“Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are under attack!” was the motto of protestors rallying outside the Georgia state capitol this week.
The protestors, who are being lead by the Family Research Council, are upset over the recent termination of Atlanta’s homophobic fire chief Kelvin Cochran.
Cochran was let go from his job with the city after it was discovered he had self-published an e-book called Who Told You That You Were Naked, in which he refers to homosexuality as unclean, inappropriate, vile, and vulgar.
This week, the FRC and its devout Christian followers delivered a petition with nearly 40,000 signatures to city hall in support of Cochran.
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“The naked truth is that the actions taken against the chief are designed to send a message that will silence Christians and in effect force them to check their faith at the door of public service,” Tony Perkins, president of the FRC, said.
Cochran himself made an appearance at the rally. In a rousing speech, he denied accusations that his religious beliefs created a hostile work environment, as some have claimed, and said that no member of the LGBT community was discriminated against under his watch.
“There are grave consequences for publicly expressing our faith,” he told the crowd, “and having the audacity to believe that sex was created for procreation and should be in the bonds of holy matrimony between a man and a woman.”
“All people, groups are welcomed and embraced in the city of Atlanta,” he continued, “except the groups that believe the scripture regarding God’s purpose for sex.”
But city officials insist Cochran’s termination has nothing to do with his religious beliefs.
“The city’s nondiscrimination policy is nonnegotiable,” mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “Neither race, nor gender, nor religion, nor creed, nor sexual orientation, nor physical ability, nor gender identity will be used to discriminate against any city of Atlanta employee.”
Reed has explained multiple times that the city requires all employees to first seek permission and obtain approval before publishing a book, which he says Cochran never did. Reed also claims the way in which Cochran handled the situation (i.e. rallying on the steps of the state capitol with one of the most notorious antigay groups in America) has demonstrated an “irreconcilable lapse in judgment.”
“His actions around the book, his statements during the investigation, eroded my confidence,” Reed said.
Of course, Cochran isn’t buying the mayor’s excuses.
“One thing we should not have to sacrifice are the freedoms inherit in our great nation,” Cochran told the crowd this week, “Free speech and freedom of religion.”
Related stories:
Atlanta’s Fire Chief In Hot Water For Self-Publishing Creepy Antigay Book Online
Homophobic Fire Chief In Atlanta Gets Canned Over Antigay E-Book
lykeitiz
“The naked truth is that the actions taken against the chief are designed to send a message that will silence Christians and in effect force them to check their faith at the door of public service,” Tony Perkins, president of the FRC, said.
NOW they’re getting it! Yes Christians, take note: Your hate-filled opinions will no longer be tolerated in public. Now sit down.
Harley
Boy is he setting himself up to be unhireable. After all this I would be surprised if he could get ANY job now except a