Fairly or unfairly, a series of scandals have created the impression among some that the leaders of the Christian conservative movement can be a little kinky behind closed doors.

It seems like Chris Matthews is of that opinion, as evidenced by a rather strange suggestion he made to Tony Perkins, the president of the right-wing Christian lobbying organization The Family Research Council.

Perkins was on 'Hardball' (weekdays, 5 PM ET on MSNBC) to clarify statements made by Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at the FRC, which seemed to suggest the FRC is in favor of making gay sex illegal through the court system. Not so, said Perkins, adding that the FRC is against any criminalization of gay behavior.

"Tony, you're always welcome here," Matthews told Perkins. "Now go back and spank Peter Sprigg for saying the wrong thing on this show, because he said the opposite of what you said."

"We don't do that either," responded Perkins, sounding a bit like someone who'd had to make that clear before.