example of far right hypocrisy. He joins Ralph Reed, Jack Abramoff, and Mark Foley as ones who were always telling us how pure they were.

See Tom Friedman's column today in the NY Times for more examples of incompetent wrongdoing.

If there is one particular group in the bible that Jesus rails against time & time again it is the Pharisees. Those establishment Jews who loved to make a spectacle of how righteous they were and reveled in public displays of their supposed piety. If you read your bible, you will see that Jesus considers these people to be hypocrites and justly damned for their lying & deceiving behavior.

I ask my Christian brothers and sisters: Can you see the parallel here today with Rev. Haggard (and maybe some others who 'love the Lord')? A man who proudly proclaimed his piety and railed against homosexual behavior, who it appears was secretly a homosexual (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I wish those who seem to bend over backwards to give someone the benefit of the doubt regarding their seif-proclaimed righteouness would ponder more on what Jesus' opinion was of those who did exactly the same thing when he was alive. You know, he was a keen judge of men and women.

said of Ted Haggard "A man who proudly proclaimed his piety and railed against homosexual behavior..." So tell us Paul, or any of you who make similar claims, how long did you sit under this mans preaching, since you seem to know its contents in-depth? Oh, so you've read or heard some sound bites from a website, and now you're an expert on the entire body of his teaching. Did he happen to say something like "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death"?

If find it quite curious that people are ever so willing to vilify the messenger, but rarely the message. You see, he did not say that. No current day preacher said that. No, rather the previous line in quotations is taken verbatim from Leviticus 20:13. You want to say something? You want to vilify? If you want to be accurate you better say that the bible is a hateful document, if you despise the statements found therein. Again, curious as to how few actually do that.

To those who's "day has been made" by the destruction of not only this mans life, but his children, his wife, and his congregation, to those who are smiling with glee that this man will have to tell his crushed family that he is a liar and a phony, to those who would just love it if he shoved a screwdriver through his heart I say "LOVE AND TOLERANCE, BABY!" What hypocrites you are. Just like those nasty church people.

Poco