The wife of Bishop Eddie Long, Vanessa Long, has retracted her plans to divorce her husband and pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. Many religious supporters believe she has done the right thing to stand by her man through the worse.
Forgiveness, Repentance, Restoration and Healing are the reasons that they use to justify why she is staying in an intimate partnership with someone who turns to young boys for sexual pleasure; someone who has used the pulpit to deceive and manipulate his congregation about who he is as a man, a husband, a father, a leader, and teacher of the word of God.
Yet, I’m not surprised that Mrs. Long has decided to stay with her husband and partner in crime. The most baffling thing to me is how religious people seem to always find a way to rationalize irrational religious behavior.
Upon retracting her divorce decision, Elder Long released another statement: the newer statement attributed her previous decision to her frustration with “attacks in the media” that she said overwhelmed her. She went on to say “I love my family and church family, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church,” she wrote. “Therefore, my husband and I have mutually agreed to find healing from these attacks.”
Religion is so blinding that we rationalize irrational behavior. How do you apply a solution, if you have not clearly identified the problem or the source of the problem? How can one heal from an unidentified injury? How can one dress a wound that you don’t acknowledge having? Who can count to three without starting with one? How do you say your alphabets without saying “A”? It’s really just that simple.
If the followers and supporters of New Birth Baptist Church believe that the problem is the “media attacks” alone, then Bishop Eddie and Elder Vanessa Long continue to mutually and successfully teach people how to do as they do – lie to themselves and the people around them.
There is no “love” at New Birth Baptist Church. Real love yields truth. Outside the church they call it “keeping it 100%.”
It is in truth and acknowledgment that healing, forgiveness, repentance and restoration can be found. What happened to the spirit of truth? What happened to confession being good for the soul? It is the “A” of the Alphabet. It is the one as you count to three. It is the vehicle used to identify the problem and its source. Truth is the glasses that allows one to see an injury or wound that needs attention, so the healing process can begin. It is only in truth that one can identify an error that has caused a disruption in a relationship or environment.
If religious behavior continues to contradict rational thinking and behavior, please don’t expect Elder Vanessa Long, her husband or any of their supporters to find what they are looking for….Healing.
By Don Miller
Host- The Don Miller Show
Why would she divorce him? She lives the good life with all that money. She lives the life of a single woman. But please, please don’t act the victim part. We know who the real victims were.