Ted Haggard: A Proper Sacrifice

Patton Dodd, of Beliefnet.com, tells Slate the fundamental problem with becoming an Evangelical leader. First, a look at true redemption:

One place to look is outside religious ministry and inside British politics, to the famous Profumo Affair. When popular politician John Profumo was caught with a prostitute in 1963, he resigned and withdrew completely from public life. For the rest of his days—he lived until 2006—he did the work of atonement, cleaning toilets, washing dishes, and working with alcoholics in London's East End. Profumo never published a memoir or even granted so much as an interview, even though he once acknowledged "deeply distressing inaccuracies" in reports of his affair.

This is something Haggard always claimed he would do, if he ever strayed from his flock. But therein lies a problem:

The problem for people like Ted Haggard...is that he was in a position of public trust. Once fully lost, that trust can never be fully restored. Robert Downey Jr. can become an A-list actor, ruin himself with drugs, sober up, and become an A-list actor all over again. A businessman, a scholar, or a parent can do something similar. Why can't Haggard? Because his very public career was based on the antithesis of his failures. Downey wants only to be a damn fine actor, and he can be that no matter the content of his character. Haggard wanted to be a minister, a position that makes claims on his behavior—claims that Haggard professed to be equal to. Haggard didn't have to be a big supporter of President Bush, or outspoken against homosexuality, or any of the things that charged his public life. But he did have to have character that was consistent with the values that he so loudly espoused. His life did have to be consistent with what he preached, because preaching is based on public trust within the preacher's community of followers. Integrity is the deal-maker, hypocrisy the deal-breaker.

Which is exactly why he and his family deserve to be jobless and exiled from their community. Haggard and his 30 million followers oppose Civil Rights in many forms and their dogmas discourage nuance in political dialogue. If their lives are ruined for the sake of social progress (and because of their bigotry), I'm all for it. No apologies.