Appearing on Fox News with host Chris Wallace on Sunday, Lakewood church preacher Joel Osteen pooh-poohed those who think there is an effort in the U.S. to remove any religious meaning from Christmas. Osteen responded, “I think there are certain groups that would like to … but you know there’s still millions and millions of people of faith … something else is not going to change their minds. So I’m probably not as concerned about it as some others … I’ve realized traveling a lot, not everybody believes like me…”
Osteen added pointedly, “We’re not all Christians in this nation,” when he was asked about the use of “Happy Holidays” as a greeting instead of “Merry Christmas,” adding that he “tries not to let surface things” like people saying “Happy Holidays” bother him. He commented, “Even some Christians believe differently, but I’m open to respect everyone and it’s not going to offend me if I pray in Jesus’ name and somebody doesn’t.”
Fox News has reported on a “War on Christmas” movement in the nation, even showing an interactive map where viewers can track incidents where Christmas has been treated badly.
Both men agreed that Christmas has been commercialized; Wallace said, “It seems it’s all about presents and parties.” Osteen pontificated, “It’s not necessarily did I get the exact right gift, it’s did I make memories with my family, did we laugh? Did we love? We may not have another Christmas.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.