Quitting Time

Maybe we should give the Religious Right a break. They’ve had a tough week what with the thumping the GOP took in the midterm elections. But, this one caught our eye. It surprised us when we read that one of the most vocal religious conservatives of them all, none other than Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, recently decided to throw in the towel. Read on.

1). “Emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to be of help — but the reality is I don’t have the time to devote to such a critical responsibility,” Dobson explained as he recently withdrew from the team overseeing:

A. Investigations into outing gay Republicans in Congress.
B. The promotion of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
C. Strategies for reinvigorating the evangelical base after the recent midterm elections.
D. Counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use.


ANSWER
D: Counseling Rev. Ted Haggard. The counseling process, called restoration, could take years, said H.B. London, vice president for church and clergy at Focus on the Family. The other two members of the team, Pastors Jack Hayford of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, Calif., and Tommy Barnett of First Assembly of God in Phoenix, declined to comment on Dobson’s departure.

Haggard was forced out as senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church he founded on Saturday after a former male escort alleged they had sex repeatedly and that Haggard used methamphetamines.

In a statement read at the church, Haggard confessed to unspecified “sexual immorality,” accepted responsibility for his actions and asked forgiveness.