Haggard’s identity crisis

Ted Haggard is still struggling to define his true nature, says Karl Vick in The Washington Post. The former head of the National Association of Evangelicals was one of the nation’s most powerful conservative religious leaders. But that ended in November 2006, when he admitted to a relationship with a male prostitute, even as he was railing against homosexuality as an affront to God. “I so deeply wanted to be a man that thoroughly reflected Scripture,” he says now. “I just buried the struggle in my heart.” Leaving his ministry in disgrace, he underwent therapy and a lot of soul-searching. The process is ongoing. “I would say I am a heterosexual. But I have had to deal with other issues associated with sexuality and bisexuality and questions and feelings and thoughts.” Haggard, 52, no longer condemns those who engage in homosexuality and feels that gay marriage does not pose a dire threat. “I call it my sin. I’m not saying everybody is a sinner that does it. I’m just saying with my standards and my values, it was a sin against me and God.” Haggard, who now sells insurance, says that despite his ordeal, he feels blessed, especially because his marriage has endured. “I’m so thrilled about the way my life is now. I’m the man now that—no, no, no, that’s not true—I am becoming the man now that everybody thought I was.”

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