Saturday
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8:28 AM
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DISCLAIMER: This post is not about whether I think Eddie Long 'did it' or not, because I wasn't there, neither where you...this post is basically about GROWN individuals who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. When I make statements that seems like I am suggesting Long is guilty of anything, I am not. I'm kinda over it, and kinda don't care as of this point.
So...unless your living under a rock, you know about the whole 'Bishop Eddie Long Sex Scandal'. Basically, we have four guys who are alleging that they've had sexual relationships in the past with Bishop Long. They claim that Bishop Long coerced them with money, cars, and trips out of the country in return for sex. They are now stepping forward, after the money stopped coming, to basically put Eddie Long on BLAST.
I, like everyone else in the country, has an opinion on the situation. Upon hearing the news, my mindset was (and still is) to not make any judgments on if its true or not. When has it ever been OK to believe any allegations on a strong public figure without the lack of evidence? This is not the first time a public figure has ever been accused of something of this manner, and sometimes its just not true. (Side note: The reason why I said public figure is because Bishop Long is the pastor of the biggest church here in Lithonia, and one of the more popular churches in the country, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.)
There was some 'evidence' in this case though. Some pictures hit the net that Bishop Long supposedly sent to the boys. These two pictures:
Now, I can admit...I can't find a reason why a grown male would send pictures to another male *shrugs*, but I don't find anything 'inappropriate' about these pics. Maybe I am missing a nipple slip or something. He is 100% covered in both pics, and Bishop Long is KNOWN for wearing these little tight, sleeveless, spandex shirts. Why is he wearing a Kangol hat with his work out clothes though, I don't know...but this brings about another issue. In June, two of the young men who are making these allegations were arrested in connection to a burglary at New Birth. The burglary happened in Long's office, where they took several electronic items, which included an iPad and his cell phone. Hasn't it occurred to anybody that they may have gotten these pictures from the phone or iPad??? I don't know anyone who has a phone with a camera or Apple product that does not have pictures of themselves in it, and I also know that I am not the only person in America who snapped a couple of bathroom pics after working out. As far as the pictures go, that's the worse excuse for evidence on a case as serious as this.
Another thing that burns me up about the situation is that people are referring to the four males as 'victims'. As far as I'm concerned, the only victims in this case is Eddie Long's wife, and children. I'm sure they were blindsided by this, and I'm sure it hurt them 10X worse than it did the rest of America. These boys are not victims A.) ...because the sex was consensual and they were of consensual age at the time and B.)...because Eddie Long did not use any force to get them to have sex (not saying it happened....this is just if the allegations are true). These boys knew exactly what they were doing, and are now playing victim. Now, I am not siding with Long, or with the boys...but lets keep it real. At the age of 16 (or 7), you are capable of saying NO. The fact that they didn't means either they liked the lavish lifestyle they were exposed to, or that they liked Eddie Long. Either or, they were wrong. I think they need to step up and take responsibility for what they did. That's life! We all go through things, and we all make bad decisions that we regret, but we can't go around playing victim all the time without excepting that we had part in it. Maybe I missed the interview where one of these guys accepted any responsibility for what THEY did.
I also think its unfair that they put themselves in the category of 'victim', and we have REAL victims all around the world who was raped...against their will. These girls (and boys too) screamed, cried, bit, kicked, fought, and prayed while they had a grown man (or men) on top of them, taking their virginity away from them. These boys gave theirs away, freely. So I refuse to put them in the category as victim when we have real victims out there who had no choice or say so in their sexual abuse. These boys had a choice. Walk away and say something. He put something out on the table, and they took it.
I applaud them for coming out and saying that they don't want this to happen to anybody else (because I don't either), but saying that he is a monster??? He wasn't a monster when you were out of the country with a wallet full of money. They was calling him 'Daddy' then (no pun intended, that's what they said he wanted them to call him). Now, I don't understand how it feels to grow up without a father in the household, but I know PLENTY of young men who grew up without a father, but they didn't go around calling anybody 'daddy'. They were of age where they knew Eddie Long was not their father, and we don't know of any mental illnesses these boys have...so far...so the fact that he supposedly persuaded them to call him daddy and sleep with him should just be blamed on the fact that these guys were gulible or money hungry...or both.
One of the victims, Parris, said that its not about money......*side eye*. If it wasn't about money, then why didn't you step forward when he was supposedly throwing you money left and right, and in return you was 'throwin it back' (pun intended). On top of that, if money was not an issue, then you wouldn't have found it necessary to steal from Eddie Long's office, AND you would not have found it necessary to have a sexual relationship with him to begin with. Have a seat. Take responsibility. Stop playing victim. Even if these allegations were true, them trying to act like they didn't have any part in it is wrong. They either liked the money or the sex, one or the other, which is the reason they didn't speak up in the midst of the situation. If this is true, OF COURSE I would be disappointed in Eddie Long....and of course it brings about many issues (including homosexuality and infidelity), but lets keep it real....sirs, y'all victimized y'allselves!
In case you didn't see the accuser's interview...
Accuser interview #2...
Posted by
CalvinEF
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