Bishop Eddie Long Denies Sexual Abuse as Plaintiffs' Lawyer Promises More Evidence

Well, I'm sold. He proved his heterosexuality when he kissed his his wife onstage, judging by the reaction of the congregation. Any guy with two beards is man enough for me.

Here is the interview, mentioned earlier, with one of Bishop Longs accusers, Jamal Parris.

reply to post by Hefficide

This is your evening news? That's really out for mainstream .
I'll admit at first I groaned when they used the "call me Daddy" bit, but after they ambushed the guy, I felt pretty creeped out. He's telling the truth or he's a better liar than the "Bish"(which sounds eerily like a slurred version of another word).
Growing up gay and Baptist, I can't think of any verse that would coerce someone to have gay sex with a preacher. I'm not religious, but I'd rather they say "brainwashed". Saying things like "used scripture to seduce" almost sounds like an accusation against the book. Not fair, in my opinion.

reply to post by 23refugee


It is a powerful interview, isn't it? This young man does come across as very sincere to me.

As for cherry picking scriptures to seduce...

I can't, off hand, think of any that would work. But, having said that, Bishop Long is from a "school" for lack of a better word, of thought referred to as "prosperity gospel ministers". In that regard, they cherry pick scriptures and suggest that Jesus was a very, very wealthy person and that his message was that God will make those that he loves rich, in worldly things as well.

Bishop Long is quite well trained in twisting the words in the Bible to suit his own desires. Applying this to sex probably wouldn't be too challenging for him.

If it's published, at any point, I will post, here, referencing the scriptures supposedly used to accomplish this.

And the story gains momentum - making CNN international...

Accuser's message for Bishop Eddie Long: 'You are a monster'

"I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head, I cannot forget the smell of his cologne and I cannot forget the way that he made me cry many nights when I drove in his cars on the way home," Jamal Parris, 23, told a WAGA reporter who traveled to Colorado to interview him.

Parris, a former church employee and personal assistant to Long, filed one of four lawsuits last week accusing the Baptist televangelist of coercing young male church members into having sex with him.

While Longs camp says:

Long's spokesman, Art Franklin, has said that the pastor "categorically and adamantly denies" the allegations, adding that they were "a case of retaliation and a shakedown for money by men with some serious credibility issues."

Source

The floodgates of information in this case appear as if they just might be getting ready to open. I'll keep up with it as best I can for my fellow ATSers.

reply to post by Hefficide


We're at the point where something has got to give... so much "categorical denials" on one side and compelling allegations on the other...

On the edge of my seat...

Originally posted by Hefficide
Here is the interview, mentioned earlier, with one of Bishop Longs accusers, Jamal Parris.

Wow. That guy is so compelling.

The way he described how Long would step in as a desperately needed father figure for these boys and then attach sex as a stipulation of a continued relationship with him is just diabolical.

When Long says, "I am not the man you see on the television." it makes me wonder if, subconsciously, he really means that he is not the man he has portrayed himself to be during the Sunday morning televised New Birth Baptist Church service.

Another interesting dynamic of this case that almost snuck by me: As mentioned already, at least one of the young men accusing Eddie Long of sexual impropriety has been charged with burglarizing Longs office. What I didn't know is that Long, about a month ago, tried to have the charges dropped.

DA: Bishop Long tried to have burglary charges dropped

Despite the personal intervention of Bishop Eddie Long, the DeKalb County district attorney will proceed with a case against two men accused of breaking into Long's office at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, the chief assistant DA said Monday.

“He did request we not prosecute both parties,” Geary told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday.

Keyes-Fleming, who resigned to take a job with the Environmental Protection Agency, denied that request. The acting district attorney also wants the case to move forward, Geary said.
“The file is still open and we have no intent to drop the charges,” Geary said.

But here's the part that I find most interesting...

Robinson and Anthony Boyd were charged with breaking into Long’s office and taking an iPod, iPad and jewelry, according to a police report.(emphasis mine)

Robinson’s attorney, B.J. Bernstein, said Robinson, 20, committed the burglary out of “retaliation” after learning that Long was involved with other men.

Source

Now, give this information, one has to wonder just what Maurice Robinson expected to find on the iPod and/or iPad, and if anything incriminating or compromising is indeed upon these devices.

The plot thickens - even I did catch onto this fact two days late!

