Televangelist Pat Robertson on Tuesday
came to the aide of Chris Broussard, who on Monday criticized Jason
Collins, an NBA free agent, after he came out gay, making Collins the
U.S.'s first openly gay professional athlete.
During an appearance on ESPN's Outside
the Lines, Broussard, a sports analyst who mainly covers the NBA
for ESPN, said Collins was living in “unrepentant sin.”
“Personally, I don’t believe that
you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like
premarital sex between heterosexuals,” Broussard
said. “If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then
the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know,
that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin,
whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it may be, I
believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus
Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian
because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a
Christian.”
On Tuesday, Broussard backed off a bit,
saying that Collins displayed bravery and that he has no objections
to him playing in the NBA, but reiterated that he stands by his
comments.
“It's what Christianity says, ladies
and gentlemen!” Robertson said on The 700 Club.
“Christianity says fornication is a sin. Somehow we've said if
it's heterosexual fornication, it's bad; if it's homosexual
fornication – that used to be called an abomination in the Bible –
now it's a protected civil right. And so somebody that says that
that kind of conduct is sinful is now being pilloried in the press.
He's telling the truth! This is what the Bible says!”
“Now, if you don't want to be a
Christian, that's your business. If these media types, these
writers, don't want to be Christians, that's their business. If they
choose a lifestyle that takes them outside the protection of God,
that's fine. That's their business. You can't tell them if they
want to go to hell or heaven, that's their business. But don't tell
somebody that he can't speak specifically about what the Christian
faith says about certain conduct. There isn't anything bigoted about
that. That's what it says.”
“So, our hat's off to somebody who's
brave enough to say it. But, whew, let's hope the people at ESPN
will man up and defend their guy for speaking what is truth.” (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
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In a tweet, ESPN did confirm that it
stood by Broussard: “We regret that a respectful discussion on
personal viewpoints became a distraction from today's news. ESPN is
fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins'
announcement.”