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May 2nd, 2012
04:18 PM ET
North Carolina pastor retracts sermon remarks about punching gay kidsBy Stephen Walsh, CNN (CNN) - A Fayetteville, North Carolina, pastor has retracted controversial language used during a weekend sermon in which he instructed parents to hit children who exhibited behavior associated with homosexuality. “I apologize to anyone I have unintentionally offended,” Sean Harris, pastor of Berean Baptist Church wrote in a statement on his church’s website. “I did not say anything to intentionally offend anyone in the LGBT community. “My intent was to communicate the truth of the Word of God concerning marriage,” the statement continued. “My words were not scripted. It is unfortunate I was not more careful and deliberate.”
Harris’s remarks at his church came a week before the state’s voters consider an amendment to North Carolina’s constitution limiting legal unions to marriage between a man and a woman. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories "The second you see your son dropping that limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist," Harris said in the Sunday sermon. "Man up. Give him a good punch." "You’re not going to act like that," the pastor advised parents to tell their children. "You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male.” In an interview with the Fayetteville Observer, Harris said his comments were meant as a joke. In a video of the sermon posted online, laughter can be heard from some members of the congregation, as well as cries, of “Amen!” as the pastor spoke about responding to seemingly gay kids. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Berean Baptist explains its stance on discipline of children on its website: “Remembering the love and forgiveness that God has shown them, parents in turn should train their children with the purpose of reflecting the Heavenly Father to their children. Parents should consider their responsibility to be the instrument of discipline in their child’s life (Prov. 19:18). At times this may include appropriate and reasonable physical means (Prov. 10:13) employed upon the fleshy portion of the child’s buttocks (Prov. 22:15; 23:13); that this method is to be viewed as correction rather than punishment (Prov. 23:13); and that this correction will result in the child’s physical and spiritual betterment.” Harris told the Observer that from within his church, "the response was, 'Pastor, we know you didn't mean that.'" What do you think? Watch the above video to hear Harris’s remark and leave your comments below. soundoff (2,325 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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He is a fake Christian! True Christians are non-violent, love their neighbor and turn the other cheek when attacked. Jesus never preached of harming anyone; he condemned that behavior. He stressed that we should all love each other, no matter our differences.
What idiot turns the other cheek if they are being attacked?
I hate my enemies and those who wish me harm, and I wish death and pain upon them.
It seems every Christian I come in contact with has their own interpretation of True Christian®. I guess that's why there are thousands of donominatiions, Catholic, Protestatnt, etc., etc.
From San Diego, Ca.
it is just his opinion.
he is in a position to voice it.
if he will say this type of thing in public, what must he be saying in normal conversation ....
people of his church should of gotten up and left. hindsight.
hatred is taught. at an early age i might add.
he should be speakin on how to "beat" that hate out of himself, use himself as an example.
he should speak on how he needs to see others as human beings, all in need and how we can help one another.
i am a christian but i no longer use that term in describing me. in fact i do not tell anyone.
i do not go to church anymore because i do not want to be brainwashed with lies that are being taught at church.
i think all churches should put their money where their mouth is and drop their non-profit status and contribute to our country like any other business. being non-profit IS depending on the government as much as folks that use government aid. It IS mixing "church with state."
i bet if this was put into effect this preacher would no longer have a church.
just some of my 2 cents and that is bout all it is worth.
Somebody needs to beat the bigotry out of him and most of his congregation.
Just throwing this out there as some food for thought: Perhaps pastors and other religious zealots should view someone's being gay with another approach. Perhaps God saw how overpopulated the Earth is becoming. Perhaps God saw how many children around the world are neglected or mistreated by unloving parents. Perhaps these might be course-correcting reasons why God created men and women who should not procreate and should love and care for each other and raise the neglected youth. Is that really too difficult to accept?
AND perhaps gays and lesbians were put here as a test for the good preacher and others - to see how they react - to see if they uphold the teachings of Jesus - FAIL!
@Dan Halen: That's another way to look at it. As much as I don't like to think that we are being tested, it's a good way to live your life; that when you have options presented to you, the good or bad choice you make is yours to live with.
Id liek to say Im suprised but lets be real...a bunch of uneducated red n ecks sitting in a church listening to a "pastor"..what do you expect a mensa convention?
