What if the "anointed one" is touching someone else?

As Sunday morning fast approaches, I am sure that there are 25,000.00 faithful souls in suburban Atlanta who cannot be looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. I can't say that I blame them; "these are truly the times that try men's souls."

People have been asking me to write about Bishop Eddie, but as I have said in the past, it's just too damn easy. Some things really do speak for themselves.

Still, one of my favorite bloggers wrote on the subject, and I did a little cut and paste job from her post.

"What does James H. Bell, Tyrone Forbes, Edwin House, Bruce Curtis Leon Dupree, Clarence Garrison and Willie L. Jefferson all have in common? They are pastors that have been arrested for sexual abuses against their parishioners. And in some of the cases, several have been convicted.

It is a fact that sexual abuse goes under-reported in communities of color. Now let's take that fact and apply it when it comes to outing a pastor, deacon, bishop, or other clergymen and women who serve as high power figures in black communities. Not only is it complicated, but in some instances it can be dangerous.

The recent Eddie Long church scandal has magnified an oft-overlooked flaw in the black community. We exempt our "leaders", and more readily, our religious leaders from moral or ethical scrutiny. And when this happens, we participate in our own oppression.

With the past 10 years of sexual abuse cover-ups, lawsuits and scandals becoming a mainstay in the Catholic church and among white clergymen, there is a notion among some black church members that their black pastors are absolved from this sin. It is as if their pastors' erections are somehow different, more divine, thus are stuck in the right orifices.

And in some instances, the victim at the church becomes the predator or the enemy in the eyes of church members---resulting in a collective exile, or one that is self-imposed due to the rejection from people they thought loved them as children of Christ.

It is no wonder why George H. Bush sought out leaders of predominately black mega-churches during election time. Not only do they hold the purse-strings of parishoners, but they control the consciousness of a powerful voting bloc. And just like the teabaggers, these folks vote for someone who is totally against their interest, all in the name of not passing out condoms at schools..." [More here]

Oh Lawd eco. soul, stop stepping on our toes.

What bothers me probably as much- if not more- than the salacious nature of this story is the monetary aspect of it. Who is watching the very long dollars that flows through the hands of these preachers and their minions, and where is the accountability to their flock?

The folks over at New Birth Missionary Baptist would do well to remember the following scripture:

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."

OK, maybe that's a bad choice for a scripture. The fruit part was uncalled for. But you know what I am trying to say.