Voting Station

Eddie Long

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (May 12, 1953-January 15, 2017)
    Born in Huntersville, North Carolina
    Senior pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in DeKalb County, Georgia (1987-2017)
    Named a bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (1994)

Why he might be annoying:

    Before getting religion, he was a sales representative for Ford Motor Company – until he was fired for including personal phone calls on his expense reports.
    He got his theology degree from a non-accredited ‘International College of Excellence.’
    His first wife, Dabara Houston, filed for divorce, claiming that his ‘violent and vicious temper’ forced her to flee the house with their two-year-old son for their safety (1985).
    His preaching emphasized a woman being submissive and obedient to her husband.
    The Southern Poverty Law Center called him ‘one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.’
    He led a march to the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr., to call for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (2004).
    Four men filed lawsuits against him, claiming he used his influence as a pastor to coerce them into sexual relationships with him (2010).
    One of the plaintiffs claimed Long presided over a ‘covenant’ ceremony between the two of them that was described as ‘essentially a marriage ceremony, with candles, exchange of jewelry and biblical quotes.’
    Rather than fight the charges, he settled out of court (2011).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His father, a fellow Baptist minister, was a distant figure who did not attended his high school football games or his graduation: ‘My daddy pulled back when it came to saying ‘I love you.’ I needed that so badly.’
    Under his leadership, membership in New Birth increased from 300 to 25,000 people.
    A Senate investigation into his finances (and those of several other ‘prosperity gospel’ preachers such as Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar) did not uncover any wrongdoing (2005).
    He paid college tuition for several parishioners in need.
    He officiated at the funeral of Coretta Scott King.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 59 Votes: 42.37% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 126 Votes: 57.14% Annoying