May 03 2012

NC Pastor Gives Permission to ‘Punch’ Children Who Might Be Gay

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Here’s some appalling audio of Sean Harris, a pastor in Fayetteville, NC giving his congregation “special dispensation” to abuse their children if they don’t fit traditional gender roles in any way. His voice is so filled with hate that it’s chilling to listen to it. And this was said during a sermon in which he supported Amendment One, which would prohibit marriage equality — again — in that state.

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19 comments

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1

Mr Ed

May 3, 2012 at 1:43 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

My daughter just came home with an A in the accelerated math program and you better believe she is having trouble sitting.
2

Reginald Selkirk

May 3, 2012 at 1:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Hey, no problem, he was just joking. I mean c’mon, what could be funnier than beating up children?
3

Moggie

May 3, 2012 at 2:18 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

I hope nobody is inspired by this to beat the crap out of Sean Harris, because that would be awful.
4

Ellie

May 3, 2012 at 2:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Yes, he was just joking, and even though the entire audio is available for everyone to hear, and not just the few sentences cited, anyone who thinks he wasn’t joking is just taking it out of context and we don’t know what we’re talking about. Listen again….you can just hear the humor in his voice when he tells his congregation to punch the four year old. At least, that’s what his supporters are claiming.
5

raven

May 3, 2012 at 3:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Hey, no problem, he was just joking. I mean c’mon, what could be funnier than beating up children?

Oh gee, that is a tough question.

Hmmm, how about raping children?

But you will have to ask a priest or minister about that to be sure. Someone with experience. I really wouldn’t know myself.
6

Raging Bee

May 3, 2012 at 3:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Harris says he does not advocate hitting children and wishes he could take back the remarks.

So in other words, he’s a bully-wannabee: one moment he’s goading OTHERS to beat up four-year-olds, the next he’s running away in terror from his own words the minute anyone calls him out on them. How many dimensions of cowardice are we seeing here?

He says he stands by his belief that “the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly.”

It’s only “clear” to someone who’s already decided that’s the message he wants to hear. Take away that pre-existing desire, look at the Bible as a whole, and things get a LOT less clear.
7

raven

May 3, 2012 at 3:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

He says he stands by his belief that “the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly.”

So is eating shellfish, wearing mixed fiber fabrics, eating pork, or getting tattoos.

Typical cafeteria xian.

OTOH, stoning to death nonvirgin brides, disobient children, sabbath breakers, apostates, atheists, heretics, false prophets, and adulterers is perfectly OK. As is owning slaves, selling your kids as sex slaves, or marrying 700 women like Solomon did.
8

democommie

May 3, 2012 at 3:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

“As is owning slaves, selling your kids as sex slaves, or marrying 700 women like Solomon did.”

Sorry, the channeling Morgan Freeman thing is just too strong a temptation:

To make Skydaddy happy, Solomon had to have 700 wives; that’s the equivalent of one every 8.57 yds for the length of SIX football fields. I can’t imagine, or maybe I just don’t want to imagine what kind of hell that must have been…

Or, do you suppose that the 700 Club is an inside joke for Pat Robertscum?
9

leni

May 3, 2012 at 4:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Hyperbolic maybe, but I don’t believe for a second that he was joking. He was clearly advocating corporal punishment at the very least, and the way that he did it sure made it sound like abuse. Then again, I’m not sure there is any way the fundamentalist corporal punishment promoters can make anything they say about child rearing not sound abusive.

The cheers and laughter from the audience was equally
disturbing.
10

Ace of Sevens

May 3, 2012 at 7:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Did he say that the job of parents is to crush kids’ dreams instead of indulging them?
11

Ophelia Benson

May 3, 2012 at 7:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

He’s complaining about being picked on now. Honestly.
12

The Other Lance

May 3, 2012 at 8:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Well, at least Pastor “Squash’em” Sean has retracted his words advocating violence towards children. Oh wait, that’s not really a retraction is it? My bad.
13

Walton

May 3, 2012 at 8:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

“Corporal punishment” is abuse. There’s no circumstance in which it could ever be acceptable to punch a child. None whatsoever. It should be illegal to hit children in the name of “discipline”.

Bullying children for their perceived sexuality or gender expression is also abusive, needless to say. Anyone who follows this “pastor’s” advice is unfit to be a parent, and he himself is unfit to be a pastor.
14

grumpyoldfart

May 3, 2012 at 9:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

The pdf of his sermon can be found here:

http://media.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/42912940300.pdf

… and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been quashed.

Can I make it any clearer? 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 to Butch you reign her in.

The section in bold has been deleted from the pdf.
-

And now the pastor is saying:

Nearly every article is misquoting me.

http://pastorseansblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/important-clarification-to-sundays.html?spref=tw
15

philipp

May 3, 2012 at 9:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

He’s already issued the requisite not-pology, so you’ll have to wait to play my brand new game: Not-Pology Bingo!

I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone else says or does something so incredibly stupid and/or offensive that we can play.
16

sunsangnim

May 3, 2012 at 9:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Every time I hear a raging homophobe, I just assume there is some projection going on. He got pretty specific about “childhood fantasies”. Maybe he wishes his dad beat the gay out of him so he wouldn’t have to struggle with it now.
17

leni

May 3, 2012 at 9:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Walton:

“Corporal punishment” is abuse. There’s no circumstance in which it could ever be acceptable to punch a child.

That’s why I was *somewhat* willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was being hyperbolic when he said “punch”, presumably for what he (and the creeps in his audience) thought was comedic effect.

But he definitely meant “hit” in some way, and I definitely got the impression that he meant something worse than spanking.

Even if he didn’t actually mean “punch”, what he did mean wasn’t any better. Best case scenario.
18

Francisco Bacopa

May 3, 2012 at 10:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

Wrist breaking and punching go way beyond what most people think of corporal punishment.

All this talk will probably result in more action taken against boys than girls. Everyone understands why a girl might be a bit of a tomboy. Masculinity is awesome, of course a girl would want to take part in it, and that’s OK as long as she tones it down by the time she’s eleven.

But feminity is abasing. It’s yukky cooties to the max. Here’s the evidence: Some names which were once fairly common for boys are now girls’ names. No name which was primarily a girl name has never become a boy name. Women are ritually unclean, so if a few women get a name that once belonged to some boys, it usually ceases to become a usable boys’ name.

BTW, I don’t think women are ritually unclean, but I think the idea of uncleanliness lies behind most of the ways groups oppress each other.
19

davidhawkins

May 4, 2012 at 4:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

There are three “idiots” here. One who think he’s not joking. Then there is the one who punches his kid before the other says “I told you so”. Lastly there is the “idiot” who think he’s just joking around.