Spring Break
Celebrate Recovery: Ted Haggard
Russell Allsup, rallsup@smu.edu
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: Opinion
The recent storm formed by the actions of Ted Haggard, pastor and Evangelical leader, is undoubtedly a moral dilemma sending disappointment into the very hearts of Christ's followers everywhere. It is a bonafide shame. There is no doubt that the unfortunate and immoral example exhibited by Ted Haggard is wrong.
The error with Haggard's situation is not limited to his deception, but rather it is founded in his mistreatment of the inerrant truth he obviously knew-that homosexuality is sin and sin is wrong. He needed a group of godly men who knew him and his struggle well and with whom he could lock arms against any lascivious manifestation.
Haggard admitted he did not have a community of believers with whom he could disclose his struggle with homosexuality. If he would have learned to divulge his struggle, then he certainly would not be dealing with the present consequences because he could have dealt effectively with his impediments.
Men and women were created to be relational beings. Our lives represent this as we have the need to be known and have relationships with other people. The pursuit of community and intimacy with God and other people fills a need with which our souls were created.
Now, what can we learn? No man left completely to himself can adequately pursue truth and live a godly life. I know this reality personally. The radical individualism, which our culture promotes, will drown us, if we do not curtail such philosophy. Simon and Garfunkel were mistaken-a man is not an island.
Furthermore, this debacle reminds each of us that absolute moral truth exists whether we acknowledge it. We all felt betrayed by Haggard's deception and we rightly should. I think any sane man would admit that Haggard's actions and cover-up were wrong. There is a standard of right and wrong, and we must ask ourselves-who created this standard?
Haggard's actions were immoral, but it was not limited to his fraud. Homosexuality is wrong, and Haggard's entertainment of and his acting upon that perverted desire was wrong. I state this not to condemn those who struggle with homosexuality, but to call out the practice as morally bankrupt and damaging to the individual's physical and psychological health.
Would you promote or even accept a behavior which statistics show that its' participants are three times more suicidal than heterosexuals and have a life expectancy of about 33 years shorter than heterosexuals as quoted in the study "The Homosexual Lifespan" written by Cameron, Playfair and Wellum? Bell and Weinberg's book, Homosexualities, documents that this is a behavior in which 60 percent of its male participants have more than 250 lifetime partners and 28 percent have more than 1,000 as opposed to the average heterosexual male having five to nine. In addition, seventy-nine percent admitted that more than half of their partners were strangers.
I could go on, but I hope the point is clear. It is a lie to believe homosexual behavior harms no one. Friends, I say this to sound the siren. We would not allow our friend to consume deadly poison, so why would we accept such devastating behavior?
I do not say this from a soapbox, friends. While I do not personally struggle with homosexuality, I befriend men who do. I know that such perversions can be changed.
I am involved in a program called Celebrate Recovery in which two out of 10 men in my group are struggling to deal with their perverted desire to seek physical and psychological affection from other men that should be preserved for their future wives. These men want to obey the commands of God as laid out in the Bible-thereby honoring Him by fleeing all immorality. They do so not to win God's acceptance. They know they already have received it through Jesus. They do so because they want to please the Lord and follow his instructions. They know that to obey Christ is to love Christ. They know that by obeying His commands they are following His purpose for their lives, wherein they shall live as they were created to live-fully, not pursuing immorality, but righteousness.
I hate homosexual behavior because it robs its victims of life as they were meant to live it. Man is not born into homosexuality. As stated in Masters, Brown, and Kolodny's Human Sexuality, "The genetic theory of homosexuality has been generally discarded today."
Some may abhor my points. The truth is often painful. I was pained to see Tom Haggard admit the accusations were true, but this is the consequence of such immorality. I was likewise pained by the public ridicule he received from the very community that seeks for everyone else to warmly accept its own destructive behavior. Haggard remains on a firm foundation-Jesus Christ-and he shall surely bring this sin into the light, wherein he shall be healed and seek restitution from those he has harmed.
About the writer:
Russell Allsup is a senior history major. He can be reached at rallsup@smu.edu.
The error with Haggard's situation is not limited to his deception, but rather it is founded in his mistreatment of the inerrant truth he obviously knew-that homosexuality is sin and sin is wrong. He needed a group of godly men who knew him and his struggle well and with whom he could lock arms against any lascivious manifestation.
Haggard admitted he did not have a community of believers with whom he could disclose his struggle with homosexuality. If he would have learned to divulge his struggle, then he certainly would not be dealing with the present consequences because he could have dealt effectively with his impediments.
Men and women were created to be relational beings. Our lives represent this as we have the need to be known and have relationships with other people. The pursuit of community and intimacy with God and other people fills a need with which our souls were created.
Now, what can we learn? No man left completely to himself can adequately pursue truth and live a godly life. I know this reality personally. The radical individualism, which our culture promotes, will drown us, if we do not curtail such philosophy. Simon and Garfunkel were mistaken-a man is not an island.
Furthermore, this debacle reminds each of us that absolute moral truth exists whether we acknowledge it. We all felt betrayed by Haggard's deception and we rightly should. I think any sane man would admit that Haggard's actions and cover-up were wrong. There is a standard of right and wrong, and we must ask ourselves-who created this standard?
Haggard's actions were immoral, but it was not limited to his fraud. Homosexuality is wrong, and Haggard's entertainment of and his acting upon that perverted desire was wrong. I state this not to condemn those who struggle with homosexuality, but to call out the practice as morally bankrupt and damaging to the individual's physical and psychological health.
