Whatever The Answer, It'll Be Long In Coming (Sorry)
What we've got in the "Bishop" Eddie Long story is a saga that will be long in analysis, but short in substance: his sermon was so guarded and vague that the buzz words stood out like large, pungent onions in a patch of lavender.
Anthea Butler of Religion Dispatches reported:
"I am not a perfect man, but I am not the man being portrayed on the television--that's not me," leaving room for speculation about what was not perfect about him. The New Birth congregants didn't seem to mind, shouting support, waving New Birth flags, and even holding up signs that read: "We support you Bishop." The call and response was especially pointed: "You don't have to say anything Bishop/We Love you bishop."
The
sermon turned out to be a non-explanation to Long's congregants and
it's becoming clear that the case proceedings will be as controlled and
as secretive as possible. Long's "David and Goliath" meme is something
we'll be sure to hear again and again in the coming months. In the
last sentence to her article, Butler strikes a powerful chord:
Stay tuned. This "bible story" might become hotter than the O.J. trial.
Long's credibility is just now comiing into focus: MediaCurves' animated graph during Eddie Long's speech/sermon is actually quite revealing. Certainly more revealing than the statement of HCD Research which conducted the poll:
Americans Perceive Bishop Eddie Long as More Sincere After Viewing Speech
Flemington, NJ, September 28, 2010 -- A new national study among 532 Americans revealed that the majority perceived Bishop Long as being more sincere after viewing a video clip in which he addresses members during a church service.
The glitch: Long's credibility was not good to begin with. I can't post the actual video since HCD hasn't made it available to YouTube, but click HERE. On a scale of -50 to +50, the graph is deceptive. To the average viewer, the line keeps going DOWN, but what it really means is that the number of people who don't believe him have DECREASED. Turn the graph upside down and you get what HCD is trying to relay. Now look at the numbers below.
Please rate Eddie Long on the following attribute, where 1 represents "Not at all strong in this attribute" and 7 represents "Extremely strong in this attribute" -- Sincerity
Long's credibility went up from "kinda weak" to the middle. In other words, most people don't have a good or bad opinion about Long's credibility. It's a kind of "so what?" reaction. He went from an average of 3.38 to 3.55.
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