Sharlet: The Ted Haggard confessions continue. Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, now admits to having sought a “massage” and to having purchased meth, although he says he threw it away. His home church, the 14,000-strong New Life in Colorado Springs, has sent out an email blast calling this a “unique opportunity” for prayer. Not unique enough, however, to pray for Mike Jones, the man whom Haggard sought sex from and who Haggard’s supporters have been denouncing in vicious terms. Maybe Jones doesn’t need their prayers; his moral compass seems to be in much better working order than Haggard’s. Tune in to just about any news broadcast tonight to catch Jones. I’ll be talking about the Haggard revelations briefly on Air America’s
Rachel Maddow Show, and, on Monday, on WBUR’s Here and Now. Also on Monday, I’ll be joining Christopher Lydon for a longer discussion about the roles of sex and homosexuality in the evangelical movement on Open Source. Last, but not least — and lest anyone accuse me of being a Democratic shill — I’ll be talking with the Reverend Welton Gaddy on how some Democrats, as well as Republicans, are exploiting faith — and the media’s ignorance of it — this campaign cycle, on his show Sunday night show, State of Belief.