PUNCH AWAY THE GAY, DAY 2 "I WAS ONLY JOKING"

Berean Baptist pastor disavows advice to punch gay kids as a joke

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By Gregory Phillips
Staff writer

A Fayetteville pastor says he was joking when he told parents in a sermon Sunday to hit children who show signs of being gay.
Sean Harris, pastor of Berean Baptist Church on Glensford Drive, said he does not advocate hitting children and wishes he could take back a remark encouraging fathers to punch boys who act effeminately.
But he 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 said Tuesday. "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."
Harris was preaching about marriage ahead of next week's vote on an amendment to the N.C. Constitution that would make marriage between a man and a woman the only legally recognized domestic union in the state. The amendment has drawn national attention in recent weeks.
Harris' comments spread rapidly Tuesday on the Internet after a snippet of his fiery 55-minute sermon was posted to several blogs.
In the clip, Harris berates parents who see boys dressing like girls without "squashing that like a cockroach."
"Can I make it any clearer?" he yells on the recording. "Dads, the second you see that son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give them a good punch. OK?"
Laughter and a few shouts of "Amen" can be heard in response.
The sermon saw Harris urge parents of girls who are "acting too butch" to make them "walk like a girl and talk like a girl, and smell like a girl."

Activists angry

Harris' remarks drew fire from gay rights campaigners.
"I feel like we have our very own Westboro Baptist Church right here in Fayetteville," said Storm Silvermane, president of the Alliance, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the Sandhills.
Silvermane was referencing the church that pickets soldier funerals with signs calling their deaths America's punishment for tolerating homosexuality.
Advocates for children were unimpressed, too.
"We do not condone any violence against children by anyone," said Roberta Humphries, executive director of Fayetteville's Child Advocacy Center.
"We know that children thrive when they grow up in safe, stable, nurturing relationships," said Rosie Allen Ryan, president of the nonprofit Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina. "Unfortunately, this pastor is telling his congregation to harm their children. We know that when children are fearful and feel unsafe, that they're far more likely to suffer emotionally, socially and physically."
Harris said he "would never ever advocate" hitting a child."
Given an opportunity to rephrase his remarks, Harris said "that would be a lengthy conversation. I don't know I could say anything you could capture in five words."
Berean Baptist has a code of parental discipline on its website, supported by biblical references, that endorses spanking but adds that "we reject the idea that bruising is ever the objective when disciplining a child."
The church operates a kindergarten-through-12th-grade school, Berean Baptist Academy, which graduated 18 seniors last year.
Harris said the school has its own discipline policy that he called "completely non-physical in any way, shape or form. A teacher never - I cannot emphasize this enough - a teacher never touches a child, other than to protect the child from harm."

Phone calls, emails

Harris said he polled his pastoral staff and members of the congregation Tuesday after he started getting telephone calls and abusive emails once his comments went viral.
From within the church, Harris said, "the response was, 'Pastor, we know you didn't mean that.' "
"We know when you're saying something seriously and when were supposed to just understand the intent and not the application,' " Harris said.
Harris said in the sermon that same-sex couples are free to live together.
He argued Tuesday that there was "not an ounce of hate being communicated in that," but said in the sermon that such couples live together "in the most sick and ungodly way."
After listening to the sermon Tuesday, a divinity professor at Campbell University called it "one of the most disappointing and un-Christ-like diatribes I have ever heard."
"I would not dishonor the word 'sermon' by identifying it as such," said Tony Cartledge, who teaches Old Testament at Campbell, a Baptist university in Harnett County.
He noted Berean Baptist appears to be an independent congregation.
"We must be careful not to assume that every Baptist, or even everyone who believes homosexual behavior to be sinful, would endorse Harris' over-the-top promotion of beating gay tendencies out of their children," Cartledge said via email. "At the same time, we have to state unequivocally that Harris' position presents a distorted view of scripture that is completely out of keeping with the teachings of Jesus."       SOURCE: FAYNEWS