(Haggard): "He staked out gay bars, inviting men to come to his church"

[blitzen]

from this really good Harper's article on Haggard.

http://www.harpers.org/SoldiersOfChrist.html

He was always on the lookout for spies. At the time, Colorado Springs was a small city split between the Air Force and the New Age, and the latter, Pastor Ted believed, worked for the devil. Pastor Ted soon began upsetting the devil's plans. He staked out gay bars, inviting men to come to his church; his whole congregation pitched itself into invisible battles with demonic forces, sometimes in front of public buildings. One day, while he was working in his garage, a woman who said she'd been sent by a witches' coven tried to stab Pastor Ted with a five-inch knife she pulled from a leg sheath; Pastor Ted wrestled the blade out of her hand. He let that story get around. He called the evil forces that dominated Colorado Springs—and every other metropolitan area in the country—“Control.”

Sometimes, he says, Control would call him late on Saturday night, threatening to kill him. “Any more impertinence out of you, Ted Haggard,” he claims Control once told him, “and there will be unrelenting pandemonium in this city.” No kidding! Pastor Ted hadn't come to Colorado Springs for his health; he had come to wage “spiritual war.”

He moved the church to a strip mall. There was a bar, a liquor store, New Life Church, a massage parlor. His congregation spilled out and blocked the other businesses. He set up chairs in the alley. He strung up a banner: SIEGE THIS CITY FOR ME, signed JESUS. He assigned everyone in the church names from the phone book they were to pray for. He sent teams to pray in front of the homes of supposed witches—in one month, ten out of fifteen of his targets put their houses on the market. His congregation “prayer-walked” nearly every street of the city.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. My Great-Aunt hates the way they have changed the Springs...

it used to be such a nice place to live... now, she travels extensively whenever she can, just to get away from them.

[uncle ray]

10. that's where i live

life here suddenly got a little more interesting!

i think this may be help get the Dems Colorados CD5 seat.

[Straight Shooter]

2. Haggard reminds me of David Koresh. The cult of personality.

Except Haggard is, like, ewwwwwww. Control called him late on Saturday night? :wtf:

[bumblebee1]

7. Control???

What is he, Rev Maxwell Smart?

[turbo_satan]

3. Sounds like he was hittin' the crystal meth even back then.

[upi402]

4. loons n/t

[blitzen]

5. Haggard's fantasy: orgy with "young college guys"

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1326038

Jones said Haggard’s fantasy was for Jones to arrange for a group of “young college guys ...around 18-22. He would love to have an orgy,” he said.

Jones said the two got together at least once a month. At first, he said, Haggard claimed he was from Kansas City. “As time went on, the calls started coming from Colorado Springs,” he said.

Jones said he didn’t realize who Haggard was until about two years ago when he saw a History Channel program for which Haggard was interviewed.

[Erika]

6. Just like Foley's fixation on pages

How very sad.

[Swamp Rat]

8. Another hypocrite bites the dust.

[cali]

9. One of the best articles I've ever read

Every DUer should read this article. It's incredibly revealing about the religious right, and it's just a fascinating read.