Republican Gomorrah

by Max Blumenthal

  214 “The authoritarian character worships the past”: Fromm, Escape from Freedom, p. 169.

  CHAPTER 19: PASTOR TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

  216 the concept of “creation care”: Laurie Goodstein, “Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming,” New York Times, March 10, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/national/10evangelical.html?th.

  216 to denounce the notion of global warming: “Global Warming Gap Among Evangelicals Widens,” CNN.com, March 14, 2007, http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/14/evangelical.rift/index.html.

  216 an “evil and wicked religion”: Jarrett Murphy, “Pentagon’s Preacher Irks Muslims,” CBSNews.com, April 16, 2003, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/16/national/main549684.shtml.

  216 Haggard was restrained, even criticizing Graham: Laurie Goodstein, “Top Evangelicals Critical of Colleagues over Islam,” New York Times, May 8, 2003, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE7DB163FF93BA35756C0A9 659C8B63.

  216 Haggard and the loudmouths: Nicholas Kristof, “Giving God a Break,” New York Times, June 10, 2008, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E5D71239F933A25755C0A9659C8B63.

  217 more than a place of worship: “Ted Haggard Pastor of the New Life Church,” YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M63ULXRLPtE&feature=PlayList&p=340DF149E37C1099&index=0&playnext=1.

  217 “I have an interest in satanic meetings”: Michael Lewis, Campaign Journal, The New Republic, July 8, 1996, p. 20.

  217 a vision of demons: Eric Gorski, “Reality Stems from Pastor’s Vision,” Colorado Springs Gazette, December 22, 2002, http://www.gazette.com/articles/haggard_18942___article.html/church_life.html.

  218 he learned to speak in tongues: Ibid.

  218 a stadium throbbing with men: David Kelly, “In Colorado, a Wellspring of Conservative Christianity,” Los Angeles Times, July 06, 2004, http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/06/entertainment/et-kelly6.

  218 a “spiritual NORAD”: Dan Harris, “Calling for Prayer in Internet Age,” ABC News.com, December 16, 2004, http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=337032; and Ted Olsen, “Prayer Center Construction Begins,” Christianity Today , May 20, 1996, http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1996/may20/6t678b.html.

  219 retreated to the center’s Praise Mountain: Paul Asay, “There Are No Secrets,” Colorado Springs Gazette, January 7, 2007.

  219 Haggard and Amendment 2: Paul Asay and Dave Phillips, “Haggard’s Mecca Materialized, But Vision May Now Be Fading,” Colorado Springs Gazette, December 31, 2006.

  219 informal advisor to President George W. Bush: Eric Gorski, “Haggard Profile: Man of Cloth and Clout,” Denver Post, October 30, 2005, http://www.denver-post.com/search/ci_3165558.

  219 Haggard was on the front lines: Tim Egan, “State of the Union: The Evangelical Vote,” News.BBC.co.uk, November 4, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3992067.stm.

  219 contemplating a run for Congress: Paul Asay, “Pastor May Step Up If Hefley Steps Down,” Colorado Springs Gazette, August 5, 2005, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20050805/ai_n14852030.

  219 “Justice Sunday II”: Max Blumenthal, “Preaching Justice, Slaying Demons,” The Nation, August 19, 2005, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050829/blumenthal2.

  219 support of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts: “Others Weigh In on Roberts,” U.S. News & World Report, July 20, 2005, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050720/20courtquotes.htm.

  219 writing a weight loss handbook: Ted Haggard, The Jerusalem Diet (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2005).

  219 “I’m a fat guy”: Ibid. Also see Paul Asay, “New Life Pastor Touts Diet,” Colorado Springs Gazette, December 31, 2005, http://www.gazette.com/articles/diet_6194___article.html/haggard_pastor.html.

  220 “Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper”: Mike Allen, “Male Bonding for the Evangelical Set,” New York Times, August 23, 1999, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CEEDE1138F930A1575BC0A96F958260; also see James Dobson et al., Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1999).

  220 “the feminization of men”: Johnette Howard, “For Coach McCartney, a Leap of Faith,” Washington Post, October 25, 1994, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/PK/mccartney/leap1094.htm.

  220 “the men feel uninhibited and free”: Steve Rabey, “The New Christian Man,” Colorado Springs Gazette, April 4, 2003, http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=503.

  221 The Promise Keepers was founded in 1990: Howard, “For Coach McCartney.” Also see Bill McCartney, From Ashes to Glory (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995).

