The Words of Bishop Eddie Long
Long before Bishop Eddie L. Long became embroiled this week in allegations of using his leverage as pastor and mentor to compel three teenage boys into sexual relationships, the leader of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church recorded a sermon â and sold copies of it in the church bookstore â denouncing homosexuality and attributing societyâs problems to men becoming more like women and women more like men.
âThe problem today and the reason why society is like it is, is because men are being feminized and women are becoming masculine,â Long says. He then rejects the notion that homosexual orientation canât be changed. âYou can not say, âI was born this wayâ⌠I donât care what scientists say, If you say you were born this way, then youâre saying, âGod, youâre a liar! And I see this thing down here but Iâm going to ignore it!â â
With the churchâs website down this week, it isnât known if copies of the undated sermon, entitled âBack to the Future,â are still offered for sale. The Southern Poverty Law Center purchased a VHS copy while producing stories on Long and other African-American church leaders who opposed gay rights for its .
Much of Longâs sermon is devoted to the theme of proper gender roles. "It is the most unattractive thing I have ever seen, when I see women wearing uniforms that men would wear, and women fighting to get in the military!"
Long later mocks lesbians and female self-gratification. âSo the woman gets converted, or perverted, to turn towards woman. Why would she turn toward woman? Because, sheâll turn toward woman because woman is acting like man.â
Later, he adds, ââŚand everybody knows it's dangerous to enter an exit!â
He continues, âAnd everybody knows, ladies, if you go to the store and buy this device [marital aids], it's Memorex! It ain't real!"
Long later says, âThatâs the reason why we got sexual immorality. Thatâs the reason why thereâs a rise in the gay agenda.  That is the reason why⌠Church wonât say nothing -- Itâs amazing, church folk: âWell, Iâm gay. Well, âJust donât bother me. Or you can bother me.â Thatâs the only statements. You donât say, âand the Lord said.â Youâre out of order. Youâve turned the truth into the lie. You can be converted. You were not born that way! Let me pray with you. Let me tell you, donât you be conformed to this world. But be ye transformed from the, âWell, I donât know what I am.â Tell it, take your clothes down, Iâll show you who you are!â
Later, Long says, âAnd God said, âEverybody in here that knows whatâs right and ainât practicing, and every woman that knows what to do, but still want to act like a woman that, of the 90âs that the world has described, God says, and to every man that knows what God is saying to do and youâre still acting like the boys on the corner, "God says you deserve death!"