A North Carolina pastor who preached that parents hit children who show signs of being gay says he was just joking.
The senior pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville says no matter how his remarks have been construed elsewhere, the members of his congregation understood his intent.
"Everyone in the congregation on that morning understood that there was no intent in any way, shape or form that I meant to break a wrist," Sean Harris told CNN.
Harris is in the spotlight after delivering a sermon Sunday, dedicated to North Carolina's so-called marriage amendment being put to a state poll next week.
If passed, the Amendment One would specify the marriage of a man and a woman will be the only legally recognized domestic union in the state.
Harris' 55-minute sermon devoted to the subject took an unscripted turn about ten minutes from the end, as Harris turned his attention to some parents' indulgence of their kids' behaviour.
Portions of the sermon posted to the Internet have since gone viral.
"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," Harris can be heard preaching.
"Can I make it any clearer?" he yells. "Dads, the second you see that son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give them a good punch."
Harris takes aim at girls too, warning parents to "rein in" daughters who are "acting too butch."
Before ending his sermon, Harris said he's not opposed to same-sex couples living together even if it is a "sick and ungodly way." He also made it clear he was not advocating anti-gay hate.
"If you have a gay person in your house you love them with Jesus Christ. Your job is not to be homophobic," he told congregants.
But that caveat was not enough to quell the storm of criticism that his other remarks have sparked.
In the aftermath Harris says he's not an advocate of striking kids, but he stands by his belief in what constitutes appropriate behaviour for boys and girls.
According to a statement posted on the Berean Baptist Church website, Harris is sorry for offending anyone with his remarks about child discipline.
"I have learned from this and will seek to be more articulate and deliberate with my words in the future," Harris wrote, adding that his apology is not to be confused with a retraction of his other remarks.
"I do not apologize for the manner in which the Word of God articulates sexual immorality, including homosexuality and effeminacy, as a behaviour that is an abomination to God."
Gay marriage is already illegal in North Carolina. Adding the ban to the state constitution would make it harder to change the policy in the future.
Opponents to the change argue that because it is vaguely worded, the amendment could have farther-reaching consequences.
Ninety-three-year-old Rev. Billy Graham came out in favour of the amendment Wednesday ahead of a full-page ad campaign due to appear in 14 newspapers across the state.
U.S. President Barack Obama is on the record opposing the change.
