Plane crazy

THE demented-looking female pictured here is Victoria Osteen, co-pastor at the hugely-lucrative Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas.

Victoria Osteen, who 'went ballistic' on a plane

Osteen – wife of mega-rich evangelist Joel Osteen – hit the headlines in 2005 when she threw a hissy fit on a plane over a wee drop of spilled liquid on her first-class airline seat.

When it wasn’t cleaned up to her satisfaction, she allegedly attacked a flight attendant, then stormed the cockpit before she and her hubby were ejected from the aircraft.

According to this report, passenger Knicky Van Slyke said:

She violently ran towards the cockpit, scaring everyone around her. Everyone was terrified about what was going on. And a bunch of flight attendants ran up and had to restrain her. She was banging on the door [of the cockpit].

Was the Bride of Chucky based on Victoria Osteen?

Now the story of Osteen “behaving like a holy terror” is back in the news because Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown is suing this fine, upstanding Christian for assault, alleging that she threw her against a toilet door and elbowed her in the breast before the start of a 2005 flight to Vail, Colorado.

When the case began yesterday, Brown’s attorney, Reginald McKamie, told jurors that his client was simply doing her job.

Sharon was attacked by someone in the community who supposedly represents a higher degree of human decency.

McKamie added that Brown, who had undergone reconstructive surgery on her breasts due to illness before the incident, was injured when she was hit on her chest.

Her psychiatrist, Shayna Lee, testified that Brown has suffered depression and post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident. She also felt disrespected in her role as a leader and as a black woman, and had her faith affected, Lee said.

Brown is also suing Victoria Osteen for counselling expenses incurred as a result of the alleged incident.

Rusty Hardin, Victoria Osteen’s attorney, said the lawsuit was simply a money grab.

This is nothing more than an attempted extortion. There is no evidence Brown sustained any injuries, including claims she now suffers from haemorrhoids.

Writing about Joel Osteen on his JoelX blog, Joel Gross observed:

Joel Osteen, who does money better than he does God

In his sermons, Joel Osteen does not talk about God. Joel Osteen instead talks about almost everything except God. He has a television ministry, a massive church, $43 million a year in tithes and another $36 million a year in mailed in donations, but he won’t talk about God. He, like Pastor Kevin Gerald, talks about more pleasant topics, such as donating money to him and positive thinking. He has written two books, the second of which sold 3 million copies, but his books don’t really talk about God either. It’s just his bland and boring advice on how to live a happy life that has been thought of by other people first, Think positively about yourself and other such drivel.