Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen appeared on Soledad O’Brien’s show on CNN along with former Clinton advisor Richard Socarides.
Most of the news about this appearance has focused on Osteen’s quote that homosexuality is a sin.
Socarides asked him if he chose to be straight and Osteen said that being straight is just who he is.
“So how can I choose to be gay?” Socarides asked.
But then Osteen said that he really only talks about the issue on news shows like this when he’s asked about it. He said it’s not a subject he feels he knows a lot about.
“I don’t necessarily focus on that,” he said, indicating it is not something he talks about much in church.
But when pressed about homosexuality being a sin, he lumped it in with other minor sins like pride or lying.
After Mayor Annise Parker was first elected mayor, I asked about Osteen’s appearance at her inauguration. She said at the time she had good relations with him and that homosexuality was not an issue he focused on in his church of 45,000.
Watch the clip below.