  221 McCartney’s quarterback Aunese: Bruce Weber, “Bill McCartney, Away from the Sideline, Brings His Inspirational Message to the Bowery,” New York Times, June 20, 1997, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E1DB123EF933A15755C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 .

  221 Bible verses inscribed on index cards: Howard, “For Coach McCartney.”

  221 “so focused on winning football games”: Weber, “Bill McCartney.”

  221 warned Jews that they are “toast”: Louis Sahagun, “Plotting the Exit Strategy,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2006, http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/22/local/me-endtimes22.

  221 “A man’s man, a real man”: Weber, “Bill McCartney.”

  222 “Ultimate Fighting Jesus”: Brandon O’Brien, “A Jesus for Real Men,” Christianity Today, April 18, 2008, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=55035.

  222 “raw and uninhibited”: Ibid.

  222 the men’s movement’s seminal tract: John Eldredge, Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001).

  223 the “Farm Belt Fuhrer”: Camille Jackson, Fightin’ Words, Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, Fall 2004, http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=490.

  223 proposed torpedoing boatloads of African migrant workers: Celestine Bohlen, “Italy Rebuked by Vatican over Migrants,” New York Times, November 20, 1995, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E3DE1339F933A15752C1A963958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/B/Bossi, %20Umberto.

  223 Bossi’s “Braveheart” poster: Allan Brown, “Braveheart and the Nazis,” Sunday Times of London, May 5, 2002.

  223 Nazis recruit Braveheart fans: Sunday Mail, July 7, 1996.

  223 a pre-Vatican II Catholic traditionalist: Michael Paulson, “Cherishing an Older Catholicism,” Boston Globe, February 22, 2004, http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/02/22/cherishing_an_older_catholicism/.

  223 penchant for anti-Semitic rants: “Gibson’s Anti-Semitic Tirade—Alleged Cover Up,” TMZ.com, July 28, 2006, http://www.tmz.com/2006/07/28/gibsons-anti-semitic-tirade-alleged-cover-up/.

  225 “I make all things new”: Book of Revelation 21:5.

  225 “sacrificial love”: Ted Haggard, “What’s the Point of Focusing on Anti-Semitism?” Belief Net, September 2003, http://www.BeliefNet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2003/09/Whats-The-Point-Of-Focusing-On-Anti-Semitism.aspx.

  226 Arterburn’s come-to-Jesus moment: Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, Every Man’s Battle (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2005). Also see Jeff Sharlet, “Sex as a Weapon,” Nerve, undated, http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/sharlet/sexasaweapon/.

  226 Stoeker “wash[ed] clean”: Fred Stoeker bio, Editorial Unilit, undated: http://www.editorialunilit.com/pages/eng/_autores1.php?vAut=359.

  227 a dystopian 1973 sci-fi novel: J. G. Ballard, Crash (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1973).

  227 In an online video that Arterburn produced: “Every Man’s Battle” promotional video, posted to YouTube April 14, 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV5kurZ_Yz0.

  228 Jesus Camp: Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. Magnolia Pictures, 2006.

  228 “It’s written in the Bible!”: Ibid.

  229 “endless succession of orgasms”: Jeff Sharlet, “Sex as a Weapon,” Nerve, April 25, 2005, http://www.nerve.com/
dispatches/sharlet/sexasaweapon/.

  229 Haggard outed: “Haggard Admits ‘Sexual Immorality,’ Apologizes,” Associated Press, Nov 5, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263/.

  229 excursions to the Mile High City: Mike Jones and Sam Gallegos, I Had to Say Something (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2007), p. 73.

  229 “6 to 8 college age guys”: John Aravosis, “Signorile Interviews Fallen-Evangelical-Leader Ted Haggard’s Male Hooker,” AmericaBlog.com, November 6, 2006, http://www.americablog.com/2006/11/signorile-interviews-fallen.html.

  230 “evangelicals have the best sex life”: Director: Alexandra Pelosi, “Friends of God,” HBO, January 25, 2007, http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/friends_of_god/index.html.

  230 documentarians: “Ted Haggard Says Evangelicals Have the ‘Best Sex Life,’” ABC News, January 22, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=2813078&page=1.

  230 a “combat nurse” tending to “wounded men”: Mike Jones and Sam Gallegos, I Had to Say Something, p. 24.

  230 “When a man cries”: Ibid., p. 25.

  230 “the last generation”: Ibid., p. 138.

  231 “I had to say something”: Ibid., p. 153.

  231 “I threw it away”: “Rev. Ted Haggard Admits Buying Meth,” KUSA-TV/CNN, November 3, 2006, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHXQlyeE7Ak.

