The furore over Mr. Ted Haggard's re-emergence in the media having died down, there is one aspect to his story that is worth commenting on from a freethought perspective.  As recounted to Oprah, he was traveling on a flight to Florida, sat next to his wife when in the book he was reading he came across a passage that caused him to finally realize he absolutely had to tell the truth. What was the book he was reading? Obvious, right? Must have been the Bible. What else could have caused Mr. Haggard to tell the truth?

Surely, after having read the Bible daily for decades, with all the moral truths and descriptions of how to live a life, surely one of those passages finally hit home and caused him to tell the truth? Doesn't one of the Ten Commandments actually cover this situation anyway?

Wrong.

Mr. Haggard was reading "The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything"- a business book about business (and personal) relationships. I believe Mr. Covey is a religious person himself, but this book is most certainly a business book . . . and most definitely NOT the Bible.

How is it that the (former) leader of an entire religious movement, not just a church, was unable to find direction in the book of books on such a simple matter in life? This small and little-noticed fact in Mr. Haggard's story seems utterly astounding. If the Bible is unable to help a man understand that telling the truth is a pretty basic moral thing to do .... of what use is it?

Our knowledge about the world around us is constantly changing. To a Freethinker it is not surprising in the least that a man would find the insight he needs from a modern day book. The Bible may have some passages of beauty, but as a guide and a compass to living a moral life in the 21st century? Not so useful.

(Mr. Haggard, if by some quirk of fate you actually read this, please come visit us - really. You will find a group of moral, loving, good-living people who are very able to accept differences in others - and who draw their knowledge from many, many books and sources)