Dear Rev. Dollar,
I hope this letter finds you well. I know you are very busy, so I won't take up much of your time. I recently watched your sermon from last Sunday when you addressed the Eddie Long case. I commend you on your adamant calls for forgiveness. Love and forgiveness are indeed characteristics that all should seek to cultivate.
However I fear your comments on Sunday (particularly those addressed to visitors from New Birth), conflated two very important, yet distinctive issues: forgiveness and accountability.
You see, Long’s case was not simply, as you suggest, a “wreck” or a car “accident,” but a case of DUI: Driving/Pastoring under the influence of unchecked power and accountability. This continues to be a historic problem with commercial celebrity preachers, and given your status and peer group, I’m sure you know this all too well.
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Wow! What a letter! I commend the writer for this letter. I think it hit home with me at the end when he was asking the Rev. Dollar if he would put his children in any number of those situations. In the instance of christianity, God was always willing to show the way and offer the bread and told them to be frutiful in him for he is the Glory and the Powerful Almighty. When someone is seeking the bread and the way to the faithful and Almight God a Preacher should be a helper, a server of bread. He should not be the sexual abuser or the arrested for DUI. He should be Godly. I completely agree with the writer on this one. I always ask others to put theirselves in my shoes if we are arguing over something; just as they remind me to put myself in their shoes in their difficult times/situations. Same instance here - God put himself in our shoes and saw what we wanted/longed for. We longed for him and the heavens.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the letter. Being a mother, it is my DUTY to protect my children and not be blinded by the shroud of secretcy or scandal by a priet, pastor or clergyman. I did believe that Eddie Long was innocent until proven guily by a court of law but with this change from "I did nothing wrong" to his out of court settlement, it shows that he has something to hide. And as far as the settlement, whose money is it? Is it coming from the coffers of the church or from his own bank account?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the writer. Yes, he is to be forgiven and I think that we should not pass judgement. Being a member of the clergy is condemnation enough. Keep the children in your site. No children church. Let them worship with you. It is a hard pill to swallow because church is a place that is suppose to be a safe haven. I can be over proctecting as parent and there is plenty reason for it.
ReplyDeleteI read this letter twice for several reasons. This is one of those instances where I felt so strongly about wanting to say something to Rev. Long myself but couldn't quite come up with a constructive way to convey my point without spewing hatred and anger or have my thoughts even be heard...this letter is my and probably so many others voice! I stand and applaud the writer for so eloquently raising some valid, real life questions! Well Done!
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