The New Birth Missionary Baptist Church finally got around to responding to the numerous lawsuits being filed against its pastor, Bishop Eddie Long. One might expect that the church would go out of its way to deny the allegations and to stand up for its pastor, but this does not appear to be the case.

Rather than issuing any form of denial whatsoever, the church took a peculiar middle ground, simply stating that it cannot confirm or deny that Bishop Eddie Long had a sexual relationship with any of the young men in the church.

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The church acknowledged that Bishop Eddie Long did take several trips with the young men who've filed suit against him for sexual coercion. They also noted that they were aware that he sometimes shared hotel rooms with young men on the trips. When it came to whether or not anything inappropriate happened on the trip, the church again refused to confirm or deny a thing. In particular, the church mentioned that it was aware that Anthony Flagg, one of the young men suing Eddie Long, went with Long on trips to Las Vegas; Tuskegee, Ala.; and New York. The church, though, said it could not definitively comment on the nature of their relationship.

For some people, when you refuse to confirm or deny something, that's almost as strong as confirming it. In the case of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, we can't assume that everyone believes Bishop Eddie Long's side of the story, but we also can't assume that most church members believe the alleged victims.

The road the church is taking makes sense in light of the fact that none of us knows much of anything about what anyone else does in the bedroom. The sex life of most human beings can be entirely distinct from their public persona, so church leadership is taking an informed disposition by supporting Long as a pastor, but not professing to know anything about his sex life. The only people who know anything about Bishop Eddie Long's sex life are the people with whom he's had sex. This fact cannot be ignored.

One of the things I've noticed about the Bishop Eddie Long scandal is that many prominent black pastors and public figures are not getting involved in his case. This is not because Bishop Eddie Long has not garnered a tremendous amount of respect from the black community. It is because people simply don't want to be played like fools in case something inappropriate did happen. Given that Bishop Long has not issued clear and consistent denials of allegations against him, most people are taking a wait-and-see approach.

I once had a friend who was accused of rape. When the accusations were brought to light, I was shocked and concerned. Fortunately, the evidence later made it clear that no rape occurred. One thing I can say is that when people asked me if my friend was guilty, I simply had to say, I don't know.

I didn't take this position because I wanted to throw my friend under the bus. I had to say it because my loyalty to him as a friend didn't mean that I could vouch for him as a sex partner. The same is true for the friends of Eddie Long, who are surely puzzled and saddened by this whole chain of events.

There is also the question of whether Bishop Eddie Long will attend the Stand Campaign, a popular religious gathering at the Georgia Dome. Long is being prudent on the matter, stating that he won't attend if he'll be a distraction. Hint to Eddie Long: Yes, you will be a distraction and it is a youth event. It's best that you stay away.





Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.