Prominent Baptist minister arrested in gay prostitution sting

[Matrim55]

http://www.wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=31184

A member of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee has been arrested in Oklahoma City on charges of propositioning a male undercover police officer.

The Reverend Lonnie Latham has spoken out against homosexuality in the past.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[christopher d]

Right. Simply "bringing the word". As was said in American Beauty: "You are so. busted."

Latham has supported a convention directive urging members to befriend gays and lesbians and try to convince them that they can become heterosexual if they accept Jesus Christ as their savior and reject their lifestyle. He must have gotten this from Dale Carnegie. :rolleyes:

[Sine Pari]

To wit: in addition to the TOS and the Politics & Current Events guidelines, the following will not be tolerated:

1. Intentionally spiteful lampooning of entire religions, denominations, or other large groups of people who can be categorized by their spiritual belief system.

[Dan Loney]

To wit: in addition to the TOS and the Politics & Current Events guidelines, the following will not be tolerated:

1. Intentionally spiteful lampooning of entire religions, denominations, or other large groups of people who can be categorized by their spiritual belief system.Wasn't previously aware that every Southern Baptist was a self-hating gay.

Explains a lot, really.

[christopher d]

To wit: in addition to the TOS and the Politics & Current Events guidelines, the following will not be tolerated:

1. Intentionally spiteful lampooning of entire religions, denominations, or other large groups of people who can be categorized by their spiritual belief system.
However, as in my example of the Archbishop of Canterbury, individuals can be lampooned to your heart's content. No one was talking about Southern Baptists as a group. The thread title mentions a single minister. The article mentions a single minister. But thanks for playing.

[BenReilly]

I have an idea for a Southern Baptist Gay Pride day at Disney World.

[afgrijselijkheid]

i don't know if this is fair... and i hate asking... and i'm not trying to be accusatory in any way towards any one who believes anything...

but has it started to seem like we should be asking if members of the clergy commit an abnormally high number of these types of crimes compared to general population?

i don't believe all of this recent news is indicative of a growing trend, i just feel like it is going public like never before

[flowergirl]

i don't know if this is fair... and i hate asking... and i'm not trying to be accusatory in any way towards any one who believes anything...

but has it started to seem like we should be asking if members of the clergy commit an abnormally high number of these types of crimes compared to general population?

i don't believe all of this recent news is indicative of a growing trend, i just feel like it is going public like never before

it does seem to be more prevalent now.

perhaps it's because it used to be swept under the rug more. you were supposed to respect and revere your minister/reverend/priest/whathaveyou because they were "closer to God" than you...

and now maybe people are starting to realize that just because you're a member of the clergy doesn't mean that you aren't immune to temptation.. however, we do (and should) hold clergy to a higher standard.

i think people just aren't keeping things to themselves anymore.

kind of like how wife beating was tolerated previously, you just didn't talk about it. now people talk about it.

just a theory.

[afgrijselijkheid]

it does seem to be more prevalent now.

perhaps it's because it used to be swept under the rug more. you were supposed to respect and revere your minister/reverend/priest/whathaveyou because they were "closer to God" than you...

and now maybe people are starting to realize that just because you're a member of the clergy doesn't mean that you aren't immune to temptation.. however, we do (and should) hold clergy to a higher standard.

i think people just aren't keeping things to themselves anymore.

kind of like how wife beating was tolerated previously, you just didn't talk about it. now people talk about it.

just a theory.
well, psychologically, i can see how the 'celibate' men of cloth could create problems for themselves and others by trying to lead a lifestyle that prohibits one of God's greatest gifts to mankind

[christopher d]

well, psychologically, i can see how the 'celibate' men of cloth could create problems for themselves and others by trying to lead a lifestyle that prohibits one of God's greatest gifts to mankind
Sure, but celibacy (among Christians) is unique to Roman Catholicism. That leaves plenty of priests, pastors, ministers, etc.

[Matrim55]

To wit: in addition to the TOS and the Politics & Current Events guidelines, the following will not be tolerated:

1. Intentionally spiteful lampooning of entire religions, denominations, or other large groups of people who can be categorized by their spiritual belief system.
Man, for someone who acts like such a tough guy on these boards you sure are a **********.

