Hitch has a lot to say in this piece at Slate, but it’s not the angle you may be expecting in denouncing Bishop Eddie Long:
Passing through Union Station in Washington, D.C., last week, I made my usual nod to the statue of A. Phillip Randolph. You can miss it if you are not looking for it, and it has been allowed to suffer defacement. (The sculpted pair of reading glasses held in the great man’s hand was snapped off some years ago and was never replaced.) Randolph built a powerful trade union for black railroad workers and proposed the first march on Washington when Franklin Roosevelt was president. His role in the later civil rights movement was germinal and dynamic. But you never hear his name anymore, and it is not taught to schoolchildren. Nor is the name of Bayard Rustin, a charismatic black intellectual and pioneer of gay rights, who organized the March on Washington in 1963. Along with many other secular democratic heroes, Randolph and Rustin have been airbrushed from history. The easiest way to gain instant acceptance as a black “leader” these days is to shove the word Reverend in front of your name.
Or, if you are really greedy and ambitious, the word Bishop. Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia preaches that Bayard Rustin was a vile sinner who suffered from the curable “disease” of homosexuality. I have a rule of thumb for such clerics and have never known it to fail: Set your watch and sit back, and pretty soon they will be found sprawling lustily on the floor of the men’s room. It may be a bit early to claim the scalp of Eddie Long for this collection, but I doubt I shall have to withdraw. Here, after all, is what his friend the Rev. Timothy McDonald III, of the First Iconium Baptist Church (no less!), has to say: “This is the issue: how can you be against homosexuality and you are allegedly participating in it? That is the epitome of hypocrisy.” Cynicism and naivete seem to coexist happily in this statement. The Rev. McDonald does not quite seem to believe the rather unimpressive denials issued by his richly draped brother in Christ. And he talks as if fevered denunciation of homosexuality has never before been an early warning of repressed desire.
He goes on to say that he’s not overly concerned with the fact that Long was probably “rogering his flock,” but moreso with the stain that men like Eddie Long are on the Civil Rights Movement:
[W]hat offends me is that Long was able to get four presidents of the United States to attend his opulent circus for the funeral of Coretta Scott King in 2006. What a steep and awful decline from the mule cart that carried her husband’s coffin in 1968.
In 2004, Long led a march to Martin Luther King Jr.’s grave site in support of a Georgia constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Two years later, when it was decided that Coretta Scott King’s funeral would be held at New Birth — the Kings’ daughter Bernice is one of the ministers there — veteran civil rights activist Julian Bond was outraged. “I knew her attitude toward gay and lesbian rights,” he said of Coretta Scott King. “I just couldn’t imagine that she’d want to be in that church with a minister who was a raving homophobe.”
The black church in America has long mixed political activism with a deep social conservatism. But while polls show that the nation has become much more understanding and tolerant of homosexuality, the black church has been painfully slow to change. I wrote a column several years ago suggesting that black preachers come down from the pulpit and get to know their parishioners — and I still think that would be a good start.
I’ve always found it interesting that the actual veteran civil rights leaders we still have with us, and the late Coretta Scott King, tend to be pretty good on the issue of equal rights for all. The ones who lived through that struggle seem to mostly get it.
But then you have charlatans like Eddie Long, Alveda King, and many, many others, who seem to have taken it off in a whole new direction, where equal rights just aren’t meant for everyone.
You’re all probably up on the Bishop Eddie Long situation, but if not:
Mega-church Bishop Eddie Long is set to go on radio on Thursday to make a statement on the civil lawsuits filed against him over allegations of sexually abusing three young males from his congregation. Long, who is reportedly an anti-gay pastor, allegedly abused the three young men and coerced them to do sexual acts.
According to various reports, Eddie Long lavished the young men with gifts such as money, cars, clothes and jewellery and lured them into a homosexual relationship with him. A spokesman for the mega-church bishop said the lawsuits were a “shakedown.” Long is known for his frequent denunciation of gay acts. In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine published an article about the bishop and called him “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”
The lawsuits were filed by Jamal Parris, Anthony Flagg and Maurice Murray Robinson, all are around 20 to 23 years of age. The three, who were said to be in their teens when the allegations happened, where placed in a group called the “Spiritual Sons,” which followed the mega-church leader in his sorties. All three alleged that the bishop’s sexual coercions took place when they were a part of the group and all shared a similar story – that they were taken on trips, shared a room with Bishop Long and engaged in touching and oral sexual contact with him.
As is usually the case, the louder the anti-gay rantings are, the more boys the ranter is likely to have stuffed in some sort of closet. PZ Myers put it this way:
It’s gotten so I can’t see any of these crazy god-wallopers and not assume they’re going to leave the podium and run off to a back room to do exactly what they’ve been railing against. It’s sort of like a Dorian Gray scheme: they’ve got a lilly-white sanctimonious face for the public, and what they reveal when off-camera and out of sight is something sickeningly depraved. What Pope Ratzi does behind closed doors must be nightmarish.
