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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Disgraced US evangelist Ted Haggard, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, said on Sunday that he was guilty of "sexual immorality" and that he had long battled with a "repulsive" side of his life.
"I am guilty of sexual immorality, I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark and I've been warring against it my entire adult life", Haggard said in a letter that was read to his New Life Church in Colorado Springs by a church overseer during a Sunday morning service.
Haggard resigned as president of the influential National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday after being accused by a male escort of having had a sexual relationship with him.
He also agreed to step down as senior pastor of the New Life Church, a 14,000 member "mega-church" which he founded in 1985 and where he is affectionately known as "Pastor Ted.".
Haggard, 50, had initially denied the allegations but began backpedaling on Friday when he admitted to seeking the man at a Denver Hotel for a "massage" and contacting him to buy the drug meth. But he said he had thrown the meth away.
Haggard, with his chiseled features, wide smile and five children, had been a poster boy for the evangelical movement and social conservative causes that have been embraced by the Republican Party.
Conservative Christians are a support base for the Republican Party and President Bush. Evangelical leaders have been urging the faithful to vote in congressional elections on Tuesday with polls showing Republicans could lose control of at least one house of Congress.
They also have encouraged conservative voters in eight states including Colorado to support proposed amendments to ban same-sex marriages.
Embarrassed
In the letter Haggard said he was embarrassed and ashamed and asked the congregation to forgive his accuser, who has been widely quoted as saying he came forward because he was angered by what he perceived as the pastor's hypocrisy on the issue of same-sex marriage.
Haggard has been a vocal opponent of gay marriage and has preached that homosexuality is immoral though he has not been as strident on the issue as other conservative Christians.
The issue is a raw one with many evangelicals who see gay marriage and lifestyles as a threat to the "tractional" family and by extension their vision of a functioning society.
Analysts have been divided about what impact the scandal will have on the polls on Tuesday.
The scandal has shaken New Life Church and the evangelical community in Colorado Springs which is a hive of charismatic Christian activity.
"I'm heartbroken. We're all humans and make mistakes. I believe God can take a bad situation and turn it into something positive. I believe God can restore Ted and his family," said Deena Hinojos, a nurse attending the service that had a full house in the 7,500-seat, cavernous church.
- REUTERS
