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When he was still president of the National Evangelical Association, Ted Haggard wrote The Jerusalem Diet, a weight-loss book. His plan was simple: weigh yourself every single day, first thing in the morning. On those mornings where you weigh even one more pound than your ideal, declare the day a "fat day" and eat only fruits, vegetables, nuts, and water. Continue to do so until the scale again reflects your desired weight. Then do as you will. In the book he tells the story of how he came to decide to share these insights on weight loss with the world. It was at the annual meeting of an unnamed denomination where he was asked to speak to pastors. At the last minute, the denomination's president made a special request:
"I invited you," [his host told Haggard,] "because I do want you to talk about something."
"What do you have in mind?" I wondered why he hadn't mentioned the topic to me earlier. . . .
"Look around," he responded.
I didn't see anything but a banquet room and pastors from all over America eating with their spouses and friends.
"Look again."
I did, and this time I saw it. Everyone in the room was overweight. I turned to him in horror. "You can't ask me to address this subject at your national banquet!"
"This is the acceptable sin in our movement," he said. "Our leaders are so fat that they're sick and dying early. Our churches are a disgrace, because everyone on the platform on Sundays is fat."
I laughed and said, "I do have a plan that makes fat people happy. And when they are happy and hopeful, they can lose weight and improve their lives."
"I know. That's why you are here," he answered, smiling.1
Haggard writes that he accepted the challenge under the condition that he could return the next year and see the results of his speech firsthand.
American Protestants have long been interested in the intersection of food, eating, and religious life. Fasting, long a staple of Christian ascetic practices, was central to the spiritual lives of Puritans and Methodists, who saw in it a way to purify not only the soul but their respective social projects.2 American social movements...