Nightmarish, indeed.
Yeah, so none of this is surprising. Guess who’s offered his support? Ted Haggard.
Heh.
By the way, I don’t think the picture above is his the one from his church website, but Jim Burroway cautions that if you see that picture on Grindr, RUN.
I stole the “betrays heritage” line from Joe, because it’s so precisely what she is doing by speaking at a rally for a hate group like the National Organization for Marriage. The Courage Campaign points out that today’s crowd, in the city of Atlanta, which is ringed by suburbs full of conservative Christians, clocked in at a grand total of only 16.
It’s disgraceful to see a woman from the key family in the Civil Rights movement go so far astray into religious bigotry. Newsflash, Alveda: they used the same religious arguments against integration, in support of slavery, against women, in support of subjugation of other races, and so on.
From Courage Campaign’s report:
“I don’t know about you but I’m not ready to be extinct,” King said to the crowd after pointing out that “it is statistically proven” that marriage between one man and one woman is the foundation of society.
Playing to the double digit IQ crowd, I see.
“Children without a mom and a dad are 20 times more likely to commit a crime,” said Tonya Ditty, Georgia State Director of Concerned Women for America.
And the double digit IQ crowd’s name is Tonya Ditty, I see.
Hey Tonya: Either you’re a liar or you’re stupid. Why? Because you’re using single parent statistics, which have jackshit to do with the statistics for children of gay and lesbian couples, which show that our kids do just as well or better than yours.
Deal with it.
Here’s Alveda, staining the King legacy on film:
Alveda ought to spend a little more time prostrating herself in front of Coretta and Martin’s graves, and perhaps remember these words from her aunt:
“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice… But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’ … I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.”1
“Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing, and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages.”2
“We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny… I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be,” she said, quoting from her husband. “I’ve always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy.”3
“Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions.”4
“We have a lot of work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say ‘common struggle,’ because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry & discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination.”5
“We have to launch a campaign against homophobia in the black community.”6
“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.”7
Or she can go on being a bigoted loon. Her choice.
I often end speaking engagements on the so-called “ex-gay” myth by comparing the charade to a play. I tell audiences that “ex-gays” are “like actors playing a role and in the end the final curtain of reality comes crashing down.”
It turns out that in Atlanta, a very surreal curtain will soon be lifted to reveal a bizarre play that promotes “freedom” from homosexuality and trashes gay life. Southern Voice, Atlanta’s LGBT publication, says that “Once Upon a Dream,” liberally uses the words “faggot,” “queer” and “abomination” in a negative way. It will show at the 14th Street Playhouse, conveniently nestled in Midtown, Atlanta’s gay neighborhood.
The show’s producer, Toni Henson, told Southern Voice in an e-mail that her production company wants to partner with area churches “to reach out to 155 million practicing homosexuals as we launch this unique, bible-based Christian ministry through this dramatic stage play.”
Wow, 155 million homosexuals in a country of 3oo million. One would think Gay Pride would have been a bit more crowded given such a surprising surge in our population. Hmm, now we know how Exodus leader Alan Chambers came up with his peculiar figure of “hundreds of thousands” of ex-gays – he must have employed Henson as his statistician.
Henson’s e-mail goes onto say: “”Once Upon a Dream’ tackles the tough Issue… 1) Is FREEDOM from homosexuality possible? 2) Can I be gay and Christian? 3) How is same sex marriage & the pro-gay agenda affecting the church? 4) What are the risks if my church does outreach to gays?”
I guess that if one considers “freedom” self-denial, then it is possible. We can only imagine what risks there might be to a wholesome church if it reaches out to cootie-ridden homosexuals. And, what do you bet that the manufactured gay agenda they present won’t include the items:
I. Full Equality Under The Law
II. Being Left Alone And Free From Annoying Religious Zealots Who Promote Offensive Plays That Distort Out Lives
There is one thing Henson got right — seeking advice from “ex-gay” activist and Drama Queen, D.L. Foster, who is best known for his habit of drawing Hitler mustaches onto the pictures political opponents. In June 2006, Foster even drew one on yours truly. According to Exodus testimony, Foster had once engaged in orgies, drank and was hooked on poppers (is that even possible??), until he turned on basic cable late one evening:
“I slumped down in front of the TV and flipped it on,” wrote Foster. “When the screen came into focus, I saw an amazing sight: a badly beaten man dragging a heavy wooden cross through the streets of a city. Suddenly, the man stopped, and looked up at me as blood trickled down his face. Then he said, ‘I did this all for you.’ I began to weep uncontrollably as I realized Jesus had spoken to me.”
Given such a theatrical conversion, the play should be entertaining, to say the least. Instead of poppers, Mr. Foster can eat popcorn and watch his twisted vision of Biblical Broadway come to life. And, maybe Henson will win a Tony of Intolerance for her efforts to slime the GLBT community and promote simplistic and fictional versions of our lives.
You’re all probably up on the Bishop Eddie Long situation, but 
