Leaving a vile aftertaste to his standing ovation at his son’s American Idol performance, video has surfaced of the father of gay contestant Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon condemning gay rights as a sign of society’s downfall.
Harmon, the son of Rev. Jerry Harmon, has spoken candidly on the show about how his parents condemned him for coming out of the closet. The younger Harmon seemed to bridge the divide earlier this week when his parents showed up to his Idol performance of “Who Wants to Live Forever” and gave their son an on-camera ovation.
Now the newly surfaced video obtained by Queerty casts doubt on Rev. Harmon’s sincerity. The footage shows a sermon given in April 2019 by Rev. Harmon at Grace Bible Baptist Church called The Forgotten Attribute of God. Besides running well over 30 minutes (those poor congregants!), Harmon launches into a rant about how equality for LGBTQ people offends God.
Related: ‘American Idol’ contestant gets standing ovation from parents who disapproved of him being gay
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“This is the sign of a society that God has turned over to itself,” he preaches. “Now we live in a society today where we are forced to accept this as normal, and if we don’t we are bigots. If we don’t, we hate. We don’t hate anybody friend…We are trying to point you to the only way to salvation, friend.” Harmon then had to pause for dispassionate applause.
Rev. Harmon then went on to talk about the only solution to society’s ills–homosexuality and abortion, natch–is the Gospel of Jesus.
We have to wonder here when the good Reverend last revisited the Gospels. Just to refresh: Jesus never spoke about homosexuality. Ever. He also never spoke about marriage, though he did disapprove of divorce. He did preach to “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and render unto God that which is God’s;” in other words, encouraging separation of church and state. He also encouraged love and acceptance, which looks nothing like the venom Rev. Harmon spewed from his pulpit.
Queerty reached a former congregant of Rev. Harmon, Brandan Robertson, who is now an out-gay pastor himself. “Jeremiah was my peer in youth group and his dad was one of my pastors,” he told us.
“This kind of teaching locked me in a closet of shame and self-hatred for over a decade. I believed that God could never use me and was going to send me to hell based on something I didn’t choose and couldn’t change. All of this trauma stemmed from a faulty interpretation of a few verses in the Bible.
“But Jesus taught that true teaching would always “bear good fruit” and the way we could recognize false teachers was by the “fruit” or results of their preaching. If the results of your preaching is self-hatred, despair, and depression, it seems to me that we can be fairly certain that your teachings are not true and are not from God.
“After doing years of work to heal and reconcile my faith and sexuality, I now have the honor of being an openly gay pastor of my own church.
“In my congregation we hear stories every single day of how this kind of homophobic preaching has destroyed peoples lives, and I’m so grateful that I get to help people understand that the words of preachers like this are not Gods words, and that there is a place for them in affirming communities of faith like mine.
“But clearly there still a lot of work to be done. Churches like Dr. Harmon’s are still full of people who are being fed this toxic theology, and after hearing it they’re going and spewing it at their LGBT friends and family. We need to call this dangerous teaching out for what it is, and call the preachers and teachers of this kind to account for the harm that they’re doing to LGBT youth and LGBT people in their pews.”
Thankfully, the video, posted by Rev. Harmon himself has, at the time of this writing, only received 33 views. We have a feeling it may gain Harmon some attention…though probably not any converts.
Have a look for yourself. Rev. Harmon’s anti-gay comments begin around the 31-minute mark.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Just another vile abhorrent pig preaching hate on a subject Jesus NEVER mentioned, only noxious closet cases from that book of fairy tales….
episcopaliangay
Actually Dr Bruce Chilton, Anglican priest and head of the New Testament Department at Bard College in NY state is an Aramaic language specialist… the only language Jesus was likely to be fluent in as it is still spoken in the home area of Jesus. Dr Chilton says the section of the sermon on the mount that has been traditionally interpreted as Jesus saying “ call no one a fool”; actually uses the word “raka” which means effeminate man. So Jesus was saying “ call no man effeminate”. Too ackward for the ancients to interpret honestly.
DCguy
@episcopaliangay
Except that isn’t the case.
Ronbo
@episcopaliangay
What did Jesus say about hate, deception and false propaganda?
