Mega-Pastor Joel Osteen: Gays are NOT "God's Best"

Even world-famous pastors who pretend to be tolerant of LGBT folk continue relegating us to the status of second-class human beings.  Case in point:  Megachurch money hound Joel Osteen, who appeared on a recent Very Special Episode of ABC's The View. 

Whoopi Goldberg asks the prosperity preacher his opinion of gays and lesbians.  Sayeth The Osteen:  "What I believe the Scripture teaches is that homosexuality is not God's best."  (Are we second best?  Third best?  On heaven's shit list?)  "I come from that value system of the Scripture.  I can't pick and choose."  (All Christians pick and choose, although different levels of hypocrisy exist in different denominations.)  "I love everybody.  I can't say that I don't have friends that are gay, they're some of the nicest people in the world."  ("And I'd even let them use my bathroom as long as I wasn't in it.  Ha ha ha ha! That's a little Joel joke."  After Osteen assures the studio audience that gays are "welcome" at Lakewood Church, Joy Behar wants to know if they are truly accepted there.  Osteen says yes, but then he quickly qualifies his version of "acceptance.")  "I do!  But I try to share what is God's best for us.  I think He has a best plan for every one of us in our lives.  We all make mistakes.  I've made mistakes.  But I believe if you stay in faith, if you have the heart to do what's right..."  (like, um, stop being gay?) "...then God will get you to where you're supposed to be." (Like, um, ramrod straight?)

Except for the conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck, whose vacuous gaze could put cobras to sleep, the ladies who host The View have all come out in support of LGBT rights.  But I was rather disappointed that in this particular episode, they seemed disinclined to challenge Osteen's so-called "tolerance."  They treated him like a cherished younger brother whose one small foible can be easily overlooked.  (You can watch the video here.)

I surfed over to The View's message board and found a thread entitled Stop Osteen.  The original poster writes:  Let me start by staying that my 16-year-old nephew was a member of this man's church. He struggled with being called "gay" and "fa*got" in high school. He went to a member of this church who told him that this was not God's path for him. My nephew realized that he was not "God's best" and he committed suicide. My uncle found him dead in his bedroom - he had shot himself in the head. We have to stop the hatred that is being shouted from the pulpit. I live in Texas and this man has brainwashed so many people. He takes money from the poor, and is the most Godless millionaire I know. I am trying to find a way to forgive him for what he did to my nephew, Ray.

Osteen certainly isn't the worst pastor in the fundie circus.  Like smarmy Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Joel preaches conditional Christ-love with a heavy dose of pass the plate.  They're both adored by TV reporters and talk show hosts.  Still, I long for the day when mainstream media elevates a truly accepting heterosexual minister to a place of prominence in its stable of on-call savants.

Comments

[Philip]

They always try to dehumanize gays by saying "homosexuality" (in this case, "not Gods best") - like it's a disease - and then turn around and say there's nothing wrong with gay people. I'm so fucking fed up with that love the sinner hate the sin mantra. Homosexuality is not what we are, regardless of what Osteen claims. We are HUMANS with feelings.

BTW, I like Joy's expression in that second pic.

[Amanda]

I just clicked on the link to the video... and I have to say, they sure seem to be handling him with kid gloves. I used to watch the show sometimes, but lately its lost its edge.

[Kevin]

Osteen is a good example of how a person twists Bible verses to make himself filthy rich. It really is mana from heaven. Scripture is filled with calls for people to reject worldy goods. How they've managed to spin that into this so-called prosperity gospel is pure snake oil salesmanship.

[Aggie, Fair Haven, Vermont]

Gee, Joel, lemme guess... who is God's best? You, right? Thought so. Asshat...

[Bee Girl]

Those of us who don't believe in a magical sky being could care less what Osteen considers gods best.

[David]

Any one who claims they know what God thinks, wants or does is a LIAR, a CHARLATAN and a SNAKE-OIL SALESMAN.

[Elizabeth]

He's a politician. He wants to attract the religious left that are getting into new age christianity without pissing off the fire and brimstone fundamentalist conservatives. It will be harder and harder to play both sides in the future as they are diverging.

[galefan2004]

This is what happens when you check your brain at the door every Sunday. Some of the most brilliant people in this country still fail to ask questions when it comes to "faith". Faith does not stand up to questions. I feel for the family of the child that killed himself at 16, but I am willing to wager there was more going on. If you think kids just suddenly started having it tough then you are wrong. However, the research shows that although the gay experience arguably gets easier the gay teen suicide rate is actually climbing. We teach our kids that they should get everything they want and be treated any way they want and when the doesn't happen they do stupid things like commit suicide. We need to get back to teaching our kids that life can suck and how to deal with it.