So far three young men are claiming anti-gay Bishop Eddie Long used cash, cars and expensive trips to pressure them into sexual relationships. On Inside Edition last night, Ted Haggard said he can empathize:
“I think he’s heartbroken, I think he’s confused,” Haggard said on the program Wednesday. “I’ll tell you how I felt. I felt like I’d ruined my life.”
Haggard’s wife, Gayle, who stood by her husband during the scandal that forced his 2006 resignation, added that Long “has been a great man. … He has done wonderful things. I hope they hold onto that knowledge as they try to understand what these allegations are about, if they are indeed true.”
You will remember the allegations that Haggard did drugs and had a sexual relationship with a male prostitute were found to be largely true. Haggard started a new church this year.
The Christian Science Monitor asks if this case will alter the black church’s view of gays:
[B]ecause Long through his ministry helped perpetuate homophobia, his critics say, the case could affect his career, challenge the antihomosexual stance of many black church members, and even offer hope to black gay men who struggle for acceptance and a role in black society.
“This might be a time of scandal [for the black church] … but it will also spark a renewed dialogue,” says Shayne Lee, a Tulane University sociologist and author of “Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace.” “The fact is, Eddie Long is one of the most respected black Christians in the country, he’s very popular and very influential, and that’s why this is going to get a lot of people talking about the issue of sexuality [in the black church].”
And Newsweek has a piece by Joshua Alston, a black gay man living in Atlanta, also addressing The Black Church, Homophobia, and Pastor Eddie Long.