You may recall the story of the Atlanta Fire Chief who was fired from his city job because he dared to write and publish a book explaining his Christian-based views on homosexuality and gay marriage. Now the chief is fighting to get his job back claiming that the city violated his First Amendment, freedom of religion, rights.
Kelvin Cochran recently spoke to the Heritage Foundation about his fight.
“Do we want the government deciding that anyone that holds views that are in conflict with the government’s views can’t work – can’t make a living?”
We already have that very scenario.
Does that worry you?
Kelvin Cochran is the former Atlanta Fire Chief. He’s been a firefighter since 1981 and was appointed Atlanta’s fire chief in 2008. President Obama made him U.S. fire administrator for the United States Fire Administration in 2009 and in 2010 he returned to his duties as Atlanta’s fire chief.
In over 34 years of service, much of it in leadership capacity, he has never been accused of discrimination.
But in January 2015, Cochran was fired by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed because of a men’s devotional book he published for a Baptist church group in which he shared his views on homosexuality, gay marriage and premarital sex from a biblical perspective. Mayor Reed ordered him to undergo ‘sensitivity training.’
Said Reed, “I profoundly disagree with and am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback regarding the LGBT community. I will not tolerate discrimination of any kind within my administration.”
Mayor Reed maintains, “This is about judgment. This is not about religious freedom, this is not about free speech… Judgment is the basis of the problem.”
Former Fire Chief Cochran responds, “My profession for 34 years was to be willing to die for anyone under any condition where I could possibly save a life, and I am still committed to doing that today. There’s no hatred. Love is the foundation of the Christian faith and I have lived that out in my profession for 34 years.”
The issue centers on a section in the book Cochran published, “Who Tod You That You Were Naked?,” that Cochran wrote because, “Many Christain men struggle with issues of sexual sin and sexuality, and so I spoke to that in the book – why God created sex and that God’s purpose for sex was for procreation, and to do it his way it has to be done in holy matrimony. That led to the controversy.”
Cochran continues, “In the United States of America, we are guaranteed the freedom to live without fear of being terminated or experiencing any adverse action for the free expression of our beliefs and thoughts. It was an injustice against me on that basis.”
Cochran has file a federal lawsuit against the city of Atlanta claiming he was wrongfully terminated and being discriminated against for his Christian beliefs.
What do you think? Does he have a case?