Comments on: Interview with Mike Jones, the Man Who Exposed Ted Haggard’s Hypocrisy http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/ Atheism with Positivity Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:24:22 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: bill http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-266317 bill Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:15:53 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-266317 Mike outed Haggard for all the right reasons - not for personal gain. He outed Haggard because of the hypocrisy of Haggard preaching that homosexuality is evil while engaging in sex with men. Haggard's hypocrisy (and that of other anti-gay religious leaders) is one of the major factors responsible for violence toward and rejection of gay men and women. I don't want to put words into Mike's mouth but in some sense he did what he did for Matthew Shepard and all of the other gay men murdered and abused because of their sexuality, and for all of the gay teenagers who committed suicide because they weren't strong enough to accept who they were or to deal with being rejected by their families. I am thankful that Mike had the strength to do the right thing. As a gay man I appreciate the heroism of what he did. It was obviously not easy and he has paid a high price. As to why he doesn't out others? He is very clear on that point - public figures who are publicly hypocritical should be outed. Those others who are closeted but who don't publicly denigrate gays do not need to be outed - they are living their own hell! Mike outed Haggard for all the right reasons – not for personal gain. He outed Haggard because of the hypocrisy of Haggard preaching that homosexuality is evil while engaging in sex with men. Haggard’s hypocrisy (and that of other anti-gay religious leaders) is one of the major factors responsible for violence toward and rejection of gay men and women. I don’t want to put words into Mike’s mouth but in some sense he did what he did for Matthew Shepard and all of the other gay men murdered and abused because of their sexuality, and for all of the gay teenagers who committed suicide because they weren’t strong enough to accept who they were or to deal with being rejected by their families. I am thankful that Mike had the strength to do the right thing. As a gay man I appreciate the heroism of what he did. It was obviously not easy and he has paid a high price. As to why he doesn’t out others? He is very clear on that point – public figures who are publicly hypocritical should be outed. Those others who are closeted but who don’t publicly denigrate gays do not need to be outed – they are living their own hell!

]]> By: Angie http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-265096 Angie Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:10:19 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-265096 I dont' agree with what Mike does for a living. I see that some of you are questioning why he exposes religious leaders and I do understand that question. The one thing I see as his reason for exposing these people is that these men are supposed to stand for God and these men take a stand against homosexuality. They stand up in the pulpit and tell their congregation how wrong the lifestyle is and then they do it behind closed doors. These people need to be exposed. I wouldn't want to attend a church where the pastor was a hypocrite. As for athletes and politicians, unless they take a stand against it they have to answer for themselves, they aren't leading a congregation. I dont’ agree with what Mike does for a living. I see that some of you are questioning why he exposes religious leaders and I do understand that question. The one thing I see as his reason for exposing these people is that these men are supposed to stand for God and these men take a stand against homosexuality. They stand up in the pulpit and tell their congregation how wrong the lifestyle is and then they do it behind closed doors. These people need to be exposed. I wouldn’t want to attend a church where the pastor was a hypocrite. As for athletes and politicians, unless they take a stand against it they have to answer for themselves, they aren’t leading a congregation.

]]> By: Keith http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-264456 Keith Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:02:45 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-264456 I would not put you up on a pedestal. You received money for sex. You received money to keep quiet. I think you outed him for yourself not for any selfless act of telling the truth about the man. You are very transparent. You deserve the comments. You made a deal with the devil and you have to pay for the scheming you did. I feel you actually enjoy the turmoil and 7 minutes of fame you have received. I would not put you up on a pedestal. You received money for sex. You received money to keep quiet. I think you outed him for yourself not for any selfless act of telling the truth about the man. You are very transparent. You deserve the comments. You made a deal with the devil and you have to pay for the scheming you did. I feel you actually enjoy the turmoil and 7 minutes of fame you have received.

]]> By: Regator Behind the Blog: Hemant Mehta of the Friendly Atheist — Regator Blog http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-254946 Regator Behind the Blog: Hemant Mehta of the Friendly Atheist — Regator Blog Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:59:54 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-254946 [...] is one in which I talked about why I’m not an angry atheist. I’m also very proud of an interview I did with Mike Jones (Pastor Ted Haggard’s gay male escort)–it went on my site right as Jones’ book [...] [...] is one in which I talked about why I’m not an angry atheist. I’m also very proud of an interview I did with Mike Jones (Pastor Ted Haggard’s gay male escort)–it went on my site right as Jones’ book [...]

