One problem with megachurches is the shysters and pimps who lead them

[CatWoman]

for those who don't know - he is also a mentor of Bernice King -- and both are adamant opponents of gay marriage

2 Men Accused Bishop Eddie Long Of Sexual Abuse



Two Georgia men have filed a lawsuit claiming that prominent Atlanta, Georgia, pastor Eddie Long coerced them into sex.

The suits, filed Tuesday in DeKalb County, allege that Long used his position as a spiritual authority and bishop to coerce young male members and employees of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church into sex.

A spokesman for Long told CNN on Wednesday that the allegations are “a case of retaliation and a shakedown for money by men with some serious credibility issues.”

Long “categorically and adamantly denies these allegations,” said spokesman Art Franklin.

“Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship,” the suits allege.

Long is considered one of the nation’s top black preachers. His church has more 25,000 members, according to the suit, and was the site of Coretta Scott King’s 2006 funeral, attended by then-President George W. Bush and three previous presidents. King was the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The pastor took one plaintiff, Anthony Flagg, 21, on overnight trips to a half-dozen American cities in recent years, Flagg’s suit alleges.

“Long shared a bedroom and engaged in intimate sexual contact with plaintiff Flagg including kissing, massaging, masturbating of plaintiff Flagg by defendant Long and oral sexual contact,” the suit says.

Long took the other plaintiff, Maurice Murray Robinson, 20, to Auckland, New Zealand, in October 2008 for his 18th birthday and engaged in oral sex with him, Robinson’s suit alleges.

Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior. A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine called him “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”


http://majicatl.com/photos/glennwoods/2-men-accused-bishop-eddie-long-of-sexual-abuse/

[Deep13]

1. Yup, that's one of the problems.

As you say, so is their opposition to gay rights.

[Warpy]

2. Some relatives got sucked into one of those places years ago

and bought the whole prosperity theology line. Fortunately, my family didn't produce more than 2 stupid children so the fever lasted only about six months, after which they noticed the only one prospering was the megachurch preacher, handsomely so.

It's really quite a scam, build a big concert type venue on borrowed cash, put on amateur theatricals every week, and collect 10% of everybody's wages before taxes as the price of admission. There are no taxes to pay and nobody ever asks to look at the books. If you get really successful, you can start videotaping the amateur theatricals for some Christian (or even local) station and suck in donations from housebound old people who are desperate to escape a life of poverty but want to hedge their bets on going to hell by bribing their way out beforehand.

Most of those guys are conmen and not true believers and eventually they'll all get found out. Until then, "god" will bless them with Ferraris and gold jewelry and mansions and fat bank accounts in the Caymans.

[sharp_stick]

3. I find it interesting how many

ardent anti-homosexuals seem to eventually pop up as homosexual themselves.

I've long thought that becoming a reactionary asshole was a way to cope with the hatred they feel toward their urges. They hope these urges eventually go away so they can get their golden ticket into heaven but they never do.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Yep. But what amazes me about these charlatans is that so

many otherwise smart people are taken in by them, and become accomplices in the con jobs and abuses by lending legitimacy to them. Wave a cross and many are hypnotized.

[marmar]

5. Oh, Catwoman, maybe he took him to New Zealand to carry his luggage.....

Remember?

[CatWoman]

11. LOL!!!!

Good one, M!!

:rofl:

[Bitwit1234]

6. The one in Minneapolis is mostly responsible for getting Bachmann

elected. This guy goes on his pulpit on TV and tells people to VOTE FOR BACHMANN. And he tells the people in the audience to donate money. He buys boats, cars, houses, airplanes and all the goodies in the name of the church..tax free. Then he rents them back to himself at a very small price. He was supposed to be investigated but some how the IRS won't touch him.

[eallen]

7. "One of the problems with pyramid schemes are the conmen at the top"

Well, yeah.

:hippie:

[Ernesto]

8. Bishop?

Is that like an Admiral in the Swiss Navy?

[Fire1]

9. "Coerced?" Two grown men? I don't think so. n/t

[Lance_Boyle]

12. First, they were underage at the time.

Second, it is *absolutely* possible for a person in a position of authority to coerce a "grown man" to do things he wouldn't otherwise do.

You might have just omitted the word "so" from the end of your subject line and saved me the effort of having to school you.

[Fire1]

14. First, they may have been underage but old enough not to

succumb to "compelling" pressure, if they didn't want to. As for absolute possibilities, *anything* is possible but I think coercion in this instance is highly unlikely. As for your weak attempt at snark, better luck next time.

[Recursion]

10. Did you ever see "Marjoe"?

Great documentary about that world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjoe

[felix_numinous]

15. Holy moly I found Marjoe on you tube

He said his parents held a pillow over his face and held him under water when he forgot his lines during practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bnyNwRKDrY

[L0oniX]

13. It's not just the megachurches. There are wolves, creeps, thieves and pedophiles in all of them.