Pat Robertson: It's OK for Christians to Be Friends With Artsy Gays

Good news!

According to televangelist Pat Robertson, gays are bound to end up spending an eternity in hell, but if you're a faithful Christian who happens to be friends with one, you won't incur the wrath of the almighty.

During a recent broadcast of "700 Club," Robertson answered the following question from a viewer:

Recently, a couple of my friends revealed to me that they are gay, I consider homosexual activity a sin. I do not agree with their lifestyle. However, aside from them being homosexuals, they are upstanding men. Will God punish me for associating with them? Should I continue being friends with them, even though they are gay?"

Robertson's response to the viewer was a much softer approach than anti-gay rights advocates have taken in the past.

"Of course you should be friends," he said, adding, "You don't turn the light out just because you disagree with somebody. The Lord's not going to punish you for having homosexuals as your friends. But I do think that when you read the Bible very carefully, homosexuality is condemned."

Robertson even went on in his answer to pay a left-handed compliment by reiterating a well-earned stereotype of many in the LGBT community.

"... there are some very, very creative homosexual people. They're in the fashion industry, they're in design, they're in various types of creative arts. And you would almost need to leave the world not to associate with folks like that," he said.

This recent comment by Robertson is a stunning departure from the man who claimed that gays wore "special rings" designed to spread AIDS to straight people by shaking hands.

As reported in Time, in September 2001, two days after the attack on the World Trade Center, he and guest Jerry Falwell credited the incident to divine retribution for abortionists, the ACLU and gays and lesbians secularizing America.

Ten years later, Robertson claimed that abortion was a conspiracy invented by lesbians to put themselves on an equal playing field with straight women. In May of 2013, when discussing hate crimes, Robertson compared gays to rapists, murderers and thieves.

It's nice that we all can be "friends" now.

Watch Robertson's advice on befriending gays and Jehovah's Witnesses and observing Passover here.