Pastor claims he was just joking about child abuse! Sort of.

The pastor from yesterday’s post who advocated hitting male children who “act effeminately”, or female kids who “act butch”, has notpologized.

Via Good As You, via FayObserver.com:

A Fayetteville pastor says he was joking when he told parents in a sermon Sunday to hit children who show signs of being gay.

Sean Harris, pastor of Berean Baptist Church on Glensford Drive, said he does not advocate hitting children and wishes he could take back a remark encouraging fathers to punch boys who act effeminately.

But he defended his belief in the need to reinforce traditional gender roles in children.

“If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no doubt,” Harris said Tuesday. “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.”

So if he had to say it again, he’d lose all the “beat the tar out of your kids” but not the “punish them for not conforming with traditional gender roles” bullshit. As though that’s anything approximating contrition for such a terrible sentiment — it’s apologizing for the violent rhetoric, but not for the complete douche move of demanding that males be “masculine” and females be “feminine” on penalty of punishment of some sort or another. Even if that punishment is of the imaginary sort, like “don’t do that or you’ll be sent to hell after you die”, that’s still applying societal pressure against whole swathes of people who just want to be themselves. So I guess that “special dispensation” to “man up” when your kids have been so sinful as to like things has been revoked, huh?

You are an insufferable, judgmental, sanctimonious asshole, Sean. And you claim to be a moral authority. Only religion could build into you such an immunity to empathy.

Pastor claims he was just joking about child abuse! Sort of.
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