Joel Osteen of the Houston megachurch
Lakewood Church told Mike Wallace on Sunday that he believes being
gay is a sin.
The 49-year-old Osteen, who is
currently pitching his new book Everyday a Friday, added that
he is not a homophobe.
“I believe the Scripture says being
gay is a sin,” he said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
“But every time I say that Chris, I get people saying, 'Well,
you're a gay hater and you're a gay basher.' I'm not. I don't
dislike anybody. Gays are some of the nicest, kindest, most loving
people in the world. But my faith is based on what I believe the
Scripture says. And that's the way I read the Scripture.”
Osteen added that while he doesn't
support marriage equality he opposes discrimination against gay
people.
“I don't think we should discriminate
against anybody. So I think, yes, I don't think, you know, there was
an issue where somebody couldn't go visit a gay loved one in a
hospital. I don't think that's right. They love each other. So, I
think there should be some – I'm not for gay marriage – but I'm
not for discriminating against people.” (The video is embedded in
the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)