Eddie Long, Pastor of New Birth accused of being on the "down low" (Bishop: bars, to eat)

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by bdawk

I take it you don't happen to have a 16 or 17 year old daughter do you? I can't imagine you would use the same logic if some authority figure manipulated and coerced your daughter into sexual acts.

Excellent point!

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

Imo, a 'leader', especially a religious leader, is accountable at a higher standard. I've read several comments regarding the difficulty of proving the allegations or of any sort of legal consequences being an outcome.
A friend of mine attended a mainstream church and when some serious allegations were made against the senior minister, there was sufficient 'proof', he had to step down. It doesn't sound like this church operates in the same way. I would have a problem with that if I were a member.

I believe, someone posted a link in this topic that showed that the board structure was changed at New Birth so he can't step or be forced to step down unless he wants too. He is the head honcho. He doesn't answer to a board.

[blkgiraffe]

[quote=bdawk;16127751]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

It's a clear difference between rape and having sex. How were these boys "raped" when they go kept going back??? They weren't forced to perform sexual acts with Eddie with a gun to their head.

I never said they were lying or that they were taken advantage of, but seriously.....at 16 and 17?? They knew damn well what they were doing.[/quote]

I take it you don't happen to have a 16 or 17 year old daughter do you? I can't imagine you would use the same logic if some authority figure manipulated and coerced your daughter into sexual acts.

That shouldn't even matter; the point is these boys knew what they were doing and they kept doing it because they were greedy.

It's funny they only decided to come out with this story when the gifts and money stopped coming??? Interesting.

[NYPeach]

[quote=jluke65780;16127967]

Originally Posted by bdawk

That shouldn't even matter; the point is these boys knew what they were doing and they kept doing it because they were greedy.

It's funny they only decided to come out with this story when the gifts and money stopped coming??? Interesting.

....and the lawsuit the church had against at least two of them was not dropped...interesting...

I couldn't agree more. Like I said in a previous post, if the theft in the church lawsuit against the first two sex victims was dropped, would they have filed this sex suit in the first place?

The first two lawsuits against Long were by the young men who have charges against them for breaking into the church a few months ago to steal an i-pod and some other gadgets.

Supposedly, these gadget were "gifts" that these two of them were retrieving from the church office after the relationship ended and they wanted them back.-that is supposedly the story behind the theft that occurred a few months back.

There was an article I read (I believe on CNN or AJC) that stated Eddie went to the DA in DeKalb about a week before the sex suits were filed asking that the charges for the theft in the church be dismissed, the DA said no, they would not drop the charges.

Then a week later here comes the first two sex lawsuits against Long by these same young men with the theft charges against them.

Wow ...these poor innocent, naive victims...
Plenty of blame and shame to go around....

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

I believe, someone posted a link in this topic that showed that the board structure was changed at New Birth so he can't step or be forced to step down unless he wants too. He is the head honcho. He doesn't answer to a board.

I read that article. It seems as though the Board of Directors has some authority even if the 25,000 members do not. The church is registered as a corporation--the religious purpose seems to be secondary. It is rare for a corporation to willingly allow its 'veil' to be pierced---allowing it to become vulnerable to infinite litigation--thinking of BP and the oil spill.

Julian Bond has had some insightful observations.

I can't find the article that explained the corporate structure but here's a timeline>>>
http://www.ajc.com/news/bishop-eddie...ew-619080.html

[DuvalLuvah]

[quote=bdawk;16127751][quote=jluke65780;16127182]It's a clear difference between rape and having sex. How were these boys "raped" when they go kept going back??? They weren't forced to perform sexual acts with Eddie with a gun to their head.

