Eddie Long, the Atlanta pastor who calls home the 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church he took over in 1987, must’ve confused his hate for the gays with his love for them, according to a new lawsuit from two men who says the man of the cloth sexually molested them.
Interestingly, neither men appears to be requesting to stay anonymous, a common practice in sexual assault cases.
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. “Following the New Zealand Trip, Defendant Long regularly engaged in sexual touching, and other sexual acts with Plaintiff Robinson,” Robinson’s suit alleges.
[…] Both plaintiffs said the pastor, his church and church employees gave them cash and lavish gifts that ranged from cars to college tuition. The suits also said that Long framed the sexual relationships as religious in nature. The suits allege that Long chose the plaintiffs to be his “Spiritual Sons,” a program that allegedly includes other young men from the church.
As is growing so typical with these cases, Long himself has spent much of his career railing against the gays. “Men can look attractive when they are dirty,” Long writes in his 1997 book I Don’t Want Delilah, I Need You!. “We see sweating, dirty, hardworking men on television all the time and we say to one another, ‘There’s a macho guy.'” Well isn’t that an interesting perspective for such a fella! As the Southern Poverty Law Center notes:
Despite this affinity for sweaty, macho men, Long is one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement. His book, subtitled What a Woman Needs to Know, What a Man Needs to Understand, appeared in the midst of a roaring growth period for Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., near Atlanta. During the mid-’90s, it swelled to over 18,000 congregation members, men and women who worship in a multimillion-dollar complex that’s the size of most major universities, spread out on 240 acres of land
[…] Much of what appears in I Don’t Want Delilah was espoused in the videotaped “Back to the Future” sermon Long gave when his church was still small. “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. But what Long says next is no joke. “God says you deserve death!”.
And in 2006 Long
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extended an invitation to gays and lesbians looking for a “cure” to attend a “Sexual Orientation and Reorientation” conference at New Birth. The event consisted mostly of “ex-gay” ministers like the Rev. D. L. Foster and former gangsta rapper Samantha Coleman preaching that people can be “delivered” from the “unwanted desires” of homosexuality. Foster told the small crowd of black and white Christians with same-sex attractions how he “never once prayed to God for him to make me homosexual … but I didn’t know how to get rid of it.”
This is the same man who hosted Coretta Scott King’s funeral in 2006, with then-President George W. Bush and three other former commanders-in-chief attending. And the same man who founded a charity that paid him more than $3 million in cash and gifts. Oh, and he lies about his hair!
If God doesn’t have a special place for this guy, America’s judicial system might.
B
Whether or not the allegations are true, he looks a little too well dressed to be straight,judging from the pictures.
adman
Pastors prey on EVERYONE AROUND THEM! It’s what they do, OK? Wives, children, parishoners male and female, gays, straights, it’s the game that pays. Modern fundamentalist christianity of every stripe is based on this principle. Exploit, indulge your narcissism, and get away with it. What are we supposed to do on a secular website, discuss what they’ve brought to the table theologically in the last 600 years? Their positive contributions to the philosophical direction of contemporary dialectics? If you’re queer and anything someone religious does is considered something you should “weigh in on somehow”, catch up already, damn.
Jeffree
Could Max Simon please explain the following two phrases?
–“two men who says”
–“neither men appears to”
Proofread much?
——–
Regardless, this is just George Alan Rekers writ large: Pastor takes advantage of parishioner despite what he preaches.
Will the fundies EVER learn?
alan brickman
no big surprise here…..
Derek Washington
Yup. There’s my surprise underwhelming me, yet again.
ewe
PurrRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
Carl
I don’t know whether the allegations are true or not but I can certainly tell that those two guys are just after a big pay day. One guy (allegedly) was fine getting gifts, money, etc, until he found out about the others. This case is highly suspect and should be thrown out. I’m not saying it’s right if the pastor is running a game on these dudes, but, they were old enough for consensual sex and they know it and got benefits from it. Just because that Ho got paid from Tiger, every adulterer thinks they should make bank off an affair.
wannabegay2
gee… what are the odds that a homophobic mega-pastor is a closeted gay?
Hilarious
I’m not defending him and to be honest I don’t even care, but how exactly do you “molest” two people who are of age?
These are not children, they’re grown men.
Where’s the case exactly? Did he drug them? Tie them down?
I’m not about to support abuse of the law just to have a go at a hypocrite. I mean did he do something to them when they were children and can they prove it?
This could easily backfire if teens and 20 somethings who are closeted and of age can suddenly turn around later regretting their gay escapades and taking out gay men to court.
Think about this before you cheer it on just because there’s a bigot involved.
I have yet to see anywhere an accusation of non-consent. What actual law did he break?
At the end of the day all his followers will see is another gay man who deceived them and continue their hate with negative perceptions reinforced.