_________

Some more interesting information from a separate source:

In 2004, Long’s ministry received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Administration of Children & Families under the Bush Administration. What was the money for? Bill Pierce, a spokesperson for the Health & Human Services office, said at the time that Eddie Long’s organization received the money as a faith-based, “individual development account” grant.

The question is what type of “faith” and what type of “individual development” was Long really doing with federal funds? Long is cited in 2007 telling his congregation in a sermon his approach to faith at the time. He said that society currently is “raising our young boys to be just like the women. We keep telling men to get in touch with their [sweetens his voice] sensitive self. The problem today and the reason society is like it is, is because men are being feminized and women are being masculine. You can not say, ‘I was born this way.’ … I don’t care what scientists say.”

“Defendant Long uses monetary funds from the accounts of Defendant New Birth and Defendant Longfellows … to entice the chosen Spiritual Sons with cars, clothes, jewelry and electronics.” “Defendant Long’s Spiritual Songs are taken on public and private jets to U.S. and international destinations house in luxury hotels and given access to numerous celebrities including entertainment stars and politicians.”

Source

So, tax money? Celebs and politicians? It was clear that Long associated with some powerful people, but now it's implied that his young "companions" did as well? Now this is getting very, very interesting indeed.

A million free dollars, of our tax money, from the U.S. Administration of Children & Families???

Ouch.

Originally posted by Hefficide
The plot thickens - even I did catch onto this fact two days late!

Oh yeah. You know he didn't want it pursued because of either A) What was on the iPod and iPad or B) He would use the fact that he got the investigation to go away as a tool of manipulation to get the young men to stay quiet.

I found this interesting also:



There are several high profile people within the black community who do not support Long, but mostly it pertains to the Prosperity Doctrine. The fact the Bond was so adamantly against Long's stance on homosexuality at the time of CSK's death was very prescient.

People know. They always do. And when they know, they tend to talk, especially when the jig is up. I would be willing to bet there are at least several people who enabled or facilitated this behavior by Long and have a lot more details to add to the story.

ETA: Sorry! Rick Sanchez makes me hurl too. LoL!

Originally posted by Hefficide


Now, give this information, one has to wonder just what Maurice Robinson expected to find on the iPod and/or iPad, and if anything incriminating or compromising is indeed upon these devices.

Could info that is on a stolen device be even used as evidence or admissable in a legal proceeding?? I don't know enough, I could see the case being made against using it.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Wow. I skimmed over some text references to Julian Bonds refusal to attend the service, but I wish I would have taken the time to search the videos. Great find!!!

Did you catch that Mr Bond effectively called Long out for being homosexual? Or was that just me?

reply to post by pavil


I believe that it would be inadmissible in court.

But in the court of public opinion? It could bring down a King, much less a Bishop. And then there's the potential for a civil trial by jury. Those often ignore technicalities and award huge damage settlements based upon their impressions of reality more than upon legalisms.

Fortunes and a lot of power are at play here. I honestly doubt this will reach a criminal court... At least as a sex case.

Another update: A link to a PDF of the letter that Senator Grassley mailed to Bishop Long on behalf of the Senate Finance Committee in 2007.

PDF of letter.

reply to post by Hefficide


This is a fold in the story becouse it may allow the gov an ingress point to come in and start tossing the furniture around. Not to mention the clear seperation of church and state issues.

Many were all giddy that the gov was passing out fat stacks all over the place for many faith based projects. Others warned that taking this money wasnt a good idea for any number of resons but were called assorted names by these cash recipients.

Just thought I'd add this to the mix.

I was watching CNN saturday evening and saw Don Lemon talking with some of the church goers, all younger, defending the "Bishop"

He even admits to being molested when younger, for the first time on TV, and that he didnt even admit to his mother until he was 30.

He said the allegations about how "Bishop" got their trust "sounds about right"

Don is usually very careful about what he says on TV, this was my nail in the coffin for "Bishop"...assuming what is being said is true.

anyway, here is the vid:

I say hang him anyway! Like we dont have enough people stealing our hard earned money in Government. The IRS steals as much as they can, Obama is stealing even more for his medical aid for everyone, food and citizenship for anyone from another country; and then you get home and find that you have to give what is left to a wannabe priest who could not make it in the real house of sin (Catholicism).

A Bentley? why does a pastor need the church to buy a Bentley.- hang him

Originally posted by Hefficide
Bishop Long is quite well trained in twisting the words in the Bible to suit his own desires. Applying this to sex probably wouldn't be too challenging for him.

