Bishop Eddie "Down Low" Long: I Plan To Fight The False Charges Against Me

Despite rumors that he planned to resign, today televangelist Eddie "Down Low" Long told the congregation at his Atlanta mega-church that he plans to fight the "false charges" against him.

He said his first responsibility was his family, and the some 25,000 members of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. However, he joked that he would be "remiss" not to address "the world." "I've been accused, I'm under attack. I want you to know, as I said earlier, that I am not a perfect man," he said. "But this thing, I'm going to fight." "And I want you to know one other thing," he told the cheering crowd Sunday morning. "I feel like David against Goliath, but I've got five rocks and I haven't thrown one yet." He then turned on his heel and walked away from the pulpit, ending his 20-minute address.

Four young men are now suing Long for "coercive sexual abuse" and a reported 30 more are said to be looking to join the suit. In 2004 Long led his congregation on an anti-gay marriage march to the grave of Martin Luther King. Last week activist Michelangelo Signorile played a clip of Long preaching that homosexuals deserved to be put to death. Raw Story has the audio.