Juanjo
I have no idea as to the accuracy of any claim of what Jesus said or did not say at some point in time. The fact is that it is a 50/50 proposition as to whether there even was a historical Jesus at all. But assuming there was such a person, there is actually no evidence that Jesus ever spoke any of the words attributed to him in the New Testament at all. Then there is the simple fact that the Gospels were NOT written in Aramaic or even in Hebrew. They were written in Koine Greek by native speakers of that language. So who knows what Aramaic word Jesus might have uttered at all if he did say anything like what is in the Sermon on the Mount. Finally, the word used in the Greek is malakos which is the singular form of malakoi which in Greek does mean effeminate. However, the definition of that work has shifted significantly over the 2000 years since Jesus would have uttered it. Malakos/malakoi was not used to refer to a homosexual in behavior or sexual preference as it is used today. Greek had other words which would have been very specific on that issue. Malakos was used without reference to sexual preference at all. It was used to refer to those who acted in a dissolute way: the lazy, the cowardly, the idle rich sleeping around with any women available, wearing fine clothing, adorning one’s self extravagantly, eating gourmet food, ignoring one’s duties as a male citizen of the community, etc.
Vince
Yes let’s hate people of over some debatable what they even mean versus from a book of fiction.
This one gives off the creep vibes like a tidal wave.
fur_hunter
Vince….Thank you. I call that book the BuyBull because it is full of Bull and so many people BUY into it. There are NO unbiased and legitimate historical writings that support ANY of the stories in that book. It is total hearsay. And there are so many mistakes in it that if God actually DID have anything to do with it, God is a MORON. ie.: The universe and earth being created in 6 days….not billions of years. No scientific proof of ANY global covering flood and if there had been, it would have taken centuries for it to evaporate and Noal and all the animals would have been dead for centuries. During the Middle Ages, the church, believing that book being the word of God, took the verse: ‘Go to the four corners of the earth and preach the gospel.’ and taught as TRUTH that the earth was FLAT. The stupidity and HATE that book has fueled is pathetic.
dinard38
@fur_hunter to add to your comments on Noah, in my opinion, anyone who believes that the story of Noah and the Ark is real is a lunatic. Lol. Noah builds a boat out of wood, takes in 2 of every animal on the planet. Side note here. If you read the buybull carefully, you would discover that it was not two of every animal. It was two of every unclean animal and 14 of every clean animal (Genesis 7:2). So there would have been tons more animals on that wooden boat than we originally imagined. And how do you feed all of those animals, who have different dietary needs, for a year? All of the meat eaters vs. the plant eaters. And what about the fish. One would think…. Well the earth was covered in water so no need to worry about them, right?. Wrong!!!! If it rained fresh water that covered the entire earth, all of the fresh water would have mixed with salt water and most of the fish would probably have died.
See how I can poke a thousand holes in this ridiculous story? And that’s just one story. How about Job, a man he tortured just to win a bet with Satan. Or how he gave Moses the ten commandments, of which one of them was thou shalt not kill. Moses comes down from the mountain, and what’s the first thing he does? Slaughter 3,000 people who worshipped the golden calf. And that was ok by God. How about the story of Jericho. All the Israelites walk around the city for seven days and no one utters a word. Not one man, woman, child. Uh huh. Then on the seventh day they blow down the walls with horns and slaughters everyone in the city; men, women, children, animals. These people who have never done anything to the Israelites.
Lawd, I could go on and on about the ridiculous stories of the bible.
fur_hunter
dinard38…….I would LOVE to sit down and chat with you about the subject. Yeah. I’m sure we would have several hours of laughs. I know you would love the Commentary I wrote that is out to the public called: ‘And What Of Religion’. Yeah. If you might consider reading it, send me an email. furhunter1 at yahoo dot com. I comment on several stories in the BuyBull. My Commentary is NOT kind……Thornton
ingyaom
Isn’t gluttony a sin, too? This guy looks guilty to me.
unreligious
Hey don’t you know the only sins that count are the ones that don’t apply to you.
lather
Queerty. I need some “like” buttons over here!
I feel so bad for the idol contestant. He really is quite talented and apparently a lot nicer than his parents. I’d be telling them to hit the road. I’m afraid the father is just thinking about how much money he can get off his son’s possible fame. We do know the only thing religious zealots like better than telling others they are going to hell is making a bunch of money while doing it.
Brian
When is the last time any Idol contestant made a bunch of money? Philip Phillips was the last one to have any level of success at all, and that was only one song, then he fell off the face of the Earth.
Wayne_in_NYC
What rock have you been under Brian? Kelly Clarkson? Carrie Underwood? Jennifer Hudson? Katharine McPhee? Adam Lambert? There’s been lots of success come from the Idol stages!