Isn't that what pretty much all Christians do?

Or at least regurgitate someone else's twistings?

Anyways, after watching these videos I can plainly see the guilt written all over this guys face. It's a shame the prosecution can't come with anything concrete to take this turd burglar down.

Originally posted by Brood

Originally posted by Hefficide
Bishop Long is quite well trained in twisting the words in the Bible to suit his own desires. Applying this to sex probably wouldn't be too challenging for him.

Isn't that what pretty much all Christians do?

Or at least regurgitate someone else's twistings?

Anyways, after watching these videos I can plainly see the guilt written all over this guys face. It's a shame the prosecution can't come with anything concrete to take this turd burglar down.

To be fair, that trait is not specific to Christians, but to anyone who isn't interested in cultivating their faith, just pointing to it as a source of authority once they feel they have "found the truth". From a "spiritual perspective" this is what is behind the phrase "If you meet the buddha on the road, kill him".

Just sayin'

Apparently he has been on the ethical radar for a while now:

"Spiritual Amway" - Eddie Long's Church-Based Financial Pyramid Spans US

Millions of dollars in church-based income. A $375,000 Bentley. Mansions. Even by the often lavish standards of high-profile megachurch pastors, Bishop Eddie Long's lifestyle seems extravagant. Where does all the money come from? The members of his 25,000 member New Birth church near Atlanta? No. As Talk To Action contributor Rachel Tabachnick details, in a new two part series [part 1, part 2], Bishop Long is spiritually authority over the pastors of a sprawling network of 275 churches across America, in 38 states including Alaska, and these pastors are instructed to all tithe to a network under Eddie Long's control - The Father's House...

Eddie Long and C., Peter Wagner are dominionists - they want to extend church authority over every sphere of society including the political realm. The strongly anti-democratic nature of dominionism comes out perhaps most strikingly in the doctrine of "spiritual fatherhood" that's now in mainstream media parlance especially due to the fact that Eddie Long has been accused of coercing sex from his "spiritual sons."

Bishop Eddie Long represents a gathering trend in American evangelicalism - the anti-democratic concentration of authority under fast rising church networks under the authoritarian control of self-made "apostles" :

Bishop Eddie Long may or may not be guilty of the charges of abusing his authority and having sexual relationships with four young men. However, the current Dominionist trend results in congregations where members are supposed to submit to the almost absolute authority of their anointed leaders, a change that removes the congregation as a balance or check to the power of the pastor. Long claims spiritual authority over more than his New Birth mega-church in Lithonia, Georgia. He is the 'apostolic authority' over churches in The Father's House network, including 79 churches in Georgia alone. Many evangelical churches are shifting away from their traditional democratically governed structures. A model for making the transition was the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, formerly led by Ted Haggard (who defended Long in broadcasts over the weekend). Haggard wrote his 1998 book The Life Giving Church as a guide to pastors in making the transition to what he and his colleagues dubbed 'New Apostolic' churches and networks…

...Once a church has shifted to this model, the pastor can no longer be hired and fired by the membership but becomes the authority over his flock. Only his overseers or spiritual authority figures can remove or discipline him. In these networks an apostle (or bishop in some cases) provides spiritual or apostolic "covering" over others...

...The "Spiritual Father" concept, as Tabachnick relates, is part of the "Discipleship and Shepherding" movement that erupted out of a small but astonishingly influential Ft. Lauderdale ministry during the early 1970's.

The movement spread so explosively across America and grew so extreme that, as author Sara Diamond described in her groundbreaking 1989 book Spiritual Warfare, Pat Robertson, who along with his wife Dee Dee had been close to the "Fort Lauderdale Five" who launched the Discipleship and Shepherding movement, became sufficiently alarmed that in 1975 he tried to squash it. As Diamond quoted Robertson's internal 700 Club memos,

"The so-called 'submission-shepherding' cult is vastly worse than anything I could have conceived of...
...In these cells, each member is under total domination by the shepherd. The shepherd can forbid the husband and wife from living together.... When one man said he would not be under subjection to any man, he was told, ` you will be ruined spiritually, financially, and ruined physically.' "

reply to post by kosmicjack


I wonder if we are fighting terrorist in wrong "areas", we are full of them within our own communities and they do not have to use bombs to instigate terror, they have the power of manipulating God and religion to do that, but then again isn't that was is all about?

What kind of people fall blindly for this "messiahs and leaders", only those that need help thinking for themselves.