[Stardust]

A North Carolina pastor's horrific anti-gay tirade is making the blogosphere rounds.

Sean Harris, senior pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, spoke at length in support of North Carolina's proposed Amendment 1, which would define marriage in the state constitution as between one man and one woman and would outlaw civil unions and domestic partnerships, during an hour-long sermon on Sunday. In this clip, provided by Jeremy Hooper of the blog Good as You, a man identified as Harris is heard urging his congregation to attack their children if they appear to be exhibiting behavior outside of gender norms.

Notes Harris:

"So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, 'Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,' you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.

Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting too butch, you reign [sic] her in. And you say, 'Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.'"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01...ostpopular

[LWC]

So many things I could say. I will just say this: people like this really hurt the message of the Gospel.

[RunItUpTheGut]

He's entitled to his opinion.

[LWC]

^Yes, and no.

Constitutionally, he is entitled and free to say whatever he wants.

However, when someone accepts a call to preach and be a pastor, they are also accepting that they are to be "shepherds of a flock". A true pastor is a leader of people. Anyone that walks in your church doors should be confident and ensured that the will hear the Gospel truth. They should have hope and faith in the idea that their pastor is leading them into the truth (the Lord ultimately draws people to Himself, but we are to help guide them to Him).

I am very very careful about study/preparation as well as what I say and how I live my life. I mess up and sin, but I never make excuses for it. If I slip up and misquote or say something I should not, I am quick to ask for forgiveness and to rectify what is wrong, if possible. Something I say today, can affect someones life immediately, that is VERY SERIOUS stuff. Hopefully, my words are ordained and blessed by the Lord. My prayer when I get in the pulpit every Sunday is that I am just a mouthpiece and an instrument for the up-building of God's Kingdom.

With all of that said, I disagree that he has the freedom to say what he wants to in the pulpit, or anywhere since he is a pastor. Stuff like this hurts the kingdom-message.

I do not condone homosexuality any more than I condone abuse or stealing. However, it is not place to say break your kids wrist or to "knock the gay out of them"

[LWC]

Here is an update from the pastor:

UPDATE: The Fayetteville Observer reports that Harris now says he was joking during the sermon. Though he noted he "would never ever advocate" hitting a child, Harris nonetheless defended his belief in the need to reinforce traditional gender roles in children:

"If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no doubt," Harris is quoted as saying. "Those weren't planned words, but what I do stand by is that the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly. I'm not going to compromise on that."

He knew he was wrong.

[vundy33]

Very, very dumb things to say. Like LWC said, he has a certain responsibility in that position. But I think it was just a heat-of-the-moment type of thing, and the statement he issued afterwards is perfectly fine for me.

I did lol at the audio for a few mins though, haha.

[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

He could have been mean and said if you can't beat the gay out of them just shoot them.