It’s not a sin to be homosexual. It’s a sin, in their eyes, to act on homosexual impulses, regardless of where they come from. There are certainly Evangelicals who believe that homosexuality can be “cured” through intense prayer and Bible-based therapy. This is without any- to my knowledge- serious psychological backing. But again, in fairness- I know quite a few Evangelical Christians who accept that homosexuality can’t be changed, but still believe that it must be endured. In other words, gay people, however they came to be, must simply remain celibate, pray for a miracle, or otherwise accept the burden God has given them, as He gives us all burdens to shoulder. I don’t personally believe that God does this, but that is the view of many Evangelicals I know. Those folks tend to believe that God moves in ways they do not understand. I can appreciate this view, but I don’t personally believe that God is that sloppy with His methods or that cruel. It’s not an easy position for a Christian to take, but my belief is in a basically benevolent God, but one Whose love for us is manifested in ways that we simply will never be able to understand. In that way I admit to serious Deist tendencies, but I remain Roman Catholic. The RC Church is the one through which I seem to communicate best with the God I believe in. I know a ton of Catholics who would disagree, but that’s where I come down.

Two things stood out. First, from the interview, Gayle Haggard says, “He was unfaithful to his marriage vows to me and he did lie to me. And so on many levels there was a breakdown,” she said. “There was moral failure in our marriage.” How can a marriage founded on a lie breakdown? The relationship was degraded from its inception. This speaks to the content of Mr. Haggard, he doesn’t have any truth in his being nor respect for the need for truth.

In the excerpt from her book, Mrs. Haggard says,
“I sobbed so loudly that I was sure the children could hear me… and within seconds I felt Ted’s shuddering sobs as well. I didn’t stop to comfort him; I let my tears flow. I needed to cry, because I was terrified.”

What struck me was not only was she trying to share a bed with the spouse that had betrayed her, but her perceived boldness at allowing herself to cry without comforting her husband first. The evangelical woman submits to her husband. In the Danvers Statement, written by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, men and women should follow gender based roles, derived from Old and New Testament. The Danvers Statement is widely accepted and endorsed by Christian groups. The CBMW is a part of the Nat’l Association of Evangelicals that Ted Haggard resigned as president of. Perhaps Mrs. Haggard has learned when to be strong for her family. I would be interested in knowing if she considers her first book to be, “the glad harmony portrayed in Scripture between the loving, humble leadership of redeemed husbands and the intelligent, willing support of that leadership by redeemed wives”

the CMBW site wasn’t available. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_Statement

And I agree totally re: from the overflow of the heart goes the mouth. And another truism about alcohol: From James McMurty, a folk singer I love: “Whiskey don’t make liars, it just makes fools.” If we say it drunk, we may not have meant to say it, but we damn sure meant what we said.

I agree with your assessment about temptation. Understanding that we approach it from slightly different angles, as you are more of a Bible Christian than I am, I still think your assessment from James (one of the most eloquent, lovely and concise books in the NT, in my humble opinion) is apparent in every day life. To explain, it is very similar to how we (those of us who consume alcohol, anyway) function when our inhibitions are lowered. Brief explanation:

A brilliant PhD (sex offender expert among other things) I work with named Dr. Nikki Valliere taught me that inhibitions do not CAUSE heretofore non-existent desires within us. Rather, they simply allow them to surface and manifest as behavior. We get what she calls “alcohol myopia” which is a sublime term; simply put, the more we drink, the less we care about what others around us will think about our behavior. So the myth about the drunk guy who hooks up with a girl whom he’d never want to kiss while sober, is just that- a myth. “The girls all get prettier at closin’ time”, or so said Mickey Gilley from my long ago childhood. Yes, but it reality, they just seem “pretty” enough now for us drunk guys to go after because we no longer care about how we might be judged by others or what consequence there might be. But the desire to kiss whomever- for whatever reckless and passing hormonal reason there is- was always there. Just suppressed. Obviously, the same goes for women who make the same judgment calls when judgment goes out the window.

For what it’s worth, one of the most compelling things I find about Jesus’ teaching from the Gospel (as I understand it, anyway) is His command to the disciples about how to pray (The Lord’s Prayer, of course). He didn’t say “make us strong enough to resist temptation.” Instead, He said “lead us not into temptation.” The lawyer in me greatly respects Him for choosing His words carefully, and I assume He meant them. We are tempted by the outside world- but those things inflame what’s already in us. Hence the Rabbi’s admonition to avoid those things for our own good.