Editor’s note: Read our update — “Pastor Who Told Parents To Beat The Gay Out Of 4 Year Olds: I Was Joking“
A virulently homophobic and anti-gay preacher on Sunday derided parents who don’t “squash like a cockroach” the gay out of their children. Pastor Sean Harris told parents they are “authorized,” and that he was “giving them a special dispensation” to attack their children. “Give them a good punch,” and “crack that wrist,” Harris told parents, if their four-year old boy, for example, “starts acting a little ‘girlish’.” Pastor Harris added that parents should tell their four-year olds to “man up, son, get that dress off you get outside and dig a ditch because that’s what boys do.”
Pastor Harris, of the Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was speaking in favor of North Carolina’s Amendment One, which would write anti-gay discrimination directly into the constitution, and would define as the only legal relationship a marriage between one man and one woman. Amendment One would immediately make domestic violence victims ineligible for protection orders and would even remove children from their unmarried parents’ health insurance.
http://www.goodasyou.org/player.swf
“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? You’re not going to act like that — you were made by God to be a male and you’re going to be a male,” Pastor Harris tells his parishioners in this audio, via Jeremy Hooper at Good As You.
“And when your daughter starts acting too ‘butch,’ you rein her in. And you say, ‘Oh no. Oh no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play ’em, play ’em to the glory of God, but sometimes you’re going to act like a girl and talk like a girl and talk like a girl, and smell like a girl, and that means you’re going to be beautiful, you’re going to be attractive, you’re going to dress yourself up’.”
Note: I’m not knowledgeable on North Carolina law, but I have to wonder if parents would be subject to arrest if they followed Pastor Harris’ directions.
Hooper, whose done an excellent job in the fight against Amendment One, offers the above audio, and the one below, and writes:
Did you miss “Marriage Sunday,” the day (this past Sun.) that the Vote For Marriage NC coalition set aside and told pastors to use their campaign materials in order to preach in favor of Amendment 1? Well here, let Berean Baptist Church’s Sean Harris give you a taste of what you missed:
http://www.goodasyou.org/player.swf
Via Pastor Harris’ Berean Baptist Church website:
Sean Harris is the Senior Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC. He is Berean’s fourth pastor in its 40 plus years of existence. Berean called Sean to be the Senior Pastor in March of 2006.
His responsibilities include the preaching and teaching the Word of God, casting the vision for the ministry, the leadership of staff and faculty members, administration of Berean Baptist Academy, communication with church members, and personal discipleship.
Pastor preaches during the worship services on Sunday mornings and evenings and teaches the church’s pre-membership class. He also teaches at the Academy.  Pastor also provides audio commentaries on news worthy items throughout the week for www.sermonaudio.com.
Email me @:Â pastor@bereanbaptistchurch.org.
Download a personal biography (pdf–requires adobe acrobat reader)