Is It Ok To Cheat On Your Religion For Extra Inspiration?

Joel Osteen and wife Victoria Osteen

I know this is a very strange question to pose: Is it ok to cheat on your primary religion in the name if seeking a little extra inspiration?

I was born and raised Jewish and for all intents and purposes, I still am. However, On many Sundays for the past five or six years I have been tuning into Joel Osteen and Victoria Osteen, and their Lakewood Church broadcast, for some Sunday morning inspiration. The funny thing is that when I attend temple services on the Jewish hi-holidays – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – the Hebrew part of the service makes my eyes glaze over and my brain go to sleep, much the way your computer monitor goes to sleep when it is idle. Terrible, I know! It’s just that I really don’t remember much Hebrew at all from my childhood Hebrew School days, and anyway, English is my primary language afterall.

Suddenly, when the Rabbi emerges with his end-of-service English language sermon wrap up, I spring to life and hang on every word. I then walk out of temple with a little happy spring in my step. Well, I get that same spring in my step from listening to Joel Osteen each Sunday morning. So my question is: Is that so bad?

Ok, So Joel Osteen is a Christian and his sermons are being broadcast from a church, but is that a problem? I also follow and subscribe to some of the beliefs held by the Buddhist community, not to mention my belief in re-incarnation. Not sure what that makes me; spiritual perhaps?

Culturally I am Jewish, but I’ll take my inspiration and good advice where I can get it. Maybe more of us should be that way. Maybe we should all be open minded to receiving “the message,” no matter who is delivering it and what their religious label is. It’s worked for me.

And, as an aside, here is a little anecdote about my pursuit to interview Joel Osteen for PR.com. I had been in contact with the public relations representative for Joel Osteen and the Lakewood Church several years back, and I had expressed my sincere interest in booking an interview with Joel Osteen for PR.com. I had some back and forth exchange with Joel Osteen’s publicist about the interview and she loved a lot of my past interviews that I had conducted for PR.com. Then she got a gander at my Jenna Jameson interview and my Gene Simmons interview and became spooked. She wrote me explaining that while she loved my work, how could Joel appear on the same website publication as a crazy un-married rockstar and the world’s most famous porn star. I have to admit, she had a point. I graciously told her that I understood, and needless to say, the interview fell through and was cancelled. But hey, I remain a devoted Joel Osteen fan, albeit an unpure one.