Sean Harris' sermon calling on parents
to discipline their children to conform to gender stereotypes has
been condemned by MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.
Harris' Sunday sermon in support of
Amendment One, which would ban marriage, civil unions and possibly
domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples in North Carolina,
was part of a campaign encouraging religious leaders to reach out to
congregants in support of the amendment.
After insisting that marriage equality
is not a civil rights issue – no one was born gay, he said –
Harris called on parents to squash non-conforming behaviors out of
their children.
“Can I make it any clearer? 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?”
Harris later offered a halfhearted
apology: “If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no
doubt,” Harris told The
Fayetteville Observer. “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.”
In an official statement, Harris added:
“I have never suggested children or those in the LGBT lifestyle
should be beaten, punched, abused (phsically [sic] or
psychologically) in any form or fashion.”
O'Donnell blasted Harris on MSNBC's The
Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.
“Sean Harris, the hate-driven pastor
of Berean Baptist Church on Glensford drive in Fayetteville, North
Carolina, has finally, after days of protest, apologized,”
O'Donnell told viewers before playing a clip of Harris' sermon.
“What kind of Holy Man, what kind of
Man of God, lies about what he has said in a videotaped sermon when
he is apologizing for what he said in that sermon. He did say that
if your son has a limp wrist you should punch him. But on his Berean
Baptist Church stationary in his official statement of retraction, he
lies about having said that.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)