Ted Haggard
I have my tv set to record the documentary on Ted Haggard that starts to play on HBO tonight at 7:00 pm CST.

My concern is that I heard him last night explain to Oprah on a news clip that his first therapist told him that he was a heterosexual with homosexual inclinations.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/01/ted-haggard-speaks.html

Go back now to 1993 my last undergraduate semester at the University. I was in seminar with the Jesuit who was ultra conservative and would later become perseucted by his own order.

The persecuted priest started the seminar saying he argued with Camille Paglia. She was like Howard Zinn for me, my reaction was "Who's that?"

Yeah, well I didn t know what Whistler's Mother was either and my friend, Ken, back in the 90's asked me, "Did you miss that day of school, Teresa? Every body knows who Whistler's Mother."

And there wasn t the google search to look up Camille like there is today. But I soon found out who she was and this priest announced, "All feminists hate their fathers."

Um, I adored mine, still do. And the second male figure in my life was my brother, Tom, and I adore him. He gave me gifts my entire life to support my life as a writer.

So the priest and I didn t agree on issues. I told him that St. Augustine was the shadow of the Church choking it to this day.

The priest brought in two stacks of books to prove me wrong in the next class.

I told my Aunt Ann who had taught at the Miguille Institute in Quebec and she said, "He is treating you like an equal; he is taking what you say seriously."

Then, came his views on homosexuality. This is where Ted Haggard's saying that his therapist told him that he was heterosexual with homo inclinations concerns me.

Father Soon to be Persecuted brought in this book on CHRISTIAN psychotherapy for the homosexual.

The most useful thing i can see about this view point is that for someone in process it might make them let go of their sense of shame long enough to accept themselves and then later on possibly grown into accepting their sexuality.

It's a limited form of therapy and I don t think a therapist should play the role of telling anyone what his or her sexuality is.

I have these concerns about homosexuality and Christian Theraputic Cure alls for the homosexual because the stalking of my life was rooted in a Group of Clerics not wanting to be associated with homosexuality.

For those who can t bear the possiblity that the world can be so cruel and unfair I did try to go on. I tried for 3 years to lay low stay isolated and nothing stopped them.

And when they couldn t stop me they played the game that they were after me to see who told me what.

Again, no one told me anything that isn t documented in the book. Most of it was perception.

I have great concern about Ted Haggard's internalization of the Christian Therapeutic Cure all for homosexuals.

This fear of the homosexual causes destruction on so many levels.

I am not an anarchist. I am a Catholic and for me that term means to care about justice by aspiring to a consistent life ethic.

I have met people who can only care about issues that directly relate to their lives. That's not how I was raised.

I ll watch the 45 minute HBO documentary on Ted Haggard tonight with concern to see if it promotes the notion that sexuality is an inclination that can be cured. I have seen what that kind of homophobia can do to destroy lives, or at least attempt to destroy them.