Please read this full article some excerpts of which follow:
In a 2007 report, the Southern Poverty Law Center described Long as "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement." The report quotes a Long sermon in which he targets lesbian behavior.
"It is the most unattractive thing I have ever seen, when I see women wearing uniforms that men would wear, and women fighting to get in the military!" Long shouted to his congregation then. "The woman gets perverted to turn towards woman … and everybody knows it's dangerous to enter an exit! And everybody knows, lady, if you go to the store and buy these devices [marital aids], it's Memorex! It ain't real!"
The audience, seated in a congested sanctuary, erupts in laughter. [And these haters profess to be Christians and do so with a straight face!] But what Long says next is no joke.
"God says you deserve death!"
Also read this article entitled, “Ministering Treachery”, The Truth Concerning Bishop Eddie Long’s Spiritual Wilderness that further fleshes out this issue.
Again, if these allegations are factual (and I personally believe that they are), the issue isn't his being closeted; it isn't the fact of his hypocrisy.
The issue is the evil perpetrated upon LGBT people by clergy and others who externalize their psychic pain and/or self-loathing and/or hate that resides in their hearts which causes untold damage to LGBT people, and these wolves in sheep's clothing have the temerity to spew their homophobic venom in the name of God.
Venomous homophobic rhetoric spewed in the name of God meets material and/or psychological and/or social needs that are antithetical to anything and everything that Jesus teaches those who are His disciples, and it's high time that all people of good will, Gay or not, understand this very important fact!
8 comments:
Amen
I think there is a lack of thinking-through and taking responsibility for ones own behavior amongst those who demonize LGBT people...I believe they think it´s ok to keep up the smearing campaign of disturbed childish bullying and abusing others...I believe that tormenting LGBT people is as common and vile character indication as one finds amongst murderers and thieves...it´s a crime to initiate fear and hate against LGBT sisters, brothers and everyday fellow human beings...worse, it´s slothful and self-destructive to not be accountable for ones vicious acting out against innocents/exploited others.
My opinion only but I believe this old snake in the grass game must be faced and one by one bigots are being forced to see the innermost reality of their own loathing of others...it´s like lancing a poisoness boil.
Thanks Len. "It's like lancing a poisonous boil" hits the nail on the head! People who condemn the love/sex lives of others show themselves to harbor poisonous boils of hate and/or emotional/sexual dysfunctions, and it's high time that the true source(s) of that venom of homophobia were directly and frequently addressed. Best wishes, Jerry.
That's a huge boil to lance . . . damn near all of mainstream Catholicism and Protestant faith communities, not to mention orthodox Judaism and Islam. Frankly, I think some of these religious institutions would rather cease to exist than renounce their hatred of blended gender people; and frankly, I'd be more than happy to see them cease to exist!!! Of what use are false prophets and corrupted doctrine to the Lord? None whatsoever.
Hi Don Charles: The "us against them" mentality flourishes within all too many religious structures, and minority groups that are viewed as safe to persecute are used as fodder to get people to put money into the collection plates; enable the clergy to give vent to their animus against those with whom they disagree; enable dysfunctional people to have a platform to both have undeserved credibility and to often pervert their religion to be in accord with their own prejudices. You're absolutely right: exclusion and hatred are certainly not of God, and we would be far better off if these homophobic religious structures ceased to exist! Best wishes, Jerry.
I get so tired of people who say being gay is going to send someone straight to hell.
Here's what the Bible (The New Testament) says...
"If you believe Jesus is Christ, then you are an heir of God...Not by works, lest any man should boast."
It doesn't say ANYONE BUT GAY PEOPLE. It includes EVERYONE. That always got me. I don't understand how everything tha has ever mentioned anything about two men or two women is the only sin God doesn't overlook. The Bible doesn't back that lie up, and that's what it is...a lie.
If we base Leviticus 18:22 (about two men who lie together are worthy of death, we'll have to include all the shellfish eaters, gold-wearing women, non-virgins on their wedding night) on whether someone's getting into Heaven, none of us are going. Those sins are always "looked over" by God and will not keep you from going to Heaven...but being gay does and is included in that long list? That's like saying only one of the Ten Commandments is a big sin but God overlooks the others.
I think the ignorance and misunderstanding of others make homosexuality impardonable in God's Eyes--not God Himself. He died so we all can be worthy. (Galatians 6:25).
Thanks Anonymous! Being Gay is not a sin, even if one reads the clobber passages in the Bible literally. For example, Lev. 18:22 reads: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination."
In those days, women were considered to be inferior to men and mere property. Hence, a man acting like a woman in that society was considered to be shameful and acting like the Canaanites did and, hence, not to be done.
If homosexuality, as we currently understand the term, was at issue, Lev. 18:22 would have read: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind." The rest of that verse wouldn't have been necessary.
Moreover, Christians are not under the dictates of the Old Testament, or under the Law; we are under the protection of the Blood of Christ, saved by God's grace that we appropriate through our faith in God and in Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross to cleanse us from ALL of our sins.
Just as Lev. 18:22 is misused by professing Christian homophobes, the other clobber passages they use to falsely condemn Gay people are similarly distorted to meet their preconceived and often hateful prejudices. Best wishes, Jerry.
Jerry,
I knew Eddie Long wasn't going to step down. He's much too arrogant. What lemmings his congregants are, with all their cheering and clapping for him.
Hi Don Charles: Who else but lemmings would affirm and enable any pastor to live so lavishly and, no matter what his betrayal to his rhetoric, greatly support him? And they'll still remain homophobic, even if it's incontrovertably shown that he took advantage of these young men by having sexual relations with them as their pastor.
As Frederick Schiller said, "Against stupidity, even the gods contend in vain."
Also, with the kind of money and support he has, I wouldn't be surprised if he and his other clergy supporters wound up paying off his accusers, and this whole issue would then disappear. And then the same old homophobic rhetoric would then continue to be spewed by these "men of the cloth." Best wishes, Jerry.
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