Evangelical Leaders Downplay Haggard's Importance
Here comes the dump on Pastor Ted Haggard:
Pat Robertson:
"We're sad to see any evangelical leader fall," the Rev. Pat Robertson said on his television show, "The 700 Club." But, he added, it "just isn't true" that the NAE represents 30 million churchgoers, as the association claims.
"We can't get their financial data. I think it's because they have very little money and very little influence," Robertson said.
Jerry Falwell:
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, speaking Thursday night on CNN, said Haggard "doesn't really lead the movement. He's president of an association that's very loose-knit . . . and no one has looked to them for leadership."
Jealousy and running for cover. I suspect Falwell and Robertson never liked Haggard to begin with. He was far too moderate for their brand of evangelicalism. He was the up and comer and they are the old guard whose dynasties are fading.
Haggard is an environmentalist who wanted the church to support global warming. He's a civil libertarian. While he opposed gay marriage, he refused to take a position on Referendum I (domestic partnership rights) on the Colorado ballot this year, saying the church and the law should stay separate on civil liberties issues. He supported the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas. He thought the law should stay out of people's bedrooms. When Amendment 2 was on the Colorado ballot, which would have prevented cities from enacting ordinances protecting gays, he opposed it. He wanted the church to get involved in Darfur.
Was Haggart a hyprocrite on homosexuality? Yes. But he's no Falwell or Robertson.
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