Would you promote or even accept a behavior which statistics show that its' participants are three times more suicidal than heterosexuals and have a life expectancy of about 33 years shorter than heterosexuals as quoted in the study "The Homosexual Lifespan" written by Cameron, Playfair and Wellum? Bell and Weinberg's book, Homosexualities, documents that this is a behavior in which 60 percent of its male participants have more than 250 lifetime partners and 28 percent have more than 1,000 as opposed to the average heterosexual male having five to nine. In addition, seventy-nine percent admitted that more than half of their partners were strangers.
I could go on, but I hope the point is clear. It is a lie to believe homosexual behavior harms no one. Friends, I say this to sound the siren. We would not allow our friend to consume deadly poison, so why would we accept such devastating behavior?
I do not say this from a soapbox, friends. While I do not personally struggle with homosexuality, I befriend men who do. I know that such perversions can be changed.
I am involved in a program called Celebrate Recovery in which two out of 10 men in my group are struggling to deal with their perverted desire to seek physical and psychological affection from other men that should be preserved for their future wives. These men want to obey the commands of God as laid out in the Bible-thereby honoring Him by fleeing all immorality. They do so not to win God's acceptance. They know they already have received it through Jesus. They do so because they want to please the Lord and follow his instructions. They know that to obey Christ is to love Christ. They know that by obeying His commands they are following His purpose for their lives, wherein they shall live as they were created to live-fully, not pursuing immorality, but righteousness.
I hate homosexual behavior because it robs its victims of life as they were meant to live it. Man is not born into homosexuality. As stated in Masters, Brown, and Kolodny's Human Sexuality, "The genetic theory of homosexuality has been generally discarded today."
Some may abhor my points. The truth is often painful. I was pained to see Tom Haggard admit the accusations were true, but this is the consequence of such immorality. I was likewise pained by the public ridicule he received from the very community that seeks for everyone else to warmly accept its own destructive behavior. Haggard remains on a firm foundation-Jesus Christ-and he shall surely bring this sin into the light, wherein he shall be healed and seek restitution from those he has harmed.
About the writer:
Russell Allsup is a senior history major. He can be reached at rallsup@smu.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 17
Scott
posted 11/09/06 @ 12:13 AM CST
Please say this is satire. If so, well done. If not, please attempt to leave the ten-mile radius in which you currently find yourself trapped. You are overwhelmed by horrible, debilitating ideology, which, while promising a pathway to enlightenment, will only prove the foundation for a skewed, ignorance-filled, hateful life spent fighting the uncontrollable realities of existence for a cause which you believe empowers you though, in reality, only holds power over you. (Continued…)
Jordan T
posted 11/09/06 @ 12:39 PM CST
I was horrified when this article was brought to my attention. I thought he surely must have been kidding. Over 1/4 of the gay population has slept with over 1000 people. (Continued…)
Britt
posted 11/09/06 @ 1:40 PM CST
Wow, we have just seen social suicide first hand. I'm actually shocked that the newspaper published this. Most likely they did it for the drama it would create. (Continued…)
Fernando P.B.
posted 11/09/06 @ 9:51 PM CST
I am first of all outraged that although this is a free country, people still have the FREEDOM TO HATE. However, this does not surprise me at all here at Southern Millionare's University, or sorry SMU, since biggotry can pretty much go hand in hand with most white, male, privileged, republican, bush-loving, evangelicals who live thier lives for a book of myths rather than trying to connect with fellow human beings. (Continued…)
Reed Hanson
posted 11/09/06 @ 10:10 PM CST
I probably shouldn't respond given that there was no factual basis for any of these responses to Mr Allsup's article. But I feel obliged to given the unwarranted character assassination present in these comments. (Continued…)
Matt H.
posted 11/09/06 @ 11:17 PM CST
After reading this, I am completely, absolutely, nay extremely convinced that Russell Allsup is not gay... yup; he is not homosexual in any way at all. (Continued…)
Lance Webb
posted 11/10/06 @ 1:41 AM CST
Reed Hanson,
In regards to your request for facts and evidence, I offer this reply:
you first.
It took about thirty minutes of research to discover some shakiness in Russell Allsups' cited sources. (Continued…)
Tim
posted 11/10/06 @ 3:51 PM CST
Imp sorry I only read through the first page of comments and I haft to say that I am disgusted and horrified. Listen I know everyone has there own opinion and that you should listen to two sides of every story but you people who are saying these things EX: (I am first of all outraged that although this is a free country, people still have the FREEDOM TO HATE) Russell never said anything that would be considered hate he was just acknowledging a disorder or a sin to be honest and in my opinion was he was more sympathetic than I would have been so to all of you who are hating Russell for this you need to be honest with yourself first and then read the article instead skimming and barking out comments that have no truth. (Continued…)
Reed Hanson
posted 11/11/06 @ 1:29 AM CST
Lance, I appreciate your effort in being willing to do some research to respond to my inquiry. Even though I disagree with you, I respect that.
I didn't see how your listed websites necessarily made the case that you were right or that Dr Cameron was no longer a credible source. (Continued…)
Kevin Wooten
posted 11/12/06 @ 2:53 PM CST
I do not go to SMU. I live in Los Angeles and have heard a great deal of people defending homosexual rights. I am sick of it! People do not defend an alcoholics, drug addicts, or prostitutes. (Continued…)
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