I want you to think about this cartoon every time you hear a prosperity gospel preacher tell his audience that they, too, can be successful if they just do what he says. Read more
Yesterday, a jury found that four of the men who heckled Pastor Joel Osteen during a church service last year — all because God told them to do it — had every right to disrupt the service. Read more
Pastor Joel Osteen, who loves tweeting inspirational word salads, would like to remind you not to let the facts get in the way of your fiction: Sounds nice if you’re in a hospital where the doctor tells you the “fact” that you’re dying. (Though, if you survive, then your impending death wasn’t really a “fact” in the first place.) Sounds horribly illogical in every other situation. Read more
Pastor Joel Osteen gets a lot of criticism for not using the Bible very much when he preaches — though that’s also part of his appeal. He might want to take a second look at it, though, since a recent Facebook post hinted that he doesn’t know his own biblical history: Read more
Here’s Joel Osteen’s predicament: His success hinges on his ability to inspire and uplift people. But, as a successful pastor, he knows he’s going to have to take stances on “controversial” issues like gay marriage. So what does he do? He stays ignorant. It’s just easier for him. When he gets asked about whether homosexuality is a sin, he tries to avoid the line of questioning by saying he never talks about that in church and he “stays in his… Read more
I really enjoyed watching this interaction between Larry King and Joel Osteen/Victoria Osteen for one reason: It’s awkward as hell. Just like Rick Warren, Joel just can’t bring himself to say he absolutely opposes gay marriage. So he tries to work around it and he fails. Here’s what journalists need to do: keep questioning Christian leaders on their position on this issue. Don’t let them hedge around it. They obviously have an opinion. They can’t have the best of both… Read more
This time of the year, a number of pastors (and their churches) get in trouble for endorsing candidates for local, state and national offices. Even when withholding an endorsement, many churches allow the candidates to speak to their congregations. But not Joel Osteen. Jeremy Leaming of Americans United for Separation of Church and State says this: … it is refreshing to hear of Pastor Joel Osteen’s policy of keeping partisan politics out of his pulpit. Osteen leads Lakewood Church in… Read more
The list of “The Top 10 Craziest TV Preachers” (with video) is now at Uber.com. The top three can be found here. Personally, you’ll get your fix if you watch numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 9. Actually, #9 is going to give me nightmares for weeks. Don’t watch that one. [tags]atheist, atheism, preacher, pastor, church, uber.com[/tags] Read more
This week, we talked about Franklin Graham’s vaccine ambivalence, telling off Joel Osteen, MAGA world’s “gun girl,” whether women are nothing more than “earthen vessels,” and more! Read more
