Posts Tagged ‘Eddie Long Update’

Mo’Kelly can’t even keep up with how fast the news is coming these days…

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In the tell-all-book, which was released on Valentine’s Day, Centino (the fifth accuser) speaks about that time in his life. The book’s title, “First Lady”, was the nickname Centino said he was given.

Centino told The Big T that there were a lot of “ungodly things” that occurred when he was affiliated with the church, but said that though he wanted to leave, he was unable to release himself from the spell the pastor had on him.

“A lot of ungodly things went on from the first time I arrived at that church when I was 16 and sex was the last thing on my mind, but my life was changed in less than 24 hours.”

He admitted that in the beginning he was drawn in by the lifestyle he was offered.

“We lived a good life and I was blessed.”

But Centino said as time went on he realised that he needed to remove himself from the corruption which he alleges was rampant in the church.

“I tried my best to walk away, (but) my heart did not want me to let go. But as time went on I had to stop acting like a child and put a man’s head on my body and take over my life.

“I have a nephew and a niece and I have to stand strong for them. What happened to me I can’t let happen to them or any other young man from the Bahamas. I made up my mind that I would not let history repeat itself. When I was leaving, I was at the lowest point in my life including suicidal thoughts and I never want to go there again. I just had too much going on. Writing this book was therapy for me. It is the pages of my diary and it was very healing to write it. To this very day, I can’t read it because it’s too deep and filled with too many emotions.”

Going public was made easier by the support he received from his family, Centino said.

Full story HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640 and XM 166 Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm-9pm PST. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Yes, Mo’Kelly is still keeping up with Bishop Eddie Long.  Just in case you haven’t heard…more monetary and legal issues for the good bishop.

From The Washington Post

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The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640 and XM 166 Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm-9pm PST. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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For whatever reasons, an OLD (Dec. 2011) Yahoo story found its way back into the current news queue, indicating Bishop Long had stepped down.  If people had looked at the date of the story, it clearly said December 2011, when he originally took “a leave of absence” after originally being served divorce papers by Vanessa.

So, for all of you coming here to get the details on Bishop Eddie Long “stepping down” Mo’Kelly has no news source in which to validate any such claim.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640 and Sirius XM 166 Saturdays and Sundays from 8-9pm PDT. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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It is what it is…SOMEONE WAS PAID OFF!

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The divorce petition filed by Vanessa Long against Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, has been dismissed, according to DeKalb County court filings posted online that were later confirmed by the minister’s lawyer.

The online postings in the case of “Long vs. Long” dated Monday indicate the petition was dismissed “without prejudice.”

One of Bishop Eddie Long’s lawyers, Lawrence Cooper, confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that  Vanessa Long had asked that the divorce petition be dismissed. He declined to say if the Longs were reunited. In an emailed response to the AJC, Vanessa Long’s lawyers declined to comment.

It is the second time in three months that Vanessa Long has called off plans to divorce the popular DeKalb County minister, who has battled accusations of improper sexual relationships with male members of his congregation.

Long, who has repeatedly denied the allegations, settled lawsuits filed by several of those members last year.

On Dec. 2, Vanessa Long announced she was seeking to end her 21-year-marriage following “a great deal of deliberation and prayer.” Later the same day and in a statement sent through New Birth’s public relations firm, she was quoted as saying that upon further “prayerful reflection,” she was withdrawing the divorce petition.

“I love my husband,” she was quoted as saying. “I believe in him and admire his strength and courage.” The New Birth elder  said her decision to seek a divorce was driven by “years of attacks in the media that frustrated and overwhelmed me.” She and her husband had “mutually agreed to find healing,” Vanessa Long said.

But then, even later on Dec. 2,  her attorneys announced Vanessa Long was proceeding with the divorce “consistent with her original [statement] made this morning.”

In the divorce filing, Vanessa Long, 53, said her marriage to the New Birth senior pastor was “irretrievably broken” and there was “no hope of reconciliation.” The couple had been in a “state of separation,” according to the petition.

Full Story HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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The stuff Mo’Kelly gets in his email box…you guys are WRONG!

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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The tweets were likely fleeting in nature, consistent with how the multitude of us use Twitter to socially interact. Momentary thoughts, ephemeral emotions…140 character snapshots of one’s conscience. CNN commentator Roland Martin has come under fire for two tweets during the Super Bowl which GLAAD argued were homophobic and encouraged violence against the LGBT community.

Regardless of whether one finds merit in GLAAD’s complaint or instead supports Martin’s sense of humor, know that the response from the LGBT community was swift, direct and immediate in nature. GLAAD has asked for CNN to fire Martin. As of this writing, CNN had not offered a final decision.

UPDATE: CNN Suspends Roland Martin (2.8.12)

That was Sunday, both the controversial action and the subsequent response.

Monday, parents mostly Latino in nature protested the inaction and lack of communication in the wake of the arrest of two teachers for sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. In response to the protests and other public outcry, the whole of the teaching staff was immediately replaced.

Immediately.

Also Monday, the social pariah Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Baptist church in Atlanta offered an apology to the Anti-Defamation League in response to a controversial “coronation” ceremony performed by Rabbi Ralph Messer the previous week. The video of the service went viral, instantly sparking immediate outrage from Jewish community leaders.

The Jewish community outrage and eventual apology were separated by fewer than 48 hours.

That was Monday.

