I wanted to wait a few days before I spoke on this(for a number of reasons). I believe now to be the right time for me to express my feelings. As you may well know Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, passed away on January 15th, 2017. Long was a well known and charismatic speaker whose church boasted over 20K members. Eddie Long was also known for aggressively denouncing homosexuality. From the pulpit, he consistently bashed the LGBT community and lead the now infamous march against same sex marriage. As you also may well know in 2010 Long was accused of using his influence and power to pressure several young men into sexual relationships with him. They filed a lawsuit against Long and he and the church reached an out of court settlement with the young men. The terms of the settlement were undisclosed. Eddie Long's passing and the reactions to his passing in my view has once again exposed two very terrible truths not only about him, but about the church in general. Two terrible truths that much be unpacked, discussed, and acknowledged.
1. The Hypocrisy of the Church. Eddie Long publicly bashed, berated, and condemned the LGBT community on a regular basis. Now some would argue that he was speaking from scripture. I'm not going to argue with that. However it must be noted that Long did not receive the same condemnation from the church that he and they leveled onto the LGBT community. When it was clear that Long had indeed groomed and sexually assaulted these young men the church shifted their talking points to forgiveness. Scriptures that were used to condemn were replaced with scriptures speaking against judgment and scriptures speaking of love and forgiveness. This deep and terrible hypocrisy is beyond shameful. It does a terrible disservice to the church and to Long's victims. You cannot condemn the LGBT community and then wrap your arms around and extend love to a hypocritical child molester. It is a terrible, horrible look and speaks ill of the church like you wouldn't believe.
2. There is an "Eddie Long" in Every Major Church in the Country. Eddie Long was a despicable human being. There is no other way to put it. He used his power, influence, stature, and wealth to groom and condition young men and then use them for sex. Its disturbing, its heinous, and its outrageous. What's even more disturbing in my view is the fact that there is an "Eddie Long" in just about every church in the country(if not the world). We all know it to be true, even those who refuse to admit it. The church is a breeding ground for sexual predators and every knows this. In fact, those who refuse to speak about it or admit it are the ones enabling men like Eddie Long. Our children pay with devastating trauma for that silence. We reward these "Eddie Longs" with the bodies of our kids. It's a horrible, vicious cycle that absolutely must come to an end. There is an Eddie Long hiding in plain sight in every church in America. Yours too. You just don't want to admit it.
What's more, that's exactly what the Eddie Long in your church is counting on. This needed to be said. Long was a sexual predator. We do not owe him grief or reverence. The fact that he was a minister should not shield him from the truth. In fact, BECAUSE he was a minister we should be furious at his behavior. Many people will tell you to respect the dead or not to judge. I'm not one of those people. I'm not about to sanitize the actions of a child molester. We should not only examine the terrible behavior of Long, but of Christians who are now engaging in an almost repugnant display of hypocrisy. Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @DocSinn On FB https://www.facebook.com/officialdocsinn
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