Ted Haggard walked into my apartment like a Jew walking into Aushwitz. I said to him, “You look sad, like my grandmother the day she found out that Poland had been invaded and her entire family killed.”

He said he was there for a massage, but I knew that this would be the beginning of the greatest and most destructive love affair since Hitler met Eva Braun. I asked him his name, and he replied with all the honesty of Benito Mussolini: “Art.”

And yes, I agree he is leaving in the sex to make money, but at the same time, I also think its important because… well, I am a terrible person, and I want Haggard’s downfall to be as awful for him as possible, if I am going to be honest. When I think of creepy Ted Haggard- especially the deleted scene from Jesus Camp- I want him to suffer like the hypocrite he is. I think about all the people in his mega church who struggled with their sexuality, and recieved cruel, hypocritical messages from Haggard every Sunday, I want to scream. Its not easy in this world for anyone whose sexuality is anything besides “Straight, Missionary Position Only” and I think it is awful that this man used his Bible to make people feel like shit when was the same way. I think back to the Savage Love column- http://www.avclub.com/content/node/55285- and I make a joyful noise.

Come to Chicago, Mike Jones! I will ask you to sign my book!

I’m sorry, I just can’t say we had sex and leave it at that. People needed to know what kind of sex we were having. It’s just part of the story.”

Might have been more honest if he had just said “I’ll sell more books if I leave the sex in.”

More power to Jones and anyone else helping to ferret out the hypocrites. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

And I wonder if Richard is gay…

LOL! I’m glad somebody got it. There were two gay couples in my family, one male and one female who lived together in wonderful life-long relationships. They were as important and as loved a part of the family as anyone else. So I was fortunate to not have been given the hate training that sadly most Americans get. Now when I encounter a gay-hating bigot it’s all I can do to keep from pounding them into the ground because it’s like an assault on members of my family.

That’s why Haggard’s predicament pulls me between laughter and tears. His sexuality is inborn; it’s part of him. He doesn’t deserve to suffer for that. There’s nothing wrong with it other than having to live in this bigoted society. His bigotry is partly trained into him from childhood, so that’s not entirely his fault either, but then there’s his nurturing of it, his building it into a vehicle for his power and influence. That part is as despicable as it would be in any straight anti-gay bigot. The hypocrisy issue added into the mix by his sexuality just makes the whole thing tragi-comic in excruciatingly perfect balance.

I agree with olvlzl that there’s something creepy about Jones. His originally denouncing Haggard may have been motivated by a genuine sense of doing the right thing, but I have a hard time believing that this book is about anything other than money. I hope he doesn’t try to pretend it’s for anything else. I’d rather see him honestly profiteering than listen to him being a hypocrite about another hypocrite. If somebody has more insight about his motive for the book let me know.

Reed, your blog is very interesting and funny, by the way.