advertisement
advertisement
|
Monday, November 13, 2006
So what if Ted Haggard is a hypocrite? That’s what some conservatives are asking, and it’s worth it to answer the question.
That Haggard is a hypocrite, there’s little argument. Based on the allegations he has already admitted, this mega-church pastor and evangelical leader bought crystal meth and received a massage from a gay escort. More than likely, he also paid the escort for sex, perhaps over a three-year period, all while Haggard was married with five children.
Beyond the general hypocrisy of engaging in such conduct despite his pastoral role, Haggard has also been active in support of a constitutional amendment on last Tuesday’s Colorado ballot that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples. As Haggard’s accuser, Denver escort Mike Jones, has put it: "What he is saying is, We are not worthy [of marrying], but he is."
For anyone who’s felt the sting of religious disapproval, such hypocrisy resonates because it takes these moral judges down a few notches. For gay people who live our lives on the business-end of the forefinger from religious conservatives, comeuppance for a hypocrite like Haggard (an adulterous, drug-using "john") is both galling and satisfying. Who is he to judge?
BUT HYPOCRISY ONLY gets you so far. We certainly can’t claim that all those who oppose same-sex marriage or condemn gay relationships are also hypocrites, or even argue that if they don’t live up to some other aspect of their sexual teachings, it somehow proves their judgment on homosexuality is bankrupt. "Let he without sin cast the first stone" is fine as far as it goes, but embrace it too closely and you’ll find you’re left with no one entitled to say much of anything about anything.
We also can’t conclude from Haggard’s morality play that being an evangelical Christian is more likely to lead to cheating on your partner, paying for sex or buying crystal meth than does being gay. Plenty of completely out, well-adjusted gay men engage in one or more or all of the above.
We can’t even claim Haggard is worse than his accuser, who admits to years of being an escort and helping Haggard buy his meth. Jones isn’t a better man simply because he never preached against such things. Hypocrisy isn’t the only standard to live by.
IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT some conservatives are rushing to Haggard’s defense. David Frum argues in National Review that all in all, Haggard is a better man than most gay folks for at least trying to fight his homosexuality.
Let’s compare two men, writes Frum. Both are "inclined toward homosexuality," and both occasionally hire male prostitutes and use drugs.
"One of them marries, raises a family, preaches Christian principles, and tries generally to encourage people to lead stable lives," writes Frum. While "the other publicly reveals his homosexuality, vilifies traditional moral principles, and urges the legalization of drugs and prostitution. Which man is leading the more moral life?" he asks.
It’s the hypocritical preacher who comes out ahead for making the effort, and rather than be condemned for his anti-gay preaching, he should be congratulated for it as an effort to fight his own demons, much as an alcoholic will preach against drinking, even if he slips up and downs a few once in a while.
What these conservatives refuse to see is how Haggard’s anti-gay teachings actually led him to do what he did. Why should we congratulate Haggard for defending marriage and family when, by resisting his "inclination toward homosexuality" and marrying a woman, he’s managed to wreck both in his own household?
What’s worse, these fundamentalists are afraid to even acknowledge a third way: A third man who, "inclined toward homosexuality," doesn’t try heterosexual marriage, which places at risk the happiness of a wife and children, but instead accepts that he’s gay and settles down with another man, perhaps even to raise a family and otherwise lead a stable life.
It doesn’t really matter whether Haggard’s conservatives allies are hypocritical in passing judgment on this third gay man’s path, even though his choice is the honest one and backed by the overwhelming wealth of social science support. They’re just horribly unjustified.
Even if it’s not hypocritical for them to persist in their moral judgment, despite evidence like Haggard of the wrecked lives their teachings will cause, it’s certainly arrogant and cold-hearted.
And when they go so far as to advocate that our government adopt as the law of the land—in our founding documents, no less—their moral-theological view, it isn’t necessarily an example of hypocrisy. But it is downright oppressive.
And that, in the end, is much worse than being a hypocrite.
Chris Crain is the former editor of the Washington Blade and Southern Voice newspapers, as well as six other gay publications. He can be reached via citizencrain.com.
|