[flowergirl]

well, psychologically, i can see how the 'celibate' men of cloth could create problems for themselves and others by trying to lead a lifestyle that prohibits one of God's greatest gifts to mankind

i guess i meant more along the lines of not having your pastor be a hypocrite and solicit gay sex from a prostitute.
i mean, there's the obvious priest thing, but...

haha. no pun intended. :o

[Sine Pari]

Man, for someone who acts like such a tough guy on these boards you sure are a **********.


Hardly

I just have a special loathing for do as I say not as I do folks

Especially ones that want to be moderators

But oh well, just let your bigotry flow..........

[Revolt]

Hardly

I just have a special loathing for do as I say not as I do folks



Wouldn't that apply big-time to the minister in question? As I understand things, the Southern Baptists are vociferously anti-homo. If I'm basically right, then this guy is a stain on the religion.

[christopher d]

Hardly

I just have a special loathing for do as I say not as I do folks

Especially ones that want to be moderators

But oh well, just let your bigotry flow..........Hey, now. I addressed your concern. If you can show me how I was lampooning a large group of people please do so, and you'll receive my best Mea Culpa. My intention was simply to lampoon one minister who'd spent a good deal of his ministry trying to "reform" homosexuals, then gets caught with his own hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

[Sine Pari]

It's fairly clear that this forum will just be more religon bashing and jokes

Most of the posters in this part of BS are from the left, and a good deal of the left has a strong anti religous bent

Like I said let you bigotry flow

I can only imagine the firestorm if people posted threads about gays or African Americans or Muslims that turned into a let's all mock them fest

You'd trip over yourselves to neg rep and have them banned for good

Like I said it's do as I say not as I do at it's worst

[Revolt]

It's fairly clear that this forum will just be more religon bashing and jokes

Most of the posters in this part of BS are from the left, and a good deal of the left has a strong anti religous bent

Like I said let you bigotry flow

I can only imagine the firestorm if people posted threads about gays or African Americans or Muslims that turned into a let's all mock them fest

You'd trip over yourselves to neg rep and have them banned for good

Like I said it's do as I say not as I do at it's worst

Wow, this is a sensitive subject. Break out the violins.

And I'll be happy to cap on anyone - anyone - who is involved in such gross hypocrisy. I'm just trying to to think of what might redline the shadenfraude meter like this one. Muslims eating pork? Maybe I'm just not imaginative enough right now.

['Strobaby]

I'm from the Left, and I'm Baptist, too (not Southern Baptist because they're too strict) and I see nothing wrong with slamming a Southern Baptist minister, a man who represents a denomination known for it's hardline stance on gays, who gets caught soliciting a male prostitute. He's a hypocrite and there's nothing wrong with pointing that out. You can state that the man's a hypocrite and a disgrace to his denomination without stating that all Southern Baptists are hypocritical and disgraceful.

[christopher d]

It's fairly clear that this forum will just be more religon bashing and jokes

Most of the posters in this part of BS are from the left, and a good deal of the left has a strong anti religous bent

Like I said let you bigotry flow

I can only imagine the firestorm if people posted threads about gays or African Americans or Muslims that turned into a let's all mock them fest

You'd trip over yourselves to neg rep and have them banned for good

Like I said it's do as I say not as I do at it's worstOnce again, where did I (or anyone else on this thread) bash religion, Southern Baptists, or anything other than one single solitary minister?

And as to "a good deal of the left" having "a strong anti-religious bent", may I present for your perusal:

The National Council of Churches (http://www.ncccusa.org/). Most of the leadership of mainline Protestant denominations come from the left. And that's just Christianity. Many branches of Judaism have a strong left-wing base. And you can't call Unitarian Universalists, Religious Scientists and other, smaller religions "non-religious", either.

[Norsk Troll]

I can only imagine the firestorm if people posted threads about gays or African Americans or Muslims that turned into a let's all mock them festYou find me a leader of the Gay & Lesbian Student Union that gets caught beating up homos outside a gay bar with his muscle-head friends and a baseball bat, and feel free to mock away.