Three separate ethnic and/or social constituencies used their social capital to leverage media and public opinion to force an immediate redress of issues.

Although the outrage in regards to the Eddie Long ceremony in New Birth (an African-American church) was unanimous irrespective of race, nobody within the African-American religious community stepped forward and demanded an apology. In fact, let the record reflect that Eddie Long took fewer than 48 hours to offer a public apology to the Jewish community for an offensive ceremony, yet to this day has said nothing about the foolishness surrounding his behavior leading up to his sexual coercion settlement involving five young males.

There has been no widespread public call within the religious community demanding for him to step down, be sat down or altogether shutdown.

One might wonder why some of the other African-American megachurches haven’t leveraged their power individually and collectively to express their own outrage at Bishop Long. Right now, the ADL seemingly has more power in affecting Eddie Long’s behavior than his own peers. As of this writing, not one Black megachurch preacher has spoken out against Eddie Long.

Not one. Zero. Null set.

UPDATE 12.9.12: Although I knew of Bishop Paul S. Morton’s youtube video and public rebuke of Eddie Long, Mo’Kelly was originally under the impression that St. Stephens was not a megachurch.  Some local readers to the area have emailed Mo’Kelly indicating that St. Stephens is in fact a megachurch.  Thus noted here.

T. D. Jakes of the Potter’s House in Dallas, TX recently offered the following to CNN while discussing Long’s impending divorce and previous sexual coercion charges.

If there was actually misconduct, the young men involved in the case were old enough to make their own decisions. They are not juveniles.”

Jakes conveniently skipped over the fact that Long was married and adamantly against all types of homosexual behavior. Jakes blithely disregarded the inherent moral and ethical contradictions given Long’s position and power. Despite Jakes’ stance, it really is acceptable to assess blame on the married man engaging in sexual behavior with adolescents (they were not 18) in the discussion of said man’s divorce. Jakes, for whatever reason, stopped short of finding ANY fault with Long.

But true to form, Jakes did find time to blast the GOP for supporting Newt Gingrich over his children as janitors remarks and that Gingrich is “a thrice-married, twice-divorced adulterer.”

Evidently multiple marriages, divorces, adultery and disparaging behavior towards young people don’t apply to Long; who is now twice-married/divorced with an 8-figure settlement connected to homosexual acts of adultery.

The hypocrisy is beyond staggering, it is stupefying. The remarks on both Gingrich and Long came THE SAME DAY, December 11, 2011 in two different interviews.  The links don’t lie.

What Jakes doesn’t seem to understand is that when viewing someone head-on, it makes talking out of both sides one’s mouth much more obvious.

Prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar, with ministries in Atlanta, New York and his own private jet to ferry him between the two, told those in his audience who came to his church after leaving Eddie Long they should “go back.”

He too absolved Long of guilt and blame.

Eddie Long remains in his pulpit after an alleged 8-figure sexual coercion settlement, impending divorce and the only people in the religious community adamant in their anger towards him were Jews…for reasons wholly unrelated to the more serious ones?

Really?

Seriously?

One of Long’s accusers Anthony Flagg, alleged he accompanied Long on overnight trips to New York, Dallas and other cities; most of which “coincidentally” connected to other Black megachurch preachers in league with Long on the Federal Marriage Amendment.

A coincidence, to be sure (wink, wink).

Flagg in subsequent interviews also indicated he stayed in the W Hotel in Times Square, which happens to also be the place where megachurch pastor Zachery Tims was found dead with a powdery substance on his person.

Just in case you were wondering, Flagg says he also stayed with Long at the W Hotel in Dallas, just 12 miles from T.D. Jakes’ main campus.

Of course this is all coincidental and circumstantial (wink, wink).

How quickly were the late Joe Paterno and the university president removed and fired respectively for their mishandling of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal?

Exactly.

Eddie Long continues to “offend” people specifically because we in the African-American community have abrogated our responsibility to protect our children. We have allowed his ministry to continue with little more than angry editorials and spirited radio commentary.

New Birth is not just “a” cult but seemingly a link in a chain of interconnected, prosperity-preaching cults; guided not by sound Christian tenets but something altogether nefarious and un-Christian in nature.

The common thread between Penn State, Miramonte and New Birth is that somebody did nothing when circumstances required far more; allowing young people to be abused. If there is immediate action in the moment, future misdeeds can be averted. The communities surrounding Penn State and Miramonte took immediate steps to make sure the right actions were taken.

New Birth…nothing.  We as African-Americans did nothing.  This is on us, as are his future transgressions.  We have allowed Long to proceed with impunity. He will embarrass and “abuse” the African-American community again and again, until we put an end to it and his ministry once and for all. We just have to care enough and love our own children enough to stand up for them.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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From CNN:

“The ceremony was not my suggestion, nor was it my intent, to participate in any ritual that is offensive in any manner to the Jewish community, or any group. Furthermore, I sincerely denounce any action that depicts me as a King, for I am merely just a servant of the Lord,” Long wrote in a letter dated Saturday.

The letter was addressed to Bill Nigut, southeast regional director of the Anti-Defamation League — a Jewish group that fights anti-Semitism.

“While I believe that Rabbi Ralph Messer has good intentions during his message at New Birth, I understand that the ceremony he performed on Sunday, January 29th, caused harm to the Jewish community, for which I am deeply sorry,” Long wrote.

Full story HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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