Double Dang!
I do not appreciate your use of Redneck. Let me educate you.
This term characterized farmers, having a red neck caused by sunburn from hours working in the fields.
Your miss use of this elite group of folks who provide food for you is a form of hatred that you are speaking out about.
.
You deride "rednecks" as uneducated yet your punctuation and capitalization are appalling.
While you are for everyone's freedom and equality and no stereotyping, do the same for real Christians. Just because one labels him/herself, "Christian", doesn't mean he/she is one. Anyone could go and put a sign out in front of their work place saying Doctor, but they may not be one. Even Christ said it will be said, "Depart from me..., I never knew you." We are to be in the "image of God", of course, we will fail, we are human not God. We are to be like him, but we are humans. Every time, I read posts like some of those below, I see that you have only seen labels on people. You must judge them by their fruits. You must "try" the spirits and see if they be from God. I read the posts about Christians and Christianity and then try to match them to what I know as Christ-like, a Christian and they don't match. I don't throw them all in one category "Christian",and then say eradicate them all. You want to eradicate something that isn't even Christ-like and then claim that is Christianity. It isn't . Even you can tell that it is false. If one searched they could find actual Christians, but they are on a very narrow road that not all are traveling, so you may not chance upon them everyday. What you are seeing is not Christ-like, don't throw out Christ, go in search of Him, with all your heart and you will find Him. You don't follow people, you follow Christ.
Doctor is a legally protected term, Christian isn't.
Who gets to decide who is a Christian if not the individual making the claim to being a Christian.
ignorance does not discriminate and knows no boundaries. i try, try, try not to judge people who cultivate and perpetuate such ignorance, but damn, it's hard.
As long as a congregation keeps paying these yahoos....
Just another demonstration of "Christ's Love".
These simple-minded fools are the scourge of the planet. Christian Cancer.
It's 'paid ministry' cancer
Don't judge all Christians on this idiot. I am a Christian, a non-denominational Christian who does not go to church because of all the wrong these "pastors" are preaching. So don't let these brain washed fools make you hate what a true chritstian is supposed to be.
how can one do anything but judge the tree by its fruit
I don't judge all Christians on this guy. I judge them on the fact that they necessarily subscribe to a dogma that states mankind is broken and evil and deserves infinite punishment by default. It's a sickening doctrine that demeans all men and women.
Is he for real? A joke? Yeah right! You have been pastor too long, YOU ARE NOT GOD
Uh oh. Another closet case.
Has anyone notice the pastor has ordered the email address removed from the church's website? He thinks he's "man" enough to make such ridiculous statements but he's not "man" enough to take the heat that comes afterwards. He's not a man...he's an egotist! They all apologize ...AFTER the fact.
He is clearly NOT joking, I want to see a close up picture of this dinosaur, there needs to be a boycott by all gay supporters and gay people so much so that exile is the only option. Come out of the closet Pastor.
Needless to say, pastor Harris is screaming to be able to come out of the closet. Nobody obsesses about a human condition that has existed forever unless they know they are gay and cannot reconcile it with the way the think of themselves.
I wonder if it's OK to hit a pastor...
THIS one is certainly "Fair game"....
Best response yet! Keep it simple. Do onto yourself, as you want done to others.
Misquoting phrases of the Bible for his own political agenda is no different than what the Taliban does. Ministers like this ought to be defrocked. There is nothing funny about hateful remarks.
I'd have more respect for the hypocritical bigot if he DIDN'T retract his statement. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He's yet another "Christian" who have no clue what being a Christian means, like most of them. This preacher is ignorant white trash, and evil through and through.
I am so sick & tired of all the gay bashing religious groups do! They arent teaching love as jesus taught they are teaching hate and hiding behind god. This is the exact reason i refuse to have a religion. Yes i believe in god & love jesus but i refuse to let "religious leaders" tell me how to worship & who to love.
Yes you did you religious Bigot! You meant all of that hatred directed at gays. Its in the DNA of conservative's sick minds. But most of all, it goes against Jesus's commandments and they were only 2. To "Love God above all things" and to "Love one another as you Love yourself". I would go as far as to say that all people in that congregation would do much better to just stay home and watch the Simpsons. These Damned Evangelicals will join all muslims in Hell soon.