Brian
I’m sorry, did you interpret my comment to mean that he was the only success from the show? I said he was the last one to have any sort of success, and that had to be 7 or 8 years ago.
fur_hunter
These folks pick and choose the verses that fit their agenda and ignore the ones that apply to themselves.
fur_hunter
To Brian……Have you had a chance to check out the website I told you about? Please do. You will not regret it……….Thornton
Brian
No, I missed that, what’s the website?
fur_hunter
To Brian…..The website is JoeMyGod. It is terrific and you can use ANY words you like there. NO WORD is illegal. HEHEHEHEHEH………Thornton
Jackrabbit
The more they yell the more have to hide. This guy needs to lose some weight as well he’s setting a bad example!!
doshepherd
The thing is ministers throw us into hell and yet they overlook the acceptance (in the Church, as well) of society’s condoning of straight pre-, extra-, and multiple- affairs that is happening far more in number and in ill-resulting actions than our Community.
As a Christian who also happens to be gay, it angers me that most do not realize they have a log in their eyes trying to take a speck of a splinter our of our eyes.
boymikefl
I think you mean, you’re gay who happens to be Christian. I think a religious label is usually assigned at birth. Sexuality, in my opinion is, innate. Maybe I’m wrong. I was assigned (by parents) Catholic which I now strongly denounce. God (thank God), made me gay.
fur_hunter
To boymike…….You are so correct. We choose a religion but we cannot choose our sexual orientation. We are born with that. So says ALL the unbiased and legitimate research and studies done since 1973. Thank you. All the information published and circulated by groups such as the American Family Assoc., the Liberty Counsel and the Alliance Defending Freedom have doctored their tests to give them the results they want to fit their agenda. You don’t think they are going to circulate information that is contrary to their teachings, do you?
troubleisme20
Of course his parents will show up…they want his popularity and if he wins the world wide fame…what gets me is ABC didn’t show his boyfriend while his partners where in the audience. They should show his supporters from the beginning!
Andy
I totally agree, his boyfriend is seldom shown. I hope Jeremiah divorces himself from these toxic parents once and for all. He is such a nice guy, he deserves to be around people who love him and accept him.
fur_hunter
Remember….we all have to walk down the road before us and do what WE think is best, regardless of what others say or tell us. Remember, they are his parents. My brother, 3 years younger than me, and his family saw me on TV, being interviewed after a Pride March in Atlanta in 1981. We did not speak for over 20 years. That’s right. 20 years. That wound has finally mended with time and understanding but it did take 20 years.
dwes09
They have shown the boyfriend a number of times, no more or less than they have shown other partners. They have shown them hugging, holding hands and kissing. Since they have only been dating a few months, I doubt the boyfriend has followed Jeremiah to each city and attended every taping. They may well have shown him whenever he was there.
The show has been very supportive, let’s not disparage it based on what is essentially speculation.
Were I him I wouldn’t want to be there with the parents!
RIGay
I am not anti-Christian, I am just pro-Lion.
passingthru
Best comment!!!
fur_hunter
Great comment. I’m still laughing.
asby
I will never understand gays with hateful families keep them around……Dude is in his 20’s with a music career looming..I doubt he will be sweeping his fathers church anymore…..Stop allowing your family the spotlight…..Get away from them and hope they come around
pharaon.em.joe
I will give you a reason: early childhood indoctrination.
Terrycloth
I was gonna add I dont read science Fiction but the bible is neither
fur_hunter
The BuyBull is a collection of hearsay stories, NONE of them supported by ANY unbiased and legitimate historical writings. There are so many errors in it that if God had ANYTHING to do with it at all, God is a MORON. During the Middle Ages the church, using the verse..’Go to the four corners of the earth and preach the gospel.’…taught as TRUTH that the earth was FLAT. If God had had anything to do with that verse, He would have said. ‘Go encircle the globe and preach the gospel.’….and we would have know centuries earlier that the earth was ROUND. (But the Egyptians already knew the earth was round…another story for another time.)
jjose712
Given the sermon is from april the reconciliation is quite suspicious. Maybe he thought his son will be eliminated fast and the whole backstory will fade but with Jeremiah reaching the live shows he thought that being a full time homophobe was bad publicity.
It’s obvious that Jeremiah is eager to forgive all his family so they have an easy path to some tv publicity
theron maas
As a gay man I usually like Queerty but this seem like too much. The article states that The sermon was given in April.
Jeremiah’s parents episode just aired on Saturday . Of course I don’t agree with what his dad said but isn’t Queerty jumping the gun or guilty of fake news by condemning his dad too soon when the sermon was given on April and the episode just barely aired. Last I checked people were still allowed to disagree with one another in America .
