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"God said, everybody in here that knows what's right but ain't practicing -- every woman that knows what to do but still wants to act like a 'woman of the 90s' that the world has described -- God says unto every man that knows what God is saying to do, and you're still acting like the boys on the corner, God says you deserve death!" Audio of Eddie Long's sermon at Signorile Show,
The Bishop EDDIE LONG of the Atlanta New Birth Missionary Baptist Church was alleged to have a sexual relationship with three young men between the age of 16 and 20. A fouth young man has came forward, a 22 year old giving more details of the alleged affair:-
There are reports that many more cases are on the way.
However, the Bishop strongly defended himself at the Sunday church service on 26 Sept 2010 declaring that:-
Possible ethical questions are raised on other issues:-
If the allegations were true, the Bishop Long appear to rationalise his behaviour because they were his "Spiritual Sons" and engaging in a sexual relationship was linked to a spiritual life. It became like a private ceremony and covenant where he was to be their spiritual father. For the young man who came forward to these allegations, it would have been very difficult since they would have exposed themselves as well. The Bishop also apparently discouraged the young man from having girl friends. (Deu 17:6 NKJV) "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Ironically, each of the four young man are like Davids fighting against Goliath with his army of 25,000. What evidence does the young man have? staying in the same hotel rooms, going on trips with Bishop Eddie Long, and gifts such as free house rental, tuition fees, and cars. As Bishop Eddie was known to be generous, this can be explained as nothing out of the norm. The greatest support of the case against the Bishop is anecdotal evidence as more and more young man comes forward. He only has five stones to throw and if if there are more young man/boys coming forward each with their own sad stories and details, it builts on the rest of the testimonies. He can "kill off" only five "Goliaths". The bible in Deut 17:6, talks of the testimony of two or three in serious cases demanding capital punishment. This is a serious case that could destroy the ministry of Bishop Eddie Long. If there was only one complaint, it could be easily dismissed. With the accusations now at four, it will be a very long fight for the Bishop. In the mid 1990's, the Bishop had preached a sermon declaring that gays deserved the death penalty much alike the sermons by the Christian Right in Uganda. He is declaring death and judgement on not just one person for his sexual orientation, but thousands of gays. What he planted is now being harvested, a thousands times over with the judgement of death that he proclaimed against gays now coming back a thousand pointed arrows each with the potential to fatally wound his ministry. It took a long time, but justice for the innocent and for the weak to be compensated can never be negated or covered up even by the Church. If the allegations were true, Bishop Eddie Long's mistake was that he should have known that most are born straight and only a few born gay. Chosing straight guys for his royal escort is not wise as these guys would soon have girlfriends and would discard their alleged sugar daddy. If he was indeed gay, he should have chosen gay guys who like chubs and it would be a mutual relationship not requiring gifts of money, cars and houses to buy over affection. True Love cannot be bought just as sexual orientation are natural and one cannot be made straight or gay. Bishop Eddie Long said that by the counsel of his lawyers, he will not be tried by the media but by the court of law. He could not deny that he was gay, nor the "gifts" he apparently made to the boys and the trips that had occured. His lawyers knew that the only way he could probably survive is not to answer questions that might be self incriminating and admit to nothing, for ultimately who can see in the dark of what two man were doing on the same bed. Unless there were night vision cameras in the hotel room or phone voice recording, nothing could be proven. For the young men to come out against the Bishop Eddie Long in the process revealing themselves and be willing to be cross examined even knowing that the evidence may not be sufficient adds to the credibility of their claim. The 4 young man had everything to loose in coming forward whereas they could have kept quiet and continue to enjoy the gifts from Bishop Long. They were willing to stand up for justice. It is a reminder to the gay community who had so much of their lives stolen by the Christian Right to take up the step of faith to stand and be counted even though we may loose the fight but never the war. If we do not stand up, we will let the likes of Bishop Eddie Long continue to proclaim death sentences over gays. We must proclaim the true Gospel founded on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ showing His love, grace and mercy for the GLBT community that we too are sons and daughters of God. |