February 2, 2009 | 3:10 pm

A new accuser for haggard Ted Haggard

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Last week a 25-year-old former church aide told a Colorado Springs radio station that Ted Haggard, the disgraced former pastor and National Association of Evangelicals president—once one of the most influential Christians in America—had performed a “sex act” in front of him in 2006. What wans’t clear was why Grant Haas was revealing this info now? The AP reports:

The pastor’s dramatic fall began in November 2006 when a Denver male prostitute alleged a cash-for-sex relationship with Haggard. Haggard confessed to undisclosed “sexual immorality” and resigned as president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals and pastor of New Life Church.

The new revelations involve Grant Haas, who told the TV station that he met Haggard in 2005 when he was 22. He said he told Haggard that he had been kicked out of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for “struggles with homosexuality.”

“It seemed like at that moment his eyes lit up and his whole attitude towards me changed,” he told the station. Reached by text message Monday, Haas agreed to be identified by the Associated Press. Haggard’s statement also identified him.

Haas said he contacted the church after the Haggard scandal in November 2006.

The church has said it struck a legal settlement with the man—it has not named Haas—in 2007 that paid him for college tuition and counseling as long as he did not speak publicly about the relationship. Brady Boyd, Haggard’s successor as pastor at New Life, called it “compassionate assistance—certainly not hush money.”

Haggard hasn’t really left the limelight since his fall. Lately he’s been working the television speaking circuit, in the run-up to HBO’s documentary “The Trials of Ted Haggard.”

“Haggard certainly hasn’t been restored,” his former writer and editor wrote for Slate last week. Patton Dodd, now at Beliefnet, continued:

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February 2, 2009 | 2:38 pm

South African politician: Jewish money ‘controls America’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

In South Africa last month, the deputy foreign minister echoed a statement that we’ve heard voiced a bit more frequently lately: that Jewish money dominates U.S. foreign policy. (This may seem like old news, but, as you’ve probably realized, I’ve been a bit distracted.) Here’s what led the Jewish Board of Deputies to file a complaint of hate speech in South Africa:

On Jan. 14, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatima Hajaig told a pro-Palestinian rally that Jews controlled America “no matter which government comes into power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush.”

“The control of America, just like the control of most Western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money,” she said. “If the Jewish money controls their country, then you cannot expect anything else.”

A local Muslim television station, Channel Islam International, aired Hajaig’s comments as part of its rally coverage.

The rally, held during Israel’s three-week operation in Gaza, was organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, a partner of the ruling African National Congress party. Other sponors included the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, the South Africa Communist Party—also an ANC government partner—and the South Africa Council of Churches.

“We haven’t seen such brazen Jew-baiting from a senior government representative in South Africa for at least 50 years,” David Saks, the associate director of the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies, told JTA. “What was especially troubling about it was the raucously enthusiastic response from the large audience.”

Bernard Madoff’s alleged crimes also were met with a “raucously enthusiastic response,” at least online. But that can be attributed to the schadenfreude surrounding Jews and money.

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February 1, 2009 | 7:02 pm

Super Bowl Sunday special

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Football really is the American religion. I don’t anticipate we’ll see any religious-themed ads during Super Bowl LXIII—not when it costs $3 million for 30 seconds—but the above spot from Apple is one of the all-time classics. I, however, am still partial to the E-Trade monkey and baby.

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