There’s nothing surprising about this bit of theatrics that I call “The Pastor and the Prostitute.” It’s just a repeat evangelical pastoral (h-m-m-m-m-m) performance with new actors. I admit, it’s human to prescribe right behavior for others, but pursue wrong behavior oneself, though it seems to be diurnal practice for many of us. I myself am inferring a certain “wrongness” as I use the label “prostitute, though Mike Jones has admitted to the euphemistic term, “escort.” I also know that in some cultures, prostitution is seen as a necessary occupation. And, I have myself been tempted by adds in gay newspapers. Ah, there I go with the personal confessional prescribed by our culture – do it before it is done unto you.

Unfortunately, this play will pass through a million permutations as it is performed in every living room in the United States. Mike Jones will be the evil promiscuous gay man in many of these versions, preying on the good pastor and turning him from God, though in others he will be seen as the hero. Ted Haggard for his part will be a saint in some variations and a pathetic self-loathing homophobe in others. In my mind I see “The Pastor and the Prostitute” performed as a tragedy, a Postmodern Shakespearian play complete with comic relief as an over indulgent church grounds keeper (a secret Democrat) takes a leak behind a bush (pun intended) as he expounds on the foolishness of seemingly great religious men. And, of course, the character flaw that initiates the tragic play is not Ted Haggard’s assumed homosexuality, but the lie lived in order to build an anti-gay evangelical ministry of national importance.