Preacher Sean Harris is under fire over his rant in church that made the claim that parents must beat boys who display the slightest sign of any girlish behavior.
The Senior Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC told his congregation that effeminate behavior must be 'squashed like a cockroach.'
Towerload has this transcript from part of his 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,' you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed."
He adds:
"Can I make it any clearer? 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. Ok? 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."
Harris has advice for parents who think their daughters might be acting too butch:
"And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, 'Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. 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.'"
Adds Harris: “Can I take charge like that as a parent? Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."
More here from Towerload.
After the ugly rant was uploaded online for anyone with an internet connection to hear and see it, Harris now claims he was joking about advocating violence against children, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
"If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no doubt," Harris tells the newspaper.
"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."
Child advocates in the state condemned his remarks.
"We know that children thrive when they grow up in safe, stable, nurturing relationships," said Rosie Allen Ryan, president of the nonprofit Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, according to The Advocate.
"Unfortunately, this pastor is telling his congregation to harm their children."
The NY Daily News reveals religious leaders around the state preached support for North Carolina's Amendment One, which would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state constitution during sermons last Sunday.
Listen to the rant below in the video.