I buy it. They don't write checks for amounts like that for nothing.

What amazes me is that IME, running into a church is, IME, the last place that anyone who wants not to be gay to run. I mean, back in my early 20's when I absolutely reveled in my "sin", church congregations were as easy to cruise as a bar.

Brady Boyd, the new leader of New Life, said the $180,000 was for college tuition. Damn, that must be the most expensive college on Earth.

Wow.

You know, I feel a lot of pity for that Ted Haggard fellow. His whole life has become a tragedy because he couldn't be honest with himself and others.

When I was 15 and my (Catholic) church wanted me to participate in the Confirmation sacrament, I eventually realized I couldn't do it: it required a profession of faith, a serious statement that I believed such-and-such a thing. Because I took their notion of God seriously at the time, I realized I couldn't lie to Him, especially in His own house. I explained this to the priest, and all he could say was, "Try to stay with the Church…"

I would like to reflect back on this and pat myself on the back: see how principled I was? See how clear was my thinking? But if I'm really going to be honest about it, I have to acknowledge that in my decision I had help: a supportive mother, good friends, etc. My whole life, my social standing, the respect of my peers, these things weren't contingent upon my accepting the Catholic faith. In these circumstances I was very fortunate.

But with dear ol' Ted, I don't know how fortunate he was. He obviously felt something strong for his faith, for the message he wanted to preach to others, in the (probably genuine) desire to help others. And yet his demon, his sexuality, his uncontrollable and natural urge ran contrary to his faith. How terrible it must be to have to lie every day, to have to rationalize the lies away by telling oneself more lies, to find oneself participating in "holiness" (evangelism) by way of unholy acts (mendacity) to cover further unholy acts (sodomy).

Poor guy. And before some hysteric starts screaming at me that I'm a self-hating gay or whatever, just realize that I consider myself human first, and gay second. I can still show compassion to people who do bad things. We're all just struggling to understand our lives and no one is perfect.

@Kevin (New Jersey, US):

Honestly, I do feel a little sorry for Haggard too, more so than the New Life Church.

What tempers my empathy for Haggard, though, are those like Haas and his wife and his kids and what Haggard continues to put them through. Come out, find a man (or whoop in up in a bathhouse for that matter) support your wife and kids (the kids didn't ask for all of this, the wife may or may not have)

Well looky here. Ted is a liar. He lies to the nation, his family, his parishoners, his 'lovers', everyone. Ted lies to himself about being gay.

Then, in a brave act of wonderful karma, he draws in a boy who would rather commit suicide than deal with his own sh*t, too.

Ted is a menace. He is a true menace.

And you know what the source of ALL of this is? ALL OF IT? The Bible. His Church.

Yep, until our species drops this disgusting religion – based solely on the rantings of crazed zealots who needed to be on meds in the first place – this type of social disturbance will continue and continue and continue.

If that's what you want, so be it.

not to be picky, but it's channel 13 in Colorado Springs, not Denver.

Has the young man come out? He seems more together than Ted. Wish Grant well. Ted comes across as such a sleaze. Even looks like he should be sitting on Old Reliable's scuzzy couch with his legs up.

I don't think Ted is even the faintest bit religious. I think this and other religious leaders like him are purely in it for the money and the fame, in that order. I think that vitually every word that comes out of his mouth is a calculated lie. He can say what he wants, but time will tell us that it's all a pack of lies.