  231 a fabrication of the Enemy: “Ted Haggard Accused of Gay Affair, Steps Down,” TheDenverChannel.com, November 2, 2006, http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/10227610/detail.html.

  231 “This is clearly a political stunt”: Cara DeGette, “Pastor Ted: ‘The Farthest Thing from a Homosexual . . . ’” Colorado Confidential, November 2, 2006, http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=923.

  231 New Life Church organized a rally: Ibid.

  231 He was one of them, after all: Jean Torkelson, “Purity of Pastors Questioned,” Rocky Mountain News, November 18, 2006, http://m.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/Nov/18/purity-of-pastors-questioned/.

  231 In a letter read aloud: “Ted Haggard: ‘I Am a Deceiver and a Liar,’” posted on BeliefNet, November 5, 2006, http://www.BeliefNet.com/News/2006/11/Ted-Haggard-I-Am-A-Deceiver-And-A-Liar.aspx.

  232 Dobson, Zacharias, and Mohler on Haggard: Max Blumenthal, “The Ted Haggard Movement Airs Its Shame,” Huffington Post, November 7, 2006, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/the-ted-haggard-movement-_b_33481.html.

  232 “so repulsive and dark”: “Ted Haggard: ‘I Am a Deceiver and a Liar.’”

  233 Everything appeared to go swimmingly: Eric Gorski, “Haggard Says He Is ‘Completely Heterosexual,’” Denver Post, February 6, 2007, http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5164921.

  233 a payout of $130,000: Eric Gorski, “Rise and Fall of Ted Haggard Documentary to Air,” Associated Press, December 18, 2008, http://www.christianpost.com/Ministries/Figures/2008/12/rise-and-fall-of-ted-haggard-documentary-to-air-18/index.html.

  233 never disclose details of his scandal: “Haggard Agrees Not to Discuss Scandal Publicly,” TheDenverChannel.com, February 7, 2007, http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/10958240/detail.html.

  233 the dawning of a new era: “Haggard’s Former Church Holds ‘Day of Hope,’” Associated Press, February 19, 2007, http://www.christianpost.com/church/Megachurches/2007/02/haggard-s-former-church-holds-day-of-hope-19/index.html.

  233 fired for “sexual misconduct with an adult”: Jean Torkelson, “New Life Director Admits Misconduct,” Rocky Mountain News, December 19, 2006, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5223016,00.html.

  233 New Life sacked at least thirty more employees: Dan Frosch, “Layoffs Follow Scandal at Colorado Megachurch,” New York Times, March 6, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/us/06church.html.

  234 the well-worn massage table: Cary Leider Vogrin, “Massage Table in Haggard Scandal Pulled by eBay,” Colorado Springs Gazette, March 20, 2007, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20070320/ai_n18763641.

  234 what Haggard called “broken people”: Cara DeGette, “A Year Ago: ‘Ted Haggard Is the Farthest Thing from a Homosexual,’” Colorado Independent, November 2, 2007, http://coloradoindependent.com/2930/a-year-ago-ted-haggard-is-the-farthest-thing-from-a-homosexual.

  234 the Phoenix Dream Center, a “deliverance ministry”: Rick Ross, Skipp Porteous interview, “Exclusive Interview Exit-counselor Rick Ross,” Walk Away, Summer 1990, http://www.rickross.com/reference/about/about2.html.

  234 “rewarded in heaven”: Cara DeGette, “Ted Haggard’s Cash-for-Heaven Offer,” Colorado Confidential, August 23, 2007, http://www.coloradoconfidential .com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2630.

  234 Sex offender at FWAM: Dan Savage, “Ted Haggard and the Man Behind ‘Families with a Mission,’” The Stranger, August 24, 2007, http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/families_with_a_mission.

  235 a last desperate media blitz: Pelosi, Logan Hill interview, “Alexandra Pelosi on Ted Haggard’s ‘I’m-Super-Sorry’ Publicity Tour,” New York magazine, January 29, 2009, http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/01/alexandra_pelosi_on_ted_haggar.html.

  CHAPTER 20: THE NIGHTMARE OF CHRISTIANITY

  236 his “nightmare of Christianity”: “Demons Haunted Colo. Gunman,” Associated Press, December 12, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22221432/print/1/displaymode/1098/.

  236 Murray heaped contempt on his mother: Matthew Murray discussed Gothard homeschooling under the user ID “Chrstnghtmr” at http://independentspirits.net/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?750, September 4, 2006.

  237 the home-schooling regimen: Berny Morson, “Gunman Railed Against Home-school Christian Curriculum,” Rocky Mountain News, December 12, 2007, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/12/gunman-railed-against-home-school-christian-curric/.

