Does Mark Harris view women as being equal to men?
North Carolina Republican House candidate, and former pastor, Mark Harris is facing another controversy about how he views the role of women in American society.
"Mark Harris on multiple occasions — as a preacher and political candidate — has said that women should submit fully to their husbands," Roll Call reports.
Harris is trying to keep North Carolina's 9th District in Republican hands. But the constant questions about his views on equality are becoming problematic.
During a Feb. 3, 2013, sermon at Charlotte’s First Baptist Church, where he once served as minister, Harris insisted, "Many marriages could save beaucoups of marriage counseling money if they would just understand; husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church. Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord."
In a 2014 sermon, Harris told women that they should submit, not because their husbands demand it, but “because the Lord ordained it.”
The Republican's view of women, and whether he views them as equals, continues to be a contentious campaign issue.
A Charlotte Observer editorial last month criticized Harris' once saying that women have lost basic skills “like how to prepare a meal, how to sew on a button, how to keep a home.”
At the same time, more than 40 women pastors and faith leaders in North Carolina admonished Harris and demanded that he treat men and women equally.
That came after the it was revealed that while serving as pastor, Harris in 2013 delivered a sermon discussing “God’s plan for biblical womanhood” and suggesting that society “created a culture and created an environment that have made it extremely difficult for any woman … to live out and fulfill God’s design.”
He also stressed that it's “critically important to ask” whether it is “a healthy pursuit for society” to teach girls they should have careers and be “independent.”
Since leaving the ministry, Harris has moved into politics.
He scored a major upset in May when he knocked off the Republican incumbent in the district, Rep. Robert Pittenger. Harris branded himself as the being more loyal to Trump than Pittenger. Since that victory though, Harris' campaign has stumbled.
He is being badly outraised by his Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, a Marine veteran and business owner. "The latest campaign finance reports show McCready raised $2.67 million through June 30, while Harris had raised $931,000," the Fayetteville Observer reported last month.
And according to a recent poll, Harris is trailing McCready by 7 points in a district Republicans have controlled for more than 50 years.
Now he has to answer questions about wives "submitting" to husbands.
