Posted on 08/07/2008 6:37:04 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
HOUSTON -- As one of the leaders of Houston's popular Lakewood Church, Victoria Osteen, wife of nationally renown pastor Joel Osteen, is known for her charity and Christianity.
But a Continental Airlines flight attendant is accusing the co-pastor of one of the nation's most prominent megachurches of committing some very unchristian-like behavior.
Opening arguments were set for Thursday in a civil lawsuit that accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting flight attendant Sharon Brown before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo.
Brown alleges in her suit that Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an angry outburst over a stain on her first-class seat.
Victoria Osteen "clearly was angry on this flight," said Brown's attorney, Reginald McKamie.
Brown wants an apology and punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of Victoria Osteen's net worth as part of her suit.
But Victoria Osteen's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said his client didn't assault Brown.
"This is a very silly case," Hardin said.
The Osteens were expected to testify during the trial.
The jury of seven men and five women was chosen on Wednesday after a couple of hours of questioning of a jury pool of 130 people. The questioning touched on religious beliefs, celebrity and the public's perception of preachers and televangelists.
Many of those in the jury pool said they had been to Lakewood Church and admitted to holding the Osteens in high regard and being star-struck by them.
But other potential jurors said they didn't like preachers or televangelists and that ministers can lie.
The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.
According to an FAA report, Victoria Osteen pushed and elbowed Brown in an attempt to get to the plane's cockpit after two other attendants had not cleaned a liquid on her first-class seat armrest.
Brown's suit claims the flight attendants asked to have Victoria Osteen removed from the plane. Hardin says Victoria Osteen and her family left voluntarily. The incident delayed the flight about 2 1/2 hours.
Brown had previously claimed she was attacked in another incident by an airport employee, according to a deposition she gave in the case.
Hardin asked that the FAA report's findings not be allowed in the trial, saying the agency's investigation was incomplete.
State District Judge Patricia Hancock said she would make a decision later on the report's fate.
According to court documents, Brown claims that she suffers from anxiety and hemorrhoids because of the incident and said her faith was affected. She is also suing Victoria Osteen for medical expenses for counseling.
Joel Osteen preaches at Lakewood, a megachurch where about 42,000 people flock each week. Services are held at a 16,000 seat facility that was formerly the Houston Rockets' basketball arena. His weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally.
Yeah.
Brown had previously claimed she was attacked in another incident by an airport employee, according to a deposition she gave in the case.
This woman needs to get her act together.
I find the Osteens about one step above Robert Tilton.
Anyone have a clue how many Blacks are on the Jury. Remember, the stupid, LA prosecutors allowed 9 Blacks to be on O.J.’s jury. The rest is history.
“You have to provide popcorn as a result.”
Extra butter?
See Post #43.
I bow to superior search skills!
Don’t go to his services but if you ever really listed to him, he is about as much an non-preacher as you would ever want to meet and he will tell you so. I have yet to hear him respond to any questions about his stance on political issues and his approach is all about blooming where you are planted,what you can do to make your own life better and personal responsibility. The flight attendant previously sued a gate agent sometime ago because he “didn’t respect her”. She lost. This case should never have gone to court and had it involved a “normal non-spotlight person”, it probably never would have. And yes, lots of us in Houston go to Vail at Christmas. Not everyone who goes there has a lot of money, we just choose how we wish to spend what little we have. If memory serves me correctly, Osteen does not draw a salary from the church and lives in a relatively modest home.
I wonder if she’s already cashed in on worker’s comp.
He refuses to take a stand against abortion, homsexuality and same-sex marriage. I saw that with my own two eyes and heard it with my own two ears on a Tim Russert broadcast about a year ago. He said: “I don’t preach against sin; that was for my Dad’s day and time”. So, no, he DOESN’T PREACH WHAT HIS DAD PREACHED.
On Larry King Live, he refused to say that Jesus Christ was the only way to salvation. That should have “done it” for his Christian following; it did for me.
_________________________________________
True
Good post.
As an Aussie owner, I love your screenname......
Brown is a black stewardess and from what I have heard she has accused others of something similar..She is after the money plain and simple..
Anyone can preach good words and deeds, but to shy away from true Christian doctrine and just smile a lot, he’s not for me.
I don't believe the good Lord planned Christianity that way. It's all or nothing at all.
Do you know Joel?I do, I have know the family since Joel was a little boy..He is not a shyster he is a true Christian...I do not make it a point to say anything about others worship habits I just pay attention to my own..Joel is a sweet person and he is the real thing..Besides you should know the verse,For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them. ... that they are not alone, for My Father is with them, says Jesus.
I think Joel preaches working hard for a payday, not hardly working for a payday.
Not talking about personality here....
Do you think it’s okay for a Christian pastor, to say same sex marriage or abortion is not the best, or should their attitudes be Bible-based and condemn it?
Yup, I got Hemorrhoids............
Here is a portion of the interview he had with Larry King
KING: What if you’re Jewish or Muslim, you don’t accept Christ at all?
OSTEEN: You know, I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know . . .
KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They’re wrong, aren’t they?
OSTEEN: Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong. I believe here’s what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person’s heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don’t know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don’t know. I’ve seen their sincerity. So I don’t know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus. [Hindus love Jehovah God (Yahweh), and worship Him as Scripture commands? All sincere souls go to heaven? What about Christ’s claim that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6)?] http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/osteen/king.htm
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