Nice try CBS.
Posted on 09/23/2010 1:28:42 PM PDT by marshmallow
ATLANTA (CBS/AP) New pictures have surfaced of Bishop Eddie Long, prominent pastor of a 25,000-member megachurch outside Atlanta, as a third man has come forward accusing the anti-gay advocate of coercing him into sex.
CBS News' Erica Hill reports the pastor allegedly sent his accusers numerous photos of himself including at least several of him wearing spandex and workout clothes.
It's not known precisely how the photos surfaced.
B.J. Bernstein, an attorney for the three plaintiffs, said Long sent her clients dozens of e-mails, but they weren't "overly sexual," she said.
Long canceled an interview with the Tom Joyner Morning Show Thursday, opting instead to make his first public response to the sex allegations during a service at his Atlanta-area church on Sunday, according to his lawyer, who appeared on the nationally syndicated radio show in Long's absence.
Attorney Craig Gillen told Joyner that Long took young men on trips as part of a mentoring program, but stands by his denial of claims that he had sex with three of them.
In lawsuits filed this week, three men who were members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church claimed Long coerced them into sexual relations with gifts including cars, cash and travel when they were 17 or 18 years old. The sprawling church in Lithonia, Ga., about 18 miles outside of Atlanta, counts politicians, celebrities and the county sheriff among its members and hosted four U.S. presidents during the 2006 funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King.
One of the claims in the lawsuits is that Long had sexual contact with the young men, who were enrolled in New Birth's ministry for teen boys, during trips he took them on in the U.S. and abroad. Gillen said the travel was part of a mentoring program that..........
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Exactly, no need for a ponderous process of reviews ontop of reviews if he is guilty, and there is no way of knowing either way, then bounce him out of the pulpit and move forwards.
No need for (PICTURES) captions and the rest of it, out ya go.
He looks really gay in that picture, a lot of those “buff boys” are gay.
Amen
I'm sure he'll have some members who support him, but if they are 24/7 Christians he won't be leading that church much longer.
Let’s just try him in the media and forget about any semblance of fairness.
After all, I believe everything the MSM says. /s
So it’s a self-appointed title?
So can we say from this that only Catholic sex abuse stories are to be published on FR? Is that your point?
As for "posting whatever accusations they can find", this story has been all over CNN and the other major news outlets all day. It's hard to get away from. It is big news. There was no need to go digging for it. The only reason I posted it was because it was nowhere to be seen in the Religion Forum. Surprising, no?? I'd have thought those who've built a track record posting Catholic stories would have broken this. But no. This is not some obscure story kicking around the blogs. It concerns a very high profile megachurch pastor and apparently nobody really wants to know about it, including you.
As for "being on a quest to rehab the Catholic Church", the Church has no need of rehab. It's not a corporation whose mission depends on public relations. It's coped with scandals for 2,000 years and will continue to do so. I post Catholic news, almost exclusively. Good and bad. However, I am more than happy to rebut some of the tripe which gets posted about the Catholic Church around here.
If you think I'm on a quest, I challenge you to post a link to any previous stories I've posted of Protestant hanky panky. Good luck with sorting through all the Catholic news I post. You might learn something while you're reading it.
I'll wait.
Thanks for posting this.
My feeling is just like the military, all churches have been targeted by the gay lobby for the one and only purpose.
To destroy them.
If they can get churches to fight among themselves in the process, so much the better as its cheaper and takes less resources.
You will wait long, this is not the first time this sort of thing has come up.
And for what point, exactly? What is the point of (PICTURES) in the OP? Has there been a trial?
Maybe last yr I had a mulitpage discussion with, I’ll say, 3 devote Catholics who cited a study based on the mid 80’s to 2000 comparing the Catholic Priest sexual abuse cases to Protestant accusations and the gist of it was, “see, Protestant Churches have an even worse problem! the Southern Baptist Convention will not start a database of the accusations because there are soo many of them”!
To what end? “They are doing it too”?
And exactly when has CNN ever been considered even fair, let alone quotable in the Religion Forum?
Exactly, and I find that the most troubling aspect of all of this, since when do Christians conduct such trials by media?
What does Scripture instruct to deal with such situations?
Aren’t there clear mechanisms in Scripture for this exact situation?
From my point of view, there has been no real evidence to consider (take a look at the PICTURES oneself) and no pleadings made save for a rebuttal, and yet here it is.
For the record:
I’m Catholic.
Nice try CBS.
What "sort of thing"?
I'm asking you a simple question which you've refused to answer. Is it your position that only Catholic sex scandals have a place here?
And for what point, exactly? What is the point of (PICTURES) in the OP? Has there been a trial?
What is the point of the pictures? Presumably they form part of the evidence in the case. Has there been a trial? No. But since when has that ever been a precondition for reporting news? Arrests and allegations are reported all the time. Including cases which involve the Catholic Church.
Would you prefer it if the pictures were suppressed?
Maybe last yr I had a mulitpage discussion with, I’ll say, 3 devote Catholics who cited a study based on the mid 80’s to 2000 comparing the Catholic Priest sexual abuse cases to Protestant accusations and the gist of it was, “see, Protestant Churches have an even worse problem! the Southern Baptist Convention will not start a database of the accusations because there are soo many of them”!
I feel your pain but I've never been a party to that discussion. The "your scandal is worse than ours" food fight is not something in which I'm interested.
You're arguing with the wrong guy.
And exactly when has CNN ever been considered even fair, let alone quotable in the Religion Forum?
This has nothing to do with CNN. Long has been accused by three men and of that there is absolutely no doubt. It's everywhere, not just CNN and Long's own lawyer admits the accusations although he denies any guilt, of course. So CNN and CBS are simply reporting the allegations.
Again, you made allegations about my motives for posting this which were highly improper. You suggested I was on "a quest", while refusing to produce any evidence to back that up and you trashed me in a post directed to another Freeper without having the courtesy to ping me. Another no-no.
Are you disputing the allegations against Long? Are you suggesting that all news of the allegations be suppressed? Do you consider that this news should not be on FR?
What exactly do you want?
“What “sort of thing”?
Hmm, we were just discussing that in post 22 or so.
“I’m asking you a simple question which you’ve refused to answer. Is it your position that only Catholic sex scandals have a place here?”
Really? I missed that question so allow me to answer:
No, they have no place anywhere, there should be none to begin with here or wherever.
Well, knowing FR’s software, I’ll keep this short, one’s inclusion of (PICTURES) was, by your own admission “they form part of the evidence in the case”
So it is you intention to conduct a trial by media, what case, exactly, are we trying? Can we make motions, depose witnesses, rely on CNN to completely inform us on the details of the case?
Was that you I had that multi page multi reply discussion over this sort of thing with?
Nope.
With my posts, you’d remember me.
It appears that you are concerned about the publicity this story has generated, but this is an “open” thread, IIRC.
That is not a link to *this* source.
What does that mean: IIRC
If I Recall Correctly. Sorry.
Not offhand, sorry, can you refresh my memory?
And to be clear, I do not know, and cannot know whether Long did this, or did not, or even the amount of truth to be found on either side of the accusation.
What troubles me is when any Christian leader, Catholic or Protestant is tried by media..by their fellow Christians.
That is how the world behaves and to my view, that should stop.
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