Joel Osteen: Gays Are Bullied Because They Let Bullies Steal Their Power

Joel Osteen, a Texas Evangelical megachurch televangelist, says that gays are bullied because they are letting bullies steal their power. Pastor Osteen also suggests that homosexuals are not whole persons, and that if they are loved enough they will stop being gay. Osteen repeatedly has stated his belief that homosexuality is a sin, but that it is no greater sin than any other in the Bible.

WATCH: Joel Osteen: I’m Not Out To Bash Anyone But… Yes, Homosexuality Is A Sin

“They don’t have to let people steal their power, especially all the bullying, things that we see going on with that,” Joel Osteen says. Apparently, a positive attitude and projecting empowerment is all that LGBTQ and -perceived youth and teens need to stop bullies from beating the crap out of them, and forcing them into suicide contemplation.

In an interview with the Washington Post’s Sally Quinn, Osteen, pushing his latest book, “Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week.” Osteen’s publisher notes that the title “comes from research that shows people are happiest on Fridays. Pastor Joel Osteen writes how we can generate this level of contentment and joy every day of the week.”

Igor Volsky at Think Progress offers this transcript:

Somebody that maybe had this certain difficulty now, maybe in five years they’re not if we will love them. You know, I think one of the messages I speak on sometimes is, you know, we can love people back into wholeness. But sometimes we want to beat them down — you got this addiction and you shouldn’t have that, or you did this — I just don’t think that’s the best way.

Volsky notes, “Osteen said that he would attend a same-sex marriage but wouldn’t officiate it, before adding, ‘we’re all growing, we’re all changing.’ ‘Somebody who has a certain difficulty now, maybe they won’t in five years. You know, one of the messages I speak to is, you can love people into wholeness’.”

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