Pop
quiz time: Your son, barely out of diapers, starts acting a little, well,
"girly." What do you do?
If
you answered, "Punch him in the face" you just might be North Carolina pastor
Sean Harris or one of his congregants. Because that’s what he said to do during
an April 29 sermon.
"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,"
Harris says. "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."
That’s
right. Punch a four-year-old for Jesus. Even more horrifying is that this
suggestion elicits laughter from the audience. Like a small "girly" child
getting his clock cleaned is just the most hilarious image.
Harris
then advises that after the punch you tell your son, "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."
I
hate to quibble, but gay males are, well, males. By definition.
But
not to Harris. This is a man who believes in rigid gender roles (do I need
mention his disdain for trans folk? It’s intense to say the least) for boys and
girls.
He
continues his rant, saying, "And when your daughter starts acting too butch you
reign her in. And you say, ‘Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them,
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.’"
Sexism
much? Harris clearly has lots of respect for girls with his clear directive
that they be "attractive" – to men, obviously. Even if they play sports. But no
dykes in the house of God, no way. Spray those bitches with Love’s Baby Soft
and pull a dress over their heads. Problem solved.
Just
in case anyone in his congregation was doubting his wisdom, Harris beats them
to the punch. "'Can I take charge like that as a parent?’ Yeah, you can. You
are authorized," he says. "I just gave you a special dispensation this morning
to do that."
Got
it? Your pastor just gave you permission to beat up or doll up, depending on
their gender, potentially gay but at least not gender role conforming children.
Amen.
Unsurprisingly,
Harris has received much attention for his "advice." Now he says he’s sorry and
that, hey, he was just kidding.
But
listening to the audio of Harris’s sermon is chilling. He sounds so angry. He’s
literally yelling these words, his voice hoarse. This doesn’t sound like a
stand up routine, unless Harris was doing his best Sam Kinison impression.
"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."
Right.
So it was just off-the-cuff hatred, not scripted hatred, which is somehow
supposed to make a difference? Because he meant what he said regardless of the
words he used.
Like a small “girly” child getting his clock cleaned is just the most hilarious image.