If you haven’t heard about the lawsuits filed against mega-church leader Bishop Eddie Long claiming financial improprieties and sexual harassment…well, you probably will.
Bishop Long heads up one of, if not the, largest black congregations in America…he also has long led a campaign against the LGBT community in general and same-sex marriage in particular. Long, with Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice King by his side, led a march against same-sex marriage in Atlanta a while back…and he has said that “homosexuality” and “lesbianism” are “spiritual abortion”.
Now three young men who were active in Long’s church have filed lawsuits claiming, among other things, that Long pursued them sexually and sent suggestive pictures through his phone, gave them expensive gifts in exchange for sex and used his power to force them into sexual relationships.
Long adamantly denies these claims.
This is shaping up to be one hell of a legal battle in Hotlanta!
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
Homophobia within black churches is a serious problem for a lot of reasons, one being the role churches have traditionally held in black communities. Churches have historically served as the foundation for community organizing in many black communities…they provide social activities for youth and run literacy programs. Many look toward their church for guidance on social issues facing their community…and too many church leaders have led their congregations down Homophobe Avenue, Long chief among them.
That doesn’t make the allegations contained in the lawsuit true…but it does provide some context.
And Long's anti-gayism is an interesting factor...because one of the key ways to distract folks from wondering if a public figure is gay is for that public figure to go forth and preach the gospel of anti-gay fear-based hate.
If I had a dollar for every homophobic politician or public figure that has been outed as gay I’d be able to open a mega-church version of the United Church of Bitchitude and Latter Day Drunks.
The funny thing about this scandal is that one of reasons I’m leaning toward believing the allegations is that Long is so damn anti-gay…and I just can't ignore the Mehlmanification factor in all this.
Sigh.
The sad thing is that this drama, regardless of the outcome, does nothing to address homophobia in black communities or to repair the damage done by so-called leaders like Long or Bernice King - leaders who frame LGBT people as predators and same-sex marriage as a threat to the black community, who have so much power yet chose to use it to stir up hate and fear rather than inspire understanding and empower their congregation to lead with love and peace.
Whether these allegations are true or just an attempt to cash in on some of the bounty Long has amassed by preaching the gospel of prosperity (the man drives a Bentley, for the love of greed…my childhood pastor drove a used Ford, mercy!)...
Yeah, so um…whether or not this shit is true or not, the haze of homophobia will continue to hover over Long’s massive congregation and restrict them from seeing the damage hate does to the community...
...or the impact the tithe-based hustle going down in the pulpit is doing to their pocketbook.
Blink.
14 comments:
Wow. I almost believe it to. In the HBO documentary "outrage", it chronicles of how closet case politicians were generally the most anti-gay and voted against gay rights legislation every time. Fighting against gays while being gay yourself is an overwhelming effective deflection tactic but many of these people truly do hate homosexuality and themselves, that's why their shit is usually so dirty, covert, and usually involved people that they are in a position of power over (prostitutes, children, ect.)
A wide stance knows no color barrier.
Mm-hm. *nods* He's gay.
"If I had a dollar for every homophobic politician or public figure that has been outed as gay I’d be able to open a mega-church version of the United Church of Bitchitude and Latter Day Drunks."
ABB, I'll help you build it and then later you can open a SW MO branch. The shit on my side of the state is just as bad, if not worse.
Usually....where there's smoke, there's fire..Pastor Long's aura has always been disturbing to me. And you're right, he has over 20,000 "followers" and he's teaching hate and fear when it comes to our gay brothers and sisters. What's the difference between the hate and fear being taught and encouraged in the political arena and the hate and fear in the religious "industry?"
Critical thinking goes right out the door when you enter religion, just my opinion...
I'm in Atlanta and his followers LOVE him and it's interesting to see the ignorance that spews out when you say anything against him, even if you're simply trying to think critically in what he's about. They won't allow you to say anything!
If Jesus lived today, I wonder would he be so materialistic? would he be so lavish in his lifestyle? how can you truly effectively help people spiritually (which is different than religion to me, but anyway) if you're bogged down in life's "stuff?" how are you for the people, walking amongst the people (who are usually poor and in need of a word to help them through) riding around in a $350K bentley, I'm not saying a pastor has to be poor...maybe he should though...but all these jet planes, money and power, won't you lose focus along the way???? I'm just saying
please. Long is so queer it's beyond obvious. did y'all *look* at those photos? Miss Thang couldn't have a limper wrist and more effeminate pose. not that there's anything wrong with that, but come on. read joemygod.blogspot.com or pam's house blend. Long is one of a long line of charlatans in the black church, hypocrites and con artists milking the legacy of *other people* and actions that took place 40-60 years ago.
wake up, my Folk. there are so few truly good megachurches out there i don't need all the fingers on one hand to count them.
I watched Eddie Long's sermon online today and if anything leaped out at me, it was the fact that he's not acting like an innocent man. He's acting like a smug criminal [or at best, con man] that is confident that his lawyers are gonna save his butt. He walked around preening and posturing and taking his glasses on and off about a dozen times. For every little thing he did, his congregation clapped and waved and cheered, and all I could say was "WTF?" He never denied the charges and gave some weak comment about 'not being the man portrayed in the media.' An innocent man would have been all over the media LAST WEEK telling everyone in the world... "These are lies!" "I never made these guys do any of these things!" "I can't believe these guys would make this stuff of like this!" But not him, he hides behind lawyers and plays his congregation like puppets on a string - I'm afraid that this guy is nothing more than a charismatic twisted egomaniac.
As a friend put it, "Another day, another anti-gay minister secretly boinking dudes... the new gay stereotype should be a minister
I have definitely gotten to the point that whenever I see anyone who is homophobic I start to wonder about them. It just happens too often that the hate is just a cover-up.
Hi my name is Twitterholic. Exactly, they wouldn't be mad at gay men if they weren't feeling some sort of gayness in their being. LOL. Check out this video I've come across on YouTube that makes fun of gay stereotypes in the media and attempts to paint irony about the situation of gay men in general. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Efbcvfe1GQ
"...he who shouts the loudest, hides the most..."
Tori Amos, entertainer/writer/businesswoman
eddie long is a great name for a gay man, which he is.
A bit of context...from the FBI.
A few years ago I worked with a flaming, right wing, home schooling, Bush loving, white dude.
Well, long story short, I come to find gigabytes of porn on his work computer. In the same sub folder as his "Bible verses" no less. And not just any porn. Child porn. So we call the FBI and they find 14 images of this guy raping his own daughters...aged 5 and 7.
He's in prison now. For a very long time.
When I asked one of the FBI agents about all the holier than thou stuff, here's what he said.
"Oh, that's part of our profiling. It's very common. The more perverted they are on one side of their lives, the more they try to counter balance it with the opposite extreme."
Me thinks the bishop doth protest too much.
I think that the entire situation is insane. I'm still very undecided about how I feel in regards to the situation. I can't say that I'm a long supporter, but I have some doubt towards some of the accusations. I have done a story on Bishop Eddie Long Updates Through November 1, 2010 myself. To me, it's for more a question of moral than one of legality, but that's just this woman's opinion.
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