The Eddie Long Scandal is Tip of the Charismatic Sex-Charged Iceberg

[Joanne98]

'Moral failure in our ranks has become an epidemic-and the only solution is a heaven-sent spiritual housecleaning,' writes Charisma magazine contributor J. Lee Grady
The case of mega-church black minister Bishop Eddie Long - the charismatic pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in suburban Atlanta who is being accused in lawsuits filed by four men of coercing them into having sex with him - is not an anomaly. And the Long scandal is raising a number of serious issues within the evangelical movement including the absurd amount of wealth accumulated by some successful charismatic preachers, and their predilection for sexual shenanigans.

The tales of evangelical preachers involved in sexual scandals pops up fairly often over the course of any given year; think Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard and, more recently, the Lakeland revival's Todd Bentley. According to the Associated Press' Tom Breen, "none has involved a leader as prominent as Long. Over the last 20 years, Long, a black conservative, became one of the most powerful independent church leaders in the country. He led New Birth as it grew from a suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 to a 25,000-member powerhouse with a $50 million cathedral and a roster of parishioners that includes athletes, entertainers and politicians."



'A sinister spirit of perversion has invaded the ranks of charismatic churches,' writes J. Lee Grady."

"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation. We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering."
--Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, August 2005.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/10/1/15177/9104

[stopbush]

1. "Eddie Long is just his porn name." - David Cross on Real Time Friday pm.

The sorry truth is that people who are disposed to believe in gods and religion are also disposed to believe in all kinds of other fantasies, including the fantasy that their shit doesn't stink.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. "We're not just a church, we're an international corporation"

Then pay yer damn taxes.

[SusanaMontana41]

4. I'll second that motion. n/t