Televangelist (And Asshole) Joel Osteen Says Homosexuality is a Choice - Even though Heterosexuality is Not

The nastiness and dishonesty of the professional Christian set - who are in my view little better than con men who shake down the ignorant and gullible for money - continues to be stunning.  A case in point is Joel Osteen who lives VERY well by convincing the simple minded to send his "ministry" money.  In an interview on CNN Osteen was pressed to admit that he never chose to be straight - it was simply who he was.  Meanwhile, however, Osteen argues that being gay is a choice either out of intellectual laziness or fear that admitting that God made some of us gay might prove the Bible wrong and, in the process, cause his house of cards faith message to collapse.  It is individuals like Osteen that maintain the pressure on gays to marry and try to be straight with the result that straight spouses and children find themselves in ultimately doomed marriages.  Think Progress looks at Osteen's dishonest and disgusting comments on homosexuality.  Here are excerpts:

Joel Osteen, the televangelist who presides over the nation’s largest congregation at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, appeared on CNN’s morning show Starting Point this morning to discuss his latest book and ended up in a lengthy conversation about his views on the LGBT community.

Host Soledad O’Brien and panelist Richard Socarides pushed Osteen on his beliefs on homosexuality, and whether his message of lifting people up can coexist with his church’s view of homosexuality as a sin:

O’BRIEN: You make it clear that you think that homosexuality is a sin…
OSTEEN: When I read the scripture, that’s what I believe; that the scripture condemns it or says it’s a sin. But it also says that you know, lying is, and that being prideful is…
O’BRIEN: Right, so then you shouldn’t lie. But for people who are gay, you’re saying so then you shouldn’t be gay?
OSTEEN: Well, I think that’s the big debate. The scripture says you’ve got to work out your own salvation…
SOCARIDES: Do you think you can choose to be gay or not gay? You think you choose to be straight?
OSTEEN: I know I have not chosen to be straight, I feel like that’s who I am…
HOST: Well so how can I choose to be gay?

 Osteen is little better than a sleazy snake oil merchants.  And, in my opinion, he strikes me as pretty gay.  I hope that some day frauds and charlatans like Osteen find themselves out of business.