Pastor Joel Osteen of the Houston
megachurch Lakewood Church on Tuesday told CNN host Piers Morgan that
gay sex is sinful.
The 48-year-old charismatic Osteen
helms a congregation of over seven million via television broadcasts
in over 100 nations around the world.
Osteen had previously appeared on Piers
Morgan Tonight in January. During that interview he said gay sex
was sinful.
On Tuesday, Morgan revisited the
subject, asking Osteen if his views had changed.
“Since then, more states have
endorsed same-sex marriage. It's becoming much less of a prohibitive
kind of issue than it used to be. What's your view now?” Morgan
asked Osteen, whom he later described as a “progressive preacher.”
“It never changes because mine's
based out of the Scripture. That's what I believe that the Scripture
says. That homosexuality is a sin. You know I believed it before
and I still believe it now.”
“I'm not mad at anybody. I don't
dislike anybody. You know, respecting my faith and believing in what
the Scripture says, that's the best way I can interpret it,” Osteen
answered.
Osteen went on to disagree with
Morgan's suggestion that the Scripture should “move with the
times.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)