I never said they were lying or that they were taken advantage of, but seriously.....at 16 and 17?? They knew damn well what they were doing.[/quote]


How about you put yourself in their position?
Imagine yourself not having a pot to **** in or a window to throw it out of and you are introduced to and offered a better life, in this case, a better life that included God as the head of that new life.
At 16 or 17, IMO, you should have had enough exposure to "God" per se, that you incorporate anything associated with Him as a positive venture. Can you even remember the things you were thinking about or figured out a solid "logical" thought process at that age? The idea of entering a situation like that had to be very promising but yet, confusing and intimidating at the same time. However the introduction of these boys to the family came about, it happened. They decided it was in their best interest to accept the offer and allow the pastor to take them under his wing.
I have seen the interview of one of the boys on BET.com. He expressed that he did see this man as a father figure, he gave him the love, support and parental/spiritual guidance that a lot of young men need to mature. You could almost see his fear in the whole situation. Here you have an individual that has been motivated by a promising, positive new life. Has gained a family that he loved the feeling of being a part of "something better". Then, the real shyt hits the fan. From my understanding, the alleged abuse did not start off right away. I would think by the time it did, these boys had fully developed the knowledge of how powerful this man was. If you didn't know there were others and you would be the only one that speaks up and says something, and consequently, be cast out for such an accusation, where would you go? What would you do? All your support, family and friends knew this man from the outside, these people depended on this man to lead them in the right direction, Give them advice on how to handle personal trials. They would all be a null source of support at that point. It has to be horrifying. So you do what you think is best at the time just to get it over with and get taken advantage of.
We all read about these types of things all the time pretty much, and we all seem to have a "if it was me" response to post, but as folk always say, you never really know unless you are in the situation.
In this topic, I can see valid points on both ends. I do not know if the pastor is guilty or not, my position on that remains to be that ONLY God can judge and everyone gets their day in court. I just really hope that this doesn't turn out to be the kind of case that is surrounded by so much publicity that it is portrayed more dramatically than it really is.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

That shouldn't even matter; the point is these boys knew what they were doing and they kept doing it because they were greedy.

It's funny they only decided to come out with this story when the gifts and money stopped coming??? Interesting.

You said it - BOYS, not men. No matter how mature they might have seemed, the mind of a 16 or 17 year old is not the mind of an adult and shouldn't be considered mature BY adults. I can't believe this is coming from you jluke...there is no excuse for anyone preying on young boys, whether they are 13, 15, or 17. Period. The onus is completely on the adult in that kind situation - money and payments notwithstanding.

[DuvalLuvah]

It's funny they only decided to come out with this story when the gifts and money stopped coming??? Interesting.

The money and gifts stopped coming because they decided to come out with this story

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by DuvalLuvah

The money and gifts stopped coming because they decided to come out with this story

...and possibly when they were finally able to put a stop to the molestation. There is an obvious relationship between the free ride and putting out.

[PKCorey]

[quote=NYPeach;16128186]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

....and the lawsuit the church had against at least two of them was not dropped...interesting...

I couldn't agree more. Like I said in a previous post, if the theft in the church lawsuit against the first two sex victims was dropped, would they have filed this sex suit in the first place?

The first two lawsuits against Long were by the young men who have charges against them for breaking into the church a few months ago to steal an i-pod and some other gadgets.

Supposedly, these gadget were "gifts" that these two of them were retrieving from the church office after the relationship ended and they wanted them back.-that is supposedly the story behind the theft that occurred a few months back.

There was an article I read (I believe on CNN or AJC) that stated Eddie went to the DA in DeKalb about a week before the sex suits were filed asking that the charges for the theft in the church be dismissed, the DA said no, they would not drop the charges.

Then a week later here comes the first two sex lawsuits against Long by these same young men with the theft charges against them.

Wow ...these poor innocent, naive victims...
Plenty of blame and shame to go around....

DA: Bishop Long tried to have burglary charges dropped *| ajc.com

It was a month before the lawsuit was filed.

Eddie was trying to cover himself...Why else did have the dude from the Dekalb Board of Commissioner contact their lawyer to discuss the issue at hand? He knew, if this went to trial, it would be an issue.

He had them at first with the first two because he could have twisted that they were angry hence why they broke in and this lawsuit is just retaliation. You see as soon as door #3 opened, his lawyer grabbed him off of Tom Joyner because that strategy wasn't going to work anymore.

Secondly, if this was about money, why did BJ Bernstein never approach them with a settlement offer to the church? Eddie Long could yell out, it was about money all along, if so but it isn't.

Article today discussed that she was a former DA in Gwinnett County who specializes in molestation cases.

Bishop Eddie Long | Opposing lawyers differ in style *| ajc.com