Trumpet with snake – click to enlarge (freakingnews.com)

Last week as I referred to in Shame, not shock, we learned that the cult-leader Bishop Eddie Long, the ‘spiritual father’ of Destiny Church’s Bishop Brian Tamaki was being accused of sexual abuse of young men in his ‘flock’.

Here’s an insightful article — harsh, in parts, but fair, it seems to me — about Bishop Eddie Long from a different point of view. Civil rights and ‘bling theology’. Worth reading.

From David A. Love of BlackCommentator.com

The Bishop Has No Clothes

…. These accusations will be addressed in court, and who knows, maybe there will be a quiet out-of-court settlement. To be sure, this is not the first religious leader to face accusations of sexual and professional misconduct and abuse of authority, nor the last. Similarly, the Bishop is not the first homophobic preacher to be outed as a gay man.

But Bishop Long’s sexual orientation ultimately is not the subject of this commentary, although it provides some valuable context. Now, if these accusations are true, then Bishop Long is at least guilty of hypocrisy and self-hatred. And if the charges are not true, he is still an anti-gay minister who has damaged many people. Either way, he is a prosperity preacher who preys on the black community and shames the legacy of the civil rights movement. And that’s most of what we need to know.

When the Southern Poverty Law Center decides to write an intelligence report about you, you know you’ve done something wrong. SPLC calls Bishop Long “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.” In one sermon, he says to gays and lesbians, “God says you deserve death!” The message of “hate the sin and the sinner” are strong words in a religion that is supposed to teach love, healing and redemption.

via Huffington Post

Let me say it: This does not fill me with confidence about Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki, nor his judgement or character.

Bishop Long and his supporters would maintain that his reputation is being dragged through the mud. But his reputation was already muddied via his homophobia and corrupt bling theology.

I personally recognise elements of  the same ‘prosperity preacher who preys on the black community’,  homophobia and bling theology in the stories about Destiny Church hammering on about tithes and offerings, black-shirted anti-homosexual rallies — and total loyalty to Bishop Brian, the Harley-Davidson-riding ‘spiritual father’ with his covenant rings.

Alarm bells.

And of course, naked self-serving hypocrisy is not just limited to the trumpeting of religious ‘preachers’, as we have discussed before.