Raphael
theron maas Have you watched the video? The sermon was given in April, the episode aired on April as well. Do you really think he had a change of heart in less than a month!? He said it in the video that he gave an interview because he didn’t want to look bad, that he wished the whole thing would pass… It’s clear that his appearance on the show had the same motive.
boymikefl
Honey, you look up “closet queen” and there will be this guy’s picture. Thank God our little Petey has enightened all, who he believes God is. Not these pig like, homophobic, tax evading, private jet flying (if it can get off the ground), self-rightous, Jim and Tammy lifestyle, phonies. Love you Tammy.
BOB K
A. THE SERMON WAS GIVEN AFTER JEREMIAH WAS ALREADY ON THE SHOW AND THEY POINTED OUT HE WAS ESTRANGED FROM THE PARENTS
B. THE PARENTS HAD TO SHOW UP BECAUSE THEY LOOK LIKE COMPLETE ASSHOLES FOR NOT SUPPORTING THE SON… IT’S PROBABLY JUST DAMAGE CONTROL NOT LOVE
Andy
I agree!
DCguy
IF their son becomes rich and famous they sure won’t turn away those gay dollars, the hypocritical d*cks.
christopher_bond
Yep. And I want to write in the letter you omitted, because I don’t think the dicks deserve to be censored. Hypocritical dicks.
duecers
Religion has been the cause of almost every war this planet has ever known. While many say the bible preaches love and acceptance, the religious elite continues to preach hate and division. Mostly they are all the same, do as I say, not as I do. That is unacceptable. One religion professes all non-believers be exterminated, another obviously accepts yet openly denies that it’s leadership abuses children. I wonder when people will snap out of the fantasy and denounce religion for what it is…
phtdesign
Altogether now: WHAT a closet case!
mykelb
I have news for these people; WE DON’T WANT YOUR RELIGION, YOUR JESUS, YOUR GOD OR YOUR OFFERS OF SALVATION. We only want OUR RIGHTS UNDER THE US CONSTITUTION and to be left alone to live our lives as we see fit. Our lives are NONE OF YOUR GODDAMNED BUSINESS.
Mikey E
It’s funny that the author thinks that 30 minutes in church is a long time. I was once invited to a Black church service. I accepted, thinking that if it started by 9 am, there might be 30 minutes of music, 30 minutes of sermon and then I’d be out by 10 or 10:30. It went on for hours. The whole day. It was late afternoon before I got out.
fur_hunter
It is so sad and disgraceful that people use a book written over 1500 years ago to condemn, propagate hate and discrimination because of a few verses in the book and disregarding ALL of the unbiased and legitimate information indicating that homosexuality is not chosen. You are born the sexual orientation you are. I want to know how many of those ‘holier than thou’s would go to a doctor who uses a medical book written over 1500 years ago to treat his patients? If they say they would, they are F-ing LIARS. If they say they wouldn’t, they are F-ing HYPOCRITES.
enlightenone
Just another nitwit hiding behind rants to cover him being a child predator!
CanadianGuy62
Now that his son might have a successful career, and despite them being uttered within the past month, he’ll renounce his words by saying, “That’s not the person I am,” in 3-2-1.
Toofie
It’s unfortunate Jeremiah has to deal with this. The struggle of trying to have a relationship with family members that might be nice to your face, but truly believe they’re going to hell. Daddy is digging his heels in with this speech. At some point Jeremiah will just have to distance himself from them for his own mental health.
baal61
Closet issues’ like ” which pumps work well when She’s in it.
Ukin Blome
Child molesters will go to any extreme to divert your attention from what they are doing to your children. Beating you over the head with a bible is a time honored way for them to accomplish this.
djmcgamester
There’s no evidence for what he says. If he’s citing the Roman Empire, you could more easily point to Christianity itself as a source. Rome had several religions but it was only after it adopted Christianity that it fell. Now, realistically, it was already on the decline but if you’re going to point fingers that one has much more evidence to support it. After all, homosexual behavior had existed LONG before the empire fell, and long before Christianity was adopted.
HenryCameron
“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” That’s Jesus clearly speaking about and defining marriage in Mark and Matthew, and it’s a central part of any traditional Christian wedding ceremony. As far as we know, Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, but claiming that he never spoke about marriage will disqualify you out of the gate on any discussion of the subject.
batesmotel
Doesn’t sound like this guy has studied Jesus very well. Jesus never said anything negative about homosexuality. Adultery yes. Homosexuality no. That was some other superstitious dude that added in that anti-gay stuff centuries after the death of Christ, then said it was God that says this. Right.