17 October 2014
A.D. Osteen Blesses Houston’s Abusive Mayor
Grossman, Cathy
Lynn. “Joel Osteen blesses Houston’s new
(gay) mayor Annise Parker.” USA TODAY. 1 May 2010. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/01/joel-osteen-annise-parker-gay-rights-evangelical/1#.VEBv0MJ0xjq. Accessed 16 Oct 2014.
Joel Osteen blesses Houston's new (gay) mayor Annise Parker
Updated 2010-01-05 3:16 PM
Houston Mayor Annise Parker, right,, holds hands with her partner Kathy
Hubbard, left, while bowing their heads during the prayer led by Houston
evangelical megachurch pastor Joel Osteen at her a public inauguration ceremony
Monday.
By David J. Phillip, AP
Annise Parker, the newly-elected happens-to-be-lesbian mayor of Houston
was sworn in Monday and the opening prayer was given by ... Rev. Joel Osteen.
Is your head spinning? Osteen heads the nation's most mega of
evangelical non-denominational megachurches, Lakewood Church in Houston where
about 45,000 people cycle through a revamped sports stadium for services every
weekend.
Osteen has been all over telling folks (Larry King, Whoopi Goldberg) for
years that homosexuality is not "God's best." I presume he means
"God's best choice" because otherwise I'm lost in the dropped or
implied rest of the sentence. But "God's best" is phrase Osteen never
finishes so I'm just guessing.
Yet, Osteen hasn't joined the more strident wing of the religious right
in damning gays. Indeed, Osteen takes heat from other evangelicals who condemn
him for not laying down a line of fire about sin of any kind. That's not his
style, says the preacher known for his broad smile and sermons that God wants
you to be happy. Osteen's best seller was titled, Your Best Life Now.
Televangelist and best-selling author, Joel Osteen (shown here with his
wife, Victoria. at the opening of the nation's largest church in a former
Houston sports arena, gave the opening prayer at the inauguration of Houston's
new mayor, Annise Parker, a lesbian.
Now (hat tip to Mark Silk for pointing me to the Box Turtle Bulletin) writer Timothy Kincaid suggests to his gay readership that they look
at Osteen more fully and fairly. Kincaid's post (which carries a disclaimer
that others on the staff of the webzine don't necessarily agreed) says:
I think it would be useful for our community to
adopt a more nuanced view of religious leaders. By doing so, we might find
ourselves with unexpected allies.
Joel Osteen does not agree with my understanding of
Scripture; but his disagreement does not make him a hater or a bigot. And I
recognize the value in having a lesbian politician -- elected despite her
opponent's religion-based homophobic campaign -- being given blessing by the
pastor of the largest congregation in the nation.
Does this change your idea of Osteen? For better or
for worse?
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