Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Anti-Gay Pastor Tied To Black Expo Sued For Coercing Young Men To Have Sex With Him
Pastor Eddie Long presides over one of Atlanta's largest black churches. He has led rallies denouncing homosexuality. Now he stands accused of coercing two young men to have sex with him. Pastor Long was a special guest of Indiana Black Expo during the organization's summer festival when 10 young men were shot in downtown Indianapolis. Long spoke out against youth violence following the shootings to WISH-TV.
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A third man has filed a suit as well.
link
I seem to recall several prominent leaders of local black churches speaking out against the HRO when it was being debated in the council a few years back.
This doesn't necessarily bespeak hypocrisy - or unhealthy self-loathing for that matter. Only a person with very low standards always meets them.
It will look more like hypocrisy if (a) what you call his anti-gay comments were couched in terms of "how could anybody even THINK of doing something so gross and depraved" (while personally thinking it was very sexy and attractive) or (b) he now says "well, it's different in my case" or "I was entrapped."
Okay, if these charges are true, it's an abuse of power and predatory. I'm not sure of the ages of the (now three)young men when these things took place, but some of the relationship building allegedly started as young as 14.
Beyond the damage to the kids involved, the abuse of power, and the hypocrisy is another issue: Black churches often focus on homosexuality... meanwhile, single parent families are devastating the Black community as well as Black men.
Related to the lack of parents: Violence in Black communities is rampant - particularly gun violence. School dropout rates are high, unemployment is high, etc.
If I were to prioritize the issues to address in a black church, being gay wouldn't even make the list.
Beyond the personal damage inflicted in this case - the dramatically misplaced priorities is a much greater "crime" than the hypocrisy.
What's more, this church is a prime example of why they need to tax churches. A Bentley?!? Really?!? Why am I forced to support this organization by granting them tax-exempt status?
Why mention Eddie Long in the same breath as IBE? Long is a national figure who had got paid for his participation - like so many other preachers. What's your purpose?
Black Expo receives taxpayer dollars to put on their event every year. This is a person who was paid to speak at this year's event as you note. Fair game.
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