Ted Haggard may be able to overcome the specter of a sex-and-drug scandal and regain his standing as a spiritual leader, observers say.
His status as a political force, however, is a different matter.
“Religiously, there is a way for Haggard to be re- integrated into the evangelical world,” said Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. “On the other hand, when talking about role models or someone who tries to lead by example, that becomes more problematic.
“Politically, he’s tarnished.”
Haggard, a Republican, has been at the forefront of a movement to broaden the evangelical political agenda beyond the culture-war staples of abortion and gay marriage to include global warming, foreign trade and eradication of poverty.
From the pulpit, Haggard said he votes a “straight ticket,” leaving little to the imagination about his political loyalties. Last year, he flirted with running in the GOP primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley.
Haggard was fired Saturday from New Life Church in Colorado Springs after an independent board of pastors concluded that he “committed sexually immoral conduct.” The investigation was prompted last week by a male prostitute who claimed the pastor paid him for sex over a three-year period and used methamphetamine.
Nationally, the ripples from Haggard’s sudden fall could affect evangelical political engagement in the long and short term, while triggering soul-searching about sin, forgiveness and hypocrisy in the movement, observers say.
“It will hurt morale; it will hurt for some a sense of trust, just like the Catholic priest abuse scandals has hurt Catholics,” said Christian Smith, a University of North Carolina sociology professor who studies evangelicals.
In the long run, Haggard’s failures will not diminish the evangelical movement, Smith said, no matter how influential Haggard has been.
“People like this, if they fall, if they fail, that is demoralizing and it’s a challenge,” Smith said. “But Christianity is not about people being good; it’s about God’s love, grace and forgiveness.”
Fallout difficult to gauge
Politically, the Haggard drama could influence two Colorado ballot measures dealing with marriage and gay rights and compound the Republican base’s disillusionment with the party, said Mark Silk, director for the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
But over the long haul, Silk said, “white evangelicals are hooked into the Republican Party the way labor unions were hooked into the Democratic Party, especially in the industrial belt in the 1930s.
“I don’t really see that changing.”
Regardless of whether the accusations against Haggard are proved true, Smidt said, some evangelical leaders may reconsider stepping into the public square.
“There might be a little bit of pulling back, being a little more careful about who speaks and what you say,” Smidt said. “That’s hard to assess, because we don’t know the private lives of everyone. But it causes you to pause and be more careful.”
Some of Haggard’s closest advisers, while incredulous at his admissions, have speculated that his heavy workload caused him to succumb to weakness.
In fact, Haggard told The Denver Post last week before the scandal broke that he had offered his resignation as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals in October. He said he felt he could no longer commit the time necessary to do the job but was rebuffed by the NAE executive committee.
Some evangelical heavyweights are downplaying Haggard’s stature. Speaking on CNN, the Rev. Jerry Falwell said Haggard “doesn’t really lead the movement. He’s president of an association that’s very loose-knit … and no one has looked to them for leadership.”
Much room for reflection
Regardless of what plays out in Colorado Springs, evangelical Christians will continue to take their faith into the public realm, said Rob Brendle, a New Life Church associate pastor.
“Ted’s influence is compromised,” Brendle said. “The influence of evangelicals is strong and bright. This is an opportunity for Christians in America to shine because faith doesn’t mean much when everything is good. Faith is deep when times are trying.”
Those on the opposite side of the political spectrum – including Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State – said the scandal may prompt evangelicals to tell their leaders to focus more on religion than politics.
“This has to be a crushing blow that a scandal like this happens to a leader who tells other people how to toe the line,” Lynn said. “These leaders who build empires of wealth and power sometimes believe that protects them from scrutiny. The days of the ‘if the minister says it’s true, it’s true’ are of short duration.”
David Neff, editor of Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of the evangelical movement, sits on the NAE executive committee and knows Haggard well.
Other evangelical leaders who have confessed to sins have rehabilitated their reputations, Neff said. But Neff described a long road ahead, one that should involve disappearing from the public eye for term, receiving mentoring and “learning more about himself than he was apparently aware of.”
“We as evangelicals understand there are wild impulses and forces inside the human soul, and if we are not as fully self-aware of our processes, we tend to stumble like he did,” Neff said. “This is a time for additional growth and maturity for him. Yes, there has been some hypocrisy here, but acknowledging hypocrisy is only a starting point.”
Neff said that although substance abuse is troubling, the sex allegations are more serious to evangelicals because that violates marriage vows Haggard made before God.
“I can see how someone would say that choosing to acknowledge the buying of a substance versus the sex might get him off easier with a particular segment of the public,” Neff said. “But if you stop to reflect on it, it’s all pretty serious.”
Staff writer Virginia Culver contributed to this report.
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-954-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
