Wednesday, August 24, 2016

#1709: Sean Harris

Yes, yet another deranged anti-gay pastor from North Carolina, this time Fayetteville, where Sean Harris is stationed at Fort Bragg. Harris is most famous for his pro-child-abuse stance, and claims for instance that beating the gay out of one’s kids is not only acceptable, but mandated by the Bible. In particular, Harris tells his congregation that if their sons should start to act the least bit effeminate or daughters the least bit “butch,” they should punch them and beat them until they understand proper gender roles. Harris later tried to argue that his claims were taken out of context by critics, which they weren’t. In fairness, Harris has later changed his tune a bit and doesn’t advocate hitting children anymore; he still thinks that gay marriage can cause Muslims to take over the US, though, so he is still abundantly qualified for an entry in our Encyclopedia.

In a local article on Harris, plenty of commenters supported him (no, don't read the comment sections), including one pastor Mark Rowden, who said that Harris “should be praised for his bold stance in scripture. People get so bent out of shape over things. If America don’t stop allowing such ungodliness to go unchallenged, we’ll find our nation like Sodom. We forget the Bible says ‘spare the rod, spoil the child.’” (That’s not a quote from the Bible.)


Diagnosis: Oh, please.

3 comments:

  1. Actually, that "spare the rod" is a (slightly condensed) quote from Proverbs 13:24 (which, IMHO, gives you an idea how useful the Bible is as advice for raising children; still fairly mild, however, if one considers the abundant use of capital punishment in the old testament)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I know - though I would argue that it's an interpretation more than a condensation. But Rowden used quotation marks and was apparently very concerned about accuracy in his adherence to the Bible; I suspect that he actually mixed things up, which in this context is a bit telling (though of course a relatively minor point compared to the sentiment he's expressing).

      Delete