Hypocrite Southern Baptist Leader Resigns 48 Hours After Sex Arrest

[Imagine My Surprise]

Hypocrite Southern Baptist Leader Rev. Lonnie Latham resigned as pastor from the South Tulsa Oklahoma Baptist Church 48 hours after he was arrested on Wednesday seeking oral sex with an undercover officer.

At the time of his arrest, Latham claimed he was "set up", and had been "pastoring to police"-- despite being arrested in the parking lot of a popular gay resort 88 miles away in Oklahoma City.

As a member of the powerful Southern Baptist Executive Committee, Latham was instrumental in directing its homophobic policies towards gays and lesbians, fostering the notion that gays are welcome IF they accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour, which will automatically convert them into heterosexuals, as well.

Based on his OWN words, it would appear that Rev. Latham was himself not a Christian.

Especially interesting, too, when you get into the Baptist's non-sense theological theories of "once saved/always saved".

In addition to resigning from his post as pastor, he resigned his roles from the Oklahoma State and Southern Baptist Convention.

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/eclips.asp?clipid=1779

[SPKrazy]

1. Adios!

don't let the door hit ya on the way out!

[EST]

2. That little creep has short circuited all the

Laughter and fun we could have at his expense. This bunch is like the hydra, chop off one self loathing, guilt riddled, fear emasculated crap head and another schizophrenic paranoiac will pop up to take his place.

[Imagine My Surprise]

5. Rev. Fred Phelps leaps to mind

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Somehow I doubt we will catch him picking up male prostitutes

:rofl:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

17. Phelps and Brother Lay-them are ordained by the same denomination

The Southern Baptists

[NaturalHigh]

20. Phelps in NOT an ordained Southern Baptist minister.

Please get your facts straight. Although he call his church a "Baptist" church, he has no affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. It is mostly made up of his relatives and in-laws.

I realize there is a tendency on DU to look down on Southern Baptists, but we are not all like Phelps. Personally, I despise the man.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

21. Sorry, Natural High

but you're wrong on this one. His ordination came from the Southern Baptist Church.

Westboro Baptist isn't a SoBapCon church, but the Southern Baptists ordained him as a "minister." And they have *never* withdrawn that ordination. That makes them complicit with him as far as I'm concerned.

As a recovering Southern Baptist, I make it a point to have my facts straight when I talk about them.

[NaturalHigh]

23. I did not know that Phelps was an ordained Southern Baptist

minister. Frankly, I still have a hard time believing that.

I'm a Southern Baptist, and I do not believe that "God hates fags," as Phelps claims. I've also never heard any other Southern Baptists make that statement.

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Oh, if he'd only stuck it out till Sunday....

I suspect his sermon would have been a doozie. :rofl:

[Imagine My Surprise]

6. Frankly, I'm surprised he resigned so quickly...

must be a pretty open and shut case.

[BrotherBuzz]

10. Kinda like the zipper in his fly?

:shrug:

[triguy46]

24. Kinda quick after his statement that he was "set up."

He's gonna plead, pay the fine, then be reincarnated to "prove" you can be "cured" of being gay. He'll make tons of money on the evangelical rubber chicken circuit, OOPS, there is no support for "rubber" anything among evangelicals...bareback chickens..

[GrpCaptMandrake]

16. He *did* stick it out

That was the problem for the dear, godly, upstanding, moral, republican fambly valyooz Reverend Lay-them!

:spray: :rofl:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Don't let the door hit ya where the Lord split ya!

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. And Jesus puked

[Imagine My Surprise]

8. Loved it!

}(

[karlrschneider]

11. On one level, I pity this guy. He never managed to get up the courage to

admit his own identity because of...shame? guilt? fear? Whatever. I personally know at least 3 guys who spent the greater part of their lives living that same lie. All three of these friends married and fathered children, (Actually, one of them is my own brother in law) to project the 'proper' image I suppose. God knows how many others are still trapped in the same kind of peer-powered snare. So we figuratively crucify this guy and I have to admit a touch of Schadenfreude because of his well-known anti-gay rhetoric but I have to wonder how he will manage to put what life he has back together.

Obviously, all the heartache that comes from these kinds of situations would be unnecessary if people would just get over their fucking judgmental attitudes and let everyone be. I can't stop without a :grr:

[Imagine My Surprise]

12. As a former Southern Baptist minister who is gay...

and who LEFT that scene rather than live a lie, I have more compassion for those who were harmed by his intolerant hypocrisy than I do for him.

[Indykatie]

14. He Initially Said

his congregants would understand once they learned the whole story. Guess he thought better of using that strategy to hang around and tough it out.

[Imagine My Surprise]

13. People commit suicide over notions that he professed...

}(

[Maat]

15. Boy, I bet you have an interesting story to tell!

You sound like a person of courage - someone who has learned to affirm who he really is.

I have also; I'm not gay, but I've learned to accept myself for the feminist that I am.

Fortunately, I left the hardliners when I was 15 years of age (left a Presbyterian church). Today, I attend the very progressive Church of Religious Science. I've made it clear to my family that I cannot attend a church in which homosexuality, choice, and female leadership and equality are not affirmed.

I guess as we get older, we're less willing to live the life SOMEONE ELSE planned for us.

[PBass]

18. He had no alibi

"must be a pretty open and shut case."

Someone called in to Air America, said he was from the area where the arrest took place. The caller said where the arrest happened is a well-known gathering place for gays to hang out, and there is no way in hell that anybody could be there 'accidently'. You can't just wander by, and end up there.

[Maat]

19. Nope.

No doubt in my mind that someone is lying to himself about his true orientation. Sad. We need to create a society in which people can be true to themselves (an affirming one); however, most ironically, this guy is fighting that!

[tenshi816]

22. According to Stephanie Miller,

the hotel in question was the Habana Inn in Oklahoma City (http://www.habanainn.com). Their website says they're the "Southwest's Largest Gay Resort Hotel". I guess Latham just decided to throw himself right into the thick of things for his little "pastoring to the police" project, 'cause you know, with him being such a straight guy and all, that he never would've normally chosen a hotel catering to a gay clientele. :sarcasm:

[Sequoia]

25. Welcome to DU PBass

Almost called you B Pass as in By Pass. Go figure.