MSNBC's Rita Cosby talked to Dr. James Dobson on Saturday, Nov. 4, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, about the allegations against Rev. Ted Haggard.
Below is a transcript of their conversation:
DR. JAMES DOBSON: Well the allegations are very, very troubling. I want to emphasize that they are not yet confirmed and so I'm not assuming the worst, but it does not look good and I think we have to acknowledge that. And to that degree, this is a very sad day for us here in Colorado Springs, and indeed throughout Christiandom.
RITA COSBY, MSNBC HOST: You know, you put out a statement earlier supporting him and now we're learning that even Reverend Haggard himself is admitting that he did something, that he bought methamphetamines one time, when he says he went to a hotel room with a male escort for, quote, a massage. You know, how bad does this look?
DOBSON: Well, it looks terrible. Again, I don't want to jump to conclusions because you can sometimes be very wrong about things like this, but I also don't want to, you know, white-wash it either because it just does not look good and we are very, very concerned here.
COSBY: Yes, how concerned are you personally? You know, if a fellow Christian leader is found to have been soliciting a male prostitute and buying, drugs that's got to be hard.
DOBSON: Well, I am heartsick over it and if it is shown to be true, then there are major implications for the Christian community, for the cause of Christ, for Ted himself and for his very sweet wife Gail, that we are all so very fond of, and for the church. I mean, this has wide ranging implications.
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