UPDATE: Half-Hearted “Retraction” Issued by Berean Baptist Church Pastor Sean Harris

Sean E. Harris, Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC

Sean E. Harris, Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC, who recently called on parents to hit their children for demonstrating any semblance of what he interpreted as “effeminate” behavior, has issued an audio “retraction” for advocating that parents beat their children, but not for his bigotry.

I can’t tell what’s more stomach-churning: his initial comments, or his self-justifying, holier-than-thou attempt at righteous indignation and his claim that his words ‘were taken out of context’ by those involved in the political process of legalizing same-sex marriage.

If you want a lesson in how NOT to apologize, listen to the audio “retraction.” Bill Clinton apologizes better than this guy.

absolutely sickening homophobia from the pulpit

Here’s this week’s reason why Americans need to take a good, hard look at the bigoted venom that is being spewed forth from many of our houses of worship.

Neal Broverman shares with us this story of Sean Harris, the senior pastor at Berean Baptist Church in Fayatsville, NC.

This is absolutely sickening. I guess it’s not just Mark Driscoll in the great northwest that is preaching this homophobic nonsense, but now it’s of Berean Baptist Church in Fayatsville, who argues that parents should hit little boys (“crack that wrist” and “give him a good punch”) for showing the “limp wrist,” and “reign in” daughters who are “acting too butch.”

Then, listen as the pastor clarifies his story, stating that he in no way meant that parents should physically harm their children, but reiterates his hatred of homosexuality.

Did you catch the end of the news piece? The pastor got some “nasty,” even “threatening” phone calls and emails?? I’m certain they weren’t literally intending any harm. It was probably just “hyperbole.”

Question: at what point can we conclude that advocating violence against children – for whatever reason, but especially for reasons of bigotry – from a Christian pulpit is ABSOLUTELY NO different than when militant preachers of other religious traditions advocate violence from the pulpit?? Can we condemn one and not the other? And can we go ahead and admit that inciting violence in the name of God is reprehensible and unworthy of the protections commonly afforded religious institutions?

does the pill make women want less manly men?

an interesting study by researchers at the university of sheffield suggests that women’s taste in men has shifted from more rugged-looking men to more boyish looking men since the contraceptive pill became available to women 40 years ago. here’s how it works:

Researchers say leading Hollywood actors from forty years ago like Sean Connery and Steve McQueen (top) appear more manly than modern leading men like Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp (bottom). This transition from stronger, angular men to softer, boyish looking men may be due to women's use of the birth control pill.

Scientists have long known that a woman’s taste in men changes over her menstrual cycle.

During the few days each month when women are fertile – around the time of ovulation – they tend to prefer masculine features and men who are more assertive.

On these fertile days, women are also more attracted to men who are ‘genetically dissimilar’, Dr Alvergne said. Picking a partner whose genetic make-up is unlike their own increases the chances of having a healthy child.

On days when women are not fertile, their tastes swing towards more feminine, boyish faces and more caring personalities, researchers have shown.

However, if women are taking the Pill they no longer have fertile days.

That means they no longer experience the hormonal changes that make them more attracted to masculine men and those with dissimilar genetic make-up.

the researchers explain that this is why leading hollywood actors have slowly transitioned from rugged angular confident/cocky men to boyish, softer, men in recent decades. evolutionarily, it makes sense; if you chemically alter a woman’s hormonal drive, she will not be as (dare i say it?) horny as she would be (consciously or subconsciously) as she might be were she not on the pill. i agree with the researchers that much of human sexuality is still very carnal; despite our cerebral and rational development, we are still the product of millions of years of genetic evolution, driven by the single attribute that all living things share: reproduction. scent and non-verbal signals may be dulled or ignored by our rational processes, but they still exist and play a role in mate selection and reproduction. because genetic diversity is a selective advantage (vs. the extreme alternative, incest), women still (again, consciously or subconsciously) seek out males that can protect, care for, and provide for them (and produce children) regardless of how far the women’s liberation movement has progressed. as a strong, powerful, progressive hollywood leading lady once told me at her dinner table, ‘confidence is very, very attractive, but women can still smell arrogance a mile away.’ likewise, men still seek out (again, consciously or subconsciously) women who can care for, provide for, and comfort them. for both sexes, producing offspring always lies at the heart of the species.

however, the findings could also have something to do with the fact that as women have earned their rightful place alongside men as equals, they began finding attractive men who were not the traditional domineering type. women began to prefer men who treated them as equals, not subordinates. these men may have tended to be less aggressive, less angular, less traditionally ‘macho’ men, who were comfortable with their masculinity and were not always out to show off to the other males in the room – a trait where being big, strong, hairy, and angular is stereotypically and evolutionarily advantageous.

i agree that the transition has taken place. the question now is whether the transition from strong, domineering, tough guys to smart, sensitive, cute guys is the result of birth control, or the result of the continued march of social evolution, gender equity, and technological progress that makes reliance on tough, strong guys less needed. and is the transition a bad thing? as one who has been described as a mountain metrosexual (looks like a mountain man but speaks and acts like a civilized urbanite), i don’t really care. ;-)