]]> By: Pam http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-253621 Pam Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:24:15 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-253621 Why in the world would this guy expose a pastor and not ball players and politicians? What an idiot!!! You should expose everyone equally. He is trying to get 15 minutes of disgrace fame by exposing a pastor. Who cares there are fake idiots in all religions, politics, sports and everywhere. I think it's stupid of him to just pick on religious people. What a shallow thing to do. Why in the world would this guy expose a pastor and not ball players and politicians? What an idiot!!! You should expose everyone equally. He is trying to get 15 minutes of disgrace fame by exposing a pastor. Who cares there are fake idiots in all religions, politics, sports and everywhere. I think it’s stupid of him to just pick on religious people. What a shallow thing to do.

]]> By: Friendly Atheist » Update on Ted Haggard http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-190303 Friendly Atheist » Update on Ted Haggard Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:00:49 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-190303 [...] know how you’ve been wondering for months now what sex-scandalized former pastor Ted Haggard has been up [...] [...] know how you’ve been wondering for months now what sex-scandalized former pastor Ted Haggard has been up [...]

]]> By: John Pritzlaff http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-152687 John Pritzlaff Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:46:44 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-152687 <blockquote>Mike: My confusion with religion is: I pray, I’m spiritual, I have faith. I just don’t know who I pray to. I pray to the universe. The only reason I kind of classify it as “Christian” is that’s just what I was taught. That’s the image I always have in my head, you know, what Christ should’ve looked like. But you know what? I mostly pray right now to my mom. I feel like I pray to her more than anything. It’s just that I know there’s something out there; I just don’t know what it is.</blockquote> Whenever I hear people saying this, I always get frustrated. While most atheists wouldn't pray or say they have "faith" (although there are certain definitions of faith that we do have in common with these people, just not the religious kind), who's to say that the atheist point of view is incompatible with thinking there's "something out there." That something could be love, scientific awe, passion for life, etc. It's not incompatible with atheism. It's just that atheists wouldn't call that "something" God, as we think that's an unjustified and misleading definition for that word. Sadly, most people don't realize this, and that is very frustrating to me. Hell, some atheists don't realize it either.

Mike: My confusion with religion is: I pray, I’m spiritual, I have faith. I just don’t know who I pray to. I pray to the universe. The only reason I kind of classify it as “Christian” is that’s just what I was taught. That’s the image I always have in my head, you know, what Christ should’ve looked like. But you know what? I mostly pray right now to my mom. I feel like I pray to her more than anything. It’s just that I know there’s something out there; I just don’t know what it is.

Whenever I hear people saying this, I always get frustrated. While most atheists wouldn’t pray or say they have “faith” (although there are certain definitions of faith that we do have in common with these people, just not the religious kind), who’s to say that the atheist point of view is incompatible with thinking there’s “something out there.” That something could be love, scientific awe, passion for life, etc. It’s not incompatible with atheism. It’s just that atheists wouldn’t call that “something” God, as we think that’s an unjustified and misleading definition for that word. Sadly, most people don’t realize this, and that is very frustrating to me. Hell, some atheists don’t realize it either.

]]> By: Friendly Atheist » No Porn for You http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-152490 Friendly Atheist » No Porn for You Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:01:12 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-152490 [...] Maybe the AFA and its ally groups should work on having their own members not use hotels for their own personal trysts. [...] [...] Maybe the AFA and its ally groups should work on having their own members not use hotels for their own personal trysts. [...]

]]> By: Robert http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-99372 Robert Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:58:55 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-99372 I met the guy, read the book, but I must say that one part of the book just didn't ring true, and that was about the drugs. It just didn't pass the smell test. In fact, at times Jones seemed to be going out of his way to distance himself from the accusation that he sold drugs to Haggard, presumably so that he wouldn't face drug charges. Too bad because otherwise I would have believed every word of the book. I met the guy, read the book, but I must say that one part of the book just didn’t ring true, and that was about the drugs. It just didn’t pass the smell test. In fact, at times Jones seemed to be going out of his way to distance himself from the accusation that he sold drugs to Haggard, presumably so that he wouldn’t face drug charges. Too bad because otherwise I would have believed every word of the book.

]]> By: Friendly Atheist » Senator Larry Craig Visited Mike Jones (a.k.a. Ted Haggard’s Male Escort) http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/comment-page-1/#comment-74501 Friendly Atheist » Senator Larry Craig Visited Mike Jones (a.k.a. Ted Haggard’s Male Escort) Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:53:22 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/08/09/interview-with-mike-jones-the-man-who-exposed-ted-haggards-hypocrisy/#comment-74501 [...] I interviewed Pastor Ted Haggard’s former male escort Mike Jones a couple months ago, he told me he was sitting on a juicy piece of [...] [...] I interviewed Pastor Ted Haggard’s former male escort Mike Jones a couple months ago, he told me he was sitting on a juicy piece of [...]

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