Yesterday I blogged about Pastor Sean Harris who gave an extremely inappropriate sermon on Sunday. Today I wish to follow up with more updates on the matter. To his credit, he has now issued two official statements on his blog and even an audio statement, that he published on his podcast, to the effect of retracting his words from Sunday.
While his verbology still leaves something wanting, he has stated that he does not encourage child abuse. In some places he says he wishes he would have worded things better and in other places he insists that he never said anything to encourage or condone domestic violence. But, at the very least, he's repeatedly saying that he discourages physical violence as a method of correcting children, aside from spanking which he asserts the Bible justifies.
I would like to take this time to contrast his behavior with that of Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer. Elder Packer has given several speeches in his life that were severely anti-gay in nature. As far as I am aware, he never advocated violence as a method of treatment, as Pastor Sean did. However, he has said many hurtful and false things. And he has not on any occasion retracted any of his words. He has not apologized for any hurt he has caused. He has not made any attempt at reconciliation with queers in any way.
This is the difference between humility and arrogance. Pastor Sean is willing to admit that he was wrong and is doing what he can to try to reverse the damage his words caused. This is a commendable effort. I cannot excuse what he said on Sunday--such language is (in my opinion) inexcusable. However, I admire him for doing what he can to undo the harm. Elder Packer makes no such effort. He remains arrogantly and stubbornly insistent that he has done no wrong, that he has not said anything false or contrary to god's will--even though many of the things he has said in previous talks are now directly contradicted by official publications of the church on the matter of homosexuality.
If you are interested, here is the link to Pastor Sean's blog wherein, at the moment, the three most recent posts are apologetic in nature (the least recent of which I quoted yesterday in my post). I am also including direct links to each article, for the benefit of those who may read this in the future.
Audio statement of retraction
Official statement of retraction
Clarification
While his verbology still leaves something wanting, he has stated that he does not encourage child abuse. In some places he says he wishes he would have worded things better and in other places he insists that he never said anything to encourage or condone domestic violence. But, at the very least, he's repeatedly saying that he discourages physical violence as a method of correcting children, aside from spanking which he asserts the Bible justifies.
I would like to take this time to contrast his behavior with that of Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer. Elder Packer has given several speeches in his life that were severely anti-gay in nature. As far as I am aware, he never advocated violence as a method of treatment, as Pastor Sean did. However, he has said many hurtful and false things. And he has not on any occasion retracted any of his words. He has not apologized for any hurt he has caused. He has not made any attempt at reconciliation with queers in any way.
This is the difference between humility and arrogance. Pastor Sean is willing to admit that he was wrong and is doing what he can to try to reverse the damage his words caused. This is a commendable effort. I cannot excuse what he said on Sunday--such language is (in my opinion) inexcusable. However, I admire him for doing what he can to undo the harm. Elder Packer makes no such effort. He remains arrogantly and stubbornly insistent that he has done no wrong, that he has not said anything false or contrary to god's will--even though many of the things he has said in previous talks are now directly contradicted by official publications of the church on the matter of homosexuality.
If you are interested, here is the link to Pastor Sean's blog wherein, at the moment, the three most recent posts are apologetic in nature (the least recent of which I quoted yesterday in my post). I am also including direct links to each article, for the benefit of those who may read this in the future.
Audio statement of retraction
Official statement of retraction
Clarification
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