The Eddie Long Case and What’s Not Being Said

by Monica A. Coleman

I apologize in advance to those who normally follow my blog, Beautiful Mind Blog. I usually focus the blog on the intersection of depression and faith with a new entry at least once a week. Nevertheless, the firestorm around the allegations of sexual misconduct by Atlanta pastor Bishop Eddie Long compel me to break the silence I’ve kept in the last week.

In short, Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the 25,0000 member Atlanta-based church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is being sued in civil court by four different young men (in their early twenties) who are (former) members of his church. They accuse him of coercing them into having sexual relations with them when they were around 17 years old.

There are so many issues at work here. Many friends and colleagues have posted amazing blogs and commentaries about some of the issues surrounding what is now being called “The Eddie Long case.” Dr. Yolanda Pierce of Princeton Theological Seminary reminds us that pastors are servants, not kings. She also highlights the poverty of a prosperity theology. Dr. Jonathan Walton of Harvard Divinity School talks about what happens when churches conform to the motifs of wider celebrity culture. Dr. Shayne Lee of Tulane University brings his expertise on megachurches and market forces to bear on the kinds of issues that Long now faces. In light of Long’s history of virulent homophobia and the gender of the accusers, Dr. Anthea Butler of the University of Pennsylvania reminds us that homophobia in black churches must be addressed. Saida Grundy and Atlanta activist Craig Washington indicate that Eddie Long may now be having to bear the consequences of his dangerous rhetoric about homosexuality. Dr. Kathi Martin of Interactive Faith Café says that the time is ripe for Long and others in church communities to choose love and justice over exclusion and condemnation. Years ago, I wrote about Long’s (mis)use of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in the fifth chapter of my book, Making a Way Out of No Way. Many of us say these things out of a deep love for and years of scholarship on African American religious culture. We also mention these issues while acknowledging, as Ted Haggard does, that we do not know what happened and that Long deserves a fair trial.

These are all poignant responses, and I agree with many of them. It’s difficult not to comment on the challenges – even problematic nature – of black church homophobia, possible hypocrisy, prosperity theology, and the corporate and celebrity culture of churches. I’m adding my voice to the commentary because of what I have not heard addressed.

I have not heard enough people talk about what I see at the heart of this matter:

the possibility of clergy sexual misconduct

With my colleagues, I cannot say whether or not Eddie Long is guilty of the allegations. I can say that the Eddie Long Case has the opportunity to raise all of our consciousnesses about clergy sexual misconduct. When we remember this, the charges against Long are less about homosexuality, the defensiveness of his congregation, the theology he espouses, or the age and gender of the accusers. The case is about the possible abuse of clerical power.