As the first truly Autumn-ish day sweeps over the Dallas area, I am unable to pull myself away from all the Bishop Eddie Long commentary. Let me start by saying that I understand that the allegations have not been proven true. Even still, the subject of Pastors, Deacons, and church members getting it on with the same sex is still one that should be discussed.
I read though a brief opinion article by Shayne Lee an African-American professor of sociology at Tulane University. You can read the article for yourself here. He seems to focus on race, which I'm sorry to say, is not only a bore, but a cop-out. As a gay man and former minister of both music and youth, I can assure you I am well aware of the amount of energy that goes into bashing homosexuals from the pulpit to the pew in both "black" churches as well as "white" ones. I can also tell you that there is more gay sex going on between church members than one might be led to believe and race really doesn't matter. I've been to all manner of churches in my life. The White folks are doing it; but as long as you show up for church on time with your wife and kids nobody really talks about it. The Black folks are doing it on the DL(down-low) and then screaming at the top of their lungs about how gays have a first class non-refundable airline ticket to hell, followed by reservations at Chateau a la Sulfur. Black...White... Martian...it makes no difference The church is made up of people. Some people are gay... therefore, gay people WILL be in your church. A homo was probably sitting a few rows over checking you out this past Sunday. LOL
I just wonder how many priests, pastors, deacons, bishops, mega-church maniacs, and closet-case music ministers it will take before people wake up and realize that the church is NOT above it all. It's the words, thoughts, and actions of men like Ted Haggard and Eddie Long(guilty or not) that disillusion people of faith all over the world. Alleged men and women of god are preaching hateful messages while secretly "gaying" it up in the sack. It's really all about realizing that god, whoever that is to you, created us all. God knows better than anyone what is going on. You think it may be possible that god loves us all? I mean really...thousands of years of oppression and hypocrites and scandals and wars...for all that, we are no closer to god than we ever were.
The Bottom Line:
Gay St. and Church St. are the same road known by two names. Stop all the hate and hypocrisy. It is time the church take a detour to Love Blvd. and for once, live up to god's message of unconditional love.
