Moral Hypocrisy in the Christian Right – Bishop Eddie Long

Giving a whole new meaning for the term missionary….

Some of you may have heard about yet another alleged sexual hypocrite in the Christian right, this time in the guise of multi-millionaire, manipulative sexual predator Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Mega Church in Atlanta. Good old Bishop Eddie Long is one of the most virulent anti-gay African American pastors in the country calling “homosexuality a spiritual abortion”.

Four young men have stepped forward calling him a sexual predator, selecting and grooming young men to become his “spiritual sons” at his church’s YoungFellow Youth Academy for his concubine as soon as they turned sixteen. He allegedly rewarded them for their sexual intimacy with private trips, cars, electronics and other luxury items.  Here is one of his alleged victims, 23 year old Jamal Parris, talking about the man who abused him.   Bishop Long has vowed to fight the accusations but according to reports about his Sunday sermon did not directly address the allegations.

In an example of the ultimate irony, listen to disgraced Pastor Ted Haggard voice his support for Bishop Long during this interview by Anderson Cooper on AC 360.

Here’s what Eugene Robinson had to say about the Bishop and the African American Churches position on homosexuality in his editorial in The Washington Post “Eddie Long isn’t Practicing what he Preaches“.

“The black church in America has long mixed political activism with a deep social conservatism. But while polls show that the nation has become much more understanding and tolerant of homosexuality, the black church has been painfully slow to change.

I’m guessing that maybe Long has some questions of identity to grapple with.  He might choose to seek and confront the answers, or he might not. But meanwhile, African American preachers and worshipers across the nation are watching — and, one hopes, learning…

Nothing he learns about himself can negate all the good works he has done in his ministry — all the people whose lives he has changed with a message of faith and hope. Maybe he could forgive himself. Then maybe he could forgive all the gays and lesbians he so coldly condemns.”