So what exactly is this solving?
mikey
he’s gross! that’s why i never believe in these new age prosperity gospel types
Samwise
@Hilarious: I think the lack of consent is implied by the fact that they’re suing him. Just because someone doesn’t fight back during rape, that doesn’t mean they want it. These were young men, and he was in a position of authority over them, telling them this was a spiritual thing. They were probably scared, a little confused, and likely in a state of shock that an authority figure they respected and trusted would take advantage of them like that.
Also, “molestation” doesn’t mean the same as “child abuse.” It refers to unwanted sexual advances in general.
In any case… homophobic pastor is himself attracted to guys. This is my shocked face.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Hilarious: Are you f’n kidding??? These scumbags get up and preach in front of a congregation of thousands and spew their hatred against the Gay community. We are called kiddie diddlers, immoral, degenerates and a multitute of other epithats. These “respected members of society” tirades make assholes think it is perfectly ok to find some Gay person waliing down a street and beat the shit out of them. Their rants cause thousands of Gay teens to be thrown our of their homes because their lemming like parents belive all the absolute bullshit scum like him preach. These kids wind up selling their cocks for cash, addicted to drugs, and many of them commit suicide.
The two accusers were put into his “program” when they were 14 years old. He played the classic pedophile playbook by grooming them. A touch here and there, buy them some gifts, slowly working his way until he engages in sex with them.
This is way beyond these two guys making the accusations.
Guarantee there are going to be dozens of small skeletons falling out of his vile reprehensive closet…..
mulletkitty
Two scenarios:
He denies everything, runs these boys out of the church for making such horrific accusations, his church stands behind him, homophobia abounds all around, he keeps his position, and the checks keep rolling in.
More and more accusers keep coming forward until he can no longer fully deny it. He admits moral failings, he delivers tearful sermons where he preaches human weakness and asks forgiveness. (He better duck and cover since he previously proclaimed that folks like him “deserve death!”)
Because of all the homophobia he fanned in his own congregation, they abandon him en masse and his empire goes bankrupt.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
This vile piece of shit even had Mothers bring them their “wayward teens” for paddling sessions to “correct their moral compasses”…….
And in one that is going to live in infamy in quotes someone really really regrets letting out of their mouths, he made this comment about the paddling:
” These boys respect me so much. When I say bend over they do, even on Sundays”………….
ossurworld
Why isn’t this man in Congress?
Ogre Magi
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: That is true foreshadowing, if they willingly submit to spankings what else are they willing to let him do to their asses?
Cam
@Carl: said..
“I don’t know whether the allegations are true or not but I can certainly tell that those two guys are just after a big pay day. One guy (allegedly) was fine getting gifts, money, etc, until he found out about the others. This case is highly suspect and should be thrown out. I’m not saying it’s right if the pastor is running a game on these dudes, but, they were old enough for consensual sex and they know it and got benefits from it. ”
___________________________
Carl, in my opinion you missed the point. It is irrelevent to me whether the pastor was monogomous or cheating on these guys, or whether or not the guy is just pissed because he found out about the other guys…. The point is, that if this story is true we have another example that proves the rule that most of these rabid, anti-gay folks are self hating closet cases and that their screaming homophobia is an attempt to hide their own homosexuality.
Every one of these hypocrites who are exposed shakes the foundation of the homophobia that they have built up. This guy has a gigantic congregation. If they now distrust everything the guy says, that could include all the anti-gay parts.
Kieran
Don’t expect this story to get much attention in the media…..he’s isn’t a Catholic priest afterall.
mulletkitty
Um, perhaps this should have been obvious looking at his project, LongFellows Youth Academy.
“This summer I will start my masculine journey.” (one of the 4 masthead screen shots)
http://www.longfellowyouthacademy.org/longfellows/
mulletkitty
Um, perhaps this should have been obvious looking at his project, LongFellows Youth Academy.
“This summer I will start my masculine journey.” (one of the 4 masthead screen shots)
http://www.longfellowyouthacademy.org/longfellows/
Any homophobes obsessed with guiding young men on “masculine journeys” usually means one thing: journey to the inside of my pants.
Hilarious
@Samwise: The law doesn’t work on “implication” it works on facts. Where have they said they did not consent? They were of age and that is a factor. I’m more concerned with protecting myself and other out gay men. I don’t care about taking down a homophobic pastor of which there are many.
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: No I’m not “f’n kidding”. Do you really not see the many ways this can backfire on us?
How exactly does this not make gay men look like ” kiddie diddlers, immoral, degenerates and a multitute of other epithats.”?
You’re not looking beyond the fact that he’s a bigot. He’s a self-hating bigot if these accusations are true. That means he’s gay.
If he’s gay then homophobes will continue to say that the above is true about gay men.