  237 Bill Gothard: Bill Gothard General Teachings/Activities, Biblical Discernment Ministries, February 2004, http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/gothard/general.htm.

  237 an all-consuming environment: Ron Henzel, Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles, Midwest Christian Outreach, http://www.midwestoutreach.org/02-Information/02-OnlineReference/02-UnorthodoxyGuide/105-IKnowSomething/Gothard-IBLP/index.html.

  237 a devastating exposé: Ron Henzel, Joy Veinot, and Don Veinot, A Matter of Basic Principles (Lombard, IL: Midwest Christian Outreach, 2003).

  237 receives $800,000 in state funds each year: “‘Little Soldiers in the Culture Wars’: Evangelical Radical Bill Gothard’s Character First! Curriculum Teaches Students in Fort Lauderdale to Obey His Will,” New Times Broward-Palm Beach, February 18, 1999.

  237 Charter School for Excellence anthem: Bob Norman, “Obedience School,” Orlando Weekly, March 11, 1999, http://www.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=1159.

  238 Huckabee attended Basic Seminar: Joe Conason, “Holy Constitution!,” Salon, January 18, 2008, http://www.Salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/01/18/huckabee/.

  238 “instilling character into people”: Mike Huckabee, Prison Ministry, Institute in Basic Life Principles, undated, http://iblp.org/iblp/about/whatwedo/community/prison/.

  238 Murray and Oral Roberts University: “Demons Haunted Colo. Gunman.”

  238 under the weight of scandalous revelations: “Oral Roberts President Faces Corruption Lawsuit,” Associated Press, October 5, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21156263/.

  238 a cocaine-addicted closet homosexual: Interview with Jerry Sloan, January 6, 2004. Sloan is a Sacramento, California-based gay rights activist and former Baptist minister who won $5,000 from Jerry Falwell after Falwell offered that sum to anyone who could prove he called gays “brute beasts.” When Sloan produced a videotape of Falwell’s denunciations, Falwell refused to pay. Only after Sloan sued Falwell did the reverend cough up the money. See Max Blumenthal, “Agent of Intolerance,” The Nation, May 16, 2007, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070528/blumenthal.

  238 committed suicide in 1982: “Oral Roberts’s Son, 37, Found Shot Dead in Car,” Associated Press, June 10, 1982, http://query.nytimes.com/gs
t/fullpage.html?res=9503E3D61F38F933A25755C0A964948260.

  239 “cult mind-controlling techniques”: Max Blumenthal, “ABC 9/11 Docudrama’s Right-Wing Roots,” The Nation, September 11, 2006, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060925/path_to_911.

  239 Murray became paranoid: Alan Gathright, “Roommate Recalls Bizarre Times, Said He Knew ‘It Was Matthew,’” Rocky Mountain News, December 11, 2007, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/11/roommate-recalls-bizarre-times-said-he-knew-it-was/.

  239 Sex and drugs at YWAM: Matthew Murray, “Chrstnghtmr,” in the discussion thread “Growing Up in the Nightmare of Bill Gothard and Charismatic Christianity,” at http://independentspirits.net/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?750, September 4, 2006.

  239 “could be planning violence”: Jeff Kass and Sara Burnett, “Rejection Fueled Church Gunman’s Hatred, Psychologist Says,” Rocky Mountain News, December 14, 2007, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/14/the-pattern-of-the-avenger/.

  239 After the trauma-inducing raids: Murray, “Chrstnghtmr.”

  239 a flamboyant, self-proclaimed Satanist: Ibid.

  239 L. Ron Hubbard and Jack Parsons: George Pendle, “Strange Angels,” Frieze magazine, April 3, 2002, http://www.frieze.com/issue/print_article/strange_angels/.

  240 a confusing new world of cheap thrills: “Chrstnghtmr.”

  240 Winell immediately posted a response: Jeremy Reynalds, “Coroner: Colorado Gunman Killed Himself,” Assist News Service, December 11, 2007, http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07120075.htm.

  241 “here in a buried kennel”: Murray, “Chrstnghtmr.”

  241 “rejected sheltered Christian boy”: Ibid., September 24, 2007.

  241 “necrophilious character”: Erich Fromm, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (New York: Henry Holt, 1973), p. 303.

  242 “maybe I’ll just OD on stuff”: Matthew Murray, “Chrstnghtmr,” July 22, 2007, http://www.thoughttheater.com/2007/12/murray_had_confrontation_at_new_life_church_in_200.php.