The Theocracy Movement, Ted Haggard Edition

by tristero

I’m sure that monumental examples of the hypocrisy of Ted Haggard, the president of the National Associations of Evangelicals (NAE), will be uncovered by the blogosphere in the next few days. And, by God, they should be.*

But that’s not the worst of it. Not by a long shot. I recently watched Haggard get interviewed by Richard Dawkins for the latter’s British tv special, The Root of All Evil? The subject was “intelligent design” creationism and Haggard was both woefully ignorant and incredibly arrogant.** Dawkins provoked him into a genuinely embarassing display of hostility, not only against Dawkins himself, but the very notion of rational inquiry.

And, of course, there’s more. Haggard actively supports efforts to advance a United States theocracy. A year ago, a graduate sued the Air Force Academy “claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school. “:

Weinstein claims that evangelical Christians at the school have coerced attendance at religious services and prayers at official events, among other things.

“It’s a shocking disgrace that I had to file this thing,” Weinstein told The Associated Press.

The Air Force declined immediate comment.

Cadets, watchdog groups and a former chaplain at the academy have alleged that religious intolerance is widespread at the school. On Aug. 29, the Air Force issued guidelines discouraging public prayer at official functions and urging commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith.

There have been complaints at the academy that a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and that another Jew was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet. A banner in the football team’s locker room read: “I am a Christian first and last … I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.”

Also, there have been complaints that cadets were pressured to attend chapel, that academy staffers put New Testament verses in government e-mail, and that cadets used the e-mail system to encourage others to see the Mel Gibson movie “The Passion of the Christ.”

…

The lawsuit, which names the Air Force and its acting secretary, Pete Geren, as defendants, asks the Air Force to prohibit its members — including chaplains — from evangelizing and proselytizing or in any related way attempting “to involuntarily convert, pressure, exhort or persuade a fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty.”

Guess who rose to defend the prosletysing? None other than Ted Haggard:

“If this lawsuit prevails, we’ll have increased government supervision of religious speech,” Haggard said.

Weinstein said Haggard has mischaracterized his suit, which he says aims to protect men and women in uniform and on duty from being pressured to change their faith.

Weinstein is exactly right, as any fair reading of the lawsuit will confirm. Weinstein continues:

“I think Ted Haggard is the Prince of Darkness when it comes to religious freedom,” said Weinstein, reached by phone in Albuquerque, N.M.

“He’s the one who’s really trying to suppress religious freedom by ensuring that one particular biblical worldview becomes the official biblical worldview of the U.S. government, and particularly the Department of Defense.”

But why damn Haggard with Weinstein’s words when Haggard damns himself easily enough?

Asked about evangelicals’ reputation for a “my way or the highway” view about their beliefs, Haggard said evangelicals can be strong in their beliefs but yet protect the beliefs of others.

“We feel comfortable in a guaranteed right to heaven,” he said.

“We feel comfortable in a guaranteed right to heaven.”

And you thought white men had a burden. Imagine Ted Haggard’s. Secure in his faith that he and those who believe what he believes will go to heaven. And the unspoken corollary: Those who believe differently will go to Hell. Haggard has a solemn duty to save those souls from eternal fire and brimstone, the Constitution be damned.

Fair enough, if Haggard goes down because of his hypocrisy, good riddance. Hell, they got Capone for tax evasion, after all. But regardless of the hypocrisy of his alleged personal proclivities and his public posturing, his views are so bizarre and so odious they have no business having anything close to mainstream influence in American political discourse.*** But they do. As Digby notes below, Ted Haggard speaks to the president of the United States once a week.

Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with a country that would tolerate a leadership that not only respects but regularaly listens to an intellectual and spiritual midget like Ted Haggard?

*I’m assuming the assertion by an admitted male hooker that Haggard was a longtime client are substantive, as many appear to believe now.

**And Haggard’s not only a scientific illiterate. He claimed to Dawkins that the Bible is entirely free of contradiction. Apparently, Haggard has never read the early chapters of Genesis, with its two different creation stories.The question arises, “What does Haggard know anything about?” Well, he knows how to separate working people from their hard-earned cash so his megachurch can buy state of the art video projections for his services. And he also knows about…well, I’ll get back to you.

***Have you heard about the demons that infect people with homosexuality and other vices? You will, soon.

[Updated to include the observation of Haggard’s biblical illiteracy. Updated also to clarify one sentence. Haggard’s alleged “personal proclivities” are not the issue. The issue is his hypocrisy and the original version of the sentence made that point less clear than it should be.]