So what is the outcome you are hoping will result from this?
And as far as this “conditioning” goes I’ve seen it from actually out gay men and many other gay men don’t seem to say shit about it. Some even cheer it on.
Example:
http://helpdean.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/keeperdude07#p/u
http://www.feastoffun.com/podcast/2009/01/15/fof-911-michaels-plea-011609/
Some of the truth has been lied about since his “husband” went to prison, but long story short this kid was 14 when they started communicating, and extremely lonely. The man is in prison because the child sent him nude pictures of himself. The now adult man is obsessed with this freak and spends his life waiting for a pedophile to get out of prison.
So yeah, you can find kiddie diddlers who are gay. That’s not the problem here.
The problem is that these two men were of age and by supporting this there could be many resulting anti-gay laws. There could be even more homophobia and misconceptions about gay men because at the end of the day if these things are true the paster is GAY and that’s all his followers will see: Another gay man lied and deceived them. A devil in disguise.
They will not see what you hope they will see. Their fears will be reinforced.
Think further than “Yay another bigot is going down!” because from what I read in that article no he won’t unless an actual crime took place. You can’t prove “conditioning”. As I said above that man in my example went to prison for having child pornography on his computer, not for conditioning and having a “relationship” with a minor online.
What will happen to a gay man who has sex with an 18 or 19 year old who by choice went to a gay club if the 18 or 19 year old later changes his mind? Think about that. Bigots work in government too and they’re a lot more dangerous than a pastor.
Diz
I don’t know. The guy could have easily been trying to suck out their souls in some wierd religious ceremony.
tallskin2
Urghhh, christians are SO creepy!
Yuk, I feel I have to go wash my hands and rinse my mouth out with mouthwash after reading that!
fbloss
Again and again I’ve repeated: “Those who protest the loudest have the most to hide.” Me thinks they doth protest too much.
edgyguy1426
well they are now 20 & 21 who knows how old they were when this took place?
Jack E. Jett
Yes ..because this fat fucker is black and gay blacks will rally around this motherfucker and protect him from the evil white gays. It is so fucked up. I am so sick of all this religious fuckers who lack any brain activity trying to spread their shit all over the world.
alan brickman
HE HID MONEY FROM THE GOV’T TO PAY FOR THIS…SOMEBODY PHONE THE IRS!!!
Taylor Siluwé
No. 17 · Cam
You’re absolutely right. It’s much deeper than whether one boy is a gold-digger or not [Actually, since Long himself is a gold-digger the story take on a delicious glow of Schadenfreude], his rabidly anti-gay stance is now seen for what we’ve always known it to be, what it always is:
The secret lust for dick.
Unfortunately, we have to keep pounding this point home again and again. Haggard wasn’t enough, Rekers wasn’t enough, and I guess Long won’t be enough either – but hopefully a few more people will see the truth behind anti-gay preachers, anti-gay ministries and all those with an irrational obsession with oppressing gay people.
Taylor Siluwé
No. 25 · Jack E. Jett
I take it you don’t know very many black gays, my friend.
Well, I happen to be one and I’m not rallying around Long and no one I know is. HARDLY! This man makes me wanna spit, which is not unlike the unpleasant taste I got after reading you post.
Stop trying to race-bait. It’s tired and transparent.
Hilarious
@Jack E. Jett: It’s pretty clear all you see is color on this issue. That makes you a hypocrite and a bigot.
No one is defending him if you haven’t noticed.
Soupy
I’m all for exposing hypocrisy. Whether someone makes money off of it is irrelevant to me.
I think the biggest problem with the States is religion being inserted into politics. Here in Canada, a politician would be embarrassed to bring their “god” into a debate. And people would ask WTF?
Paul
this is textbook example of what psychiatrists & psychologists call “reaction-formation.” The gay yet homophobic preacher is perhaps the penultimate example of this. Why these people have to impose their psychiatric problems on everyone else and make them miserable is beyond me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation
brooke
he might telling the truth that he did’nt touch them young boys that in a sex way. he’s got a pretty wife. it’s other preachers all over the world is doing things wrong and haven’t got yet like drinkings and drugs party cheating on spouses smoking tobbacos products etc. yall quits judging just pray for him.
Michael
He’s got four sons (the legit kind). Where are they in all this?
Michael
“Did Atlanta’s Anti-Gay Pastor Eddie Long Take These 2 Men On Overnight Trips To Masturbate, Massage, and Blow?”
The facts will come out, and perhaps he masturbated, massaged, and blew, then anti-gay Pastor Eddie Long took two men on overnight trips. Such being the case, there’s no disputing Atlanta is in the state of Georgia.
Dennis
very sad he made millions off the backs of gays and his church was so evil. It’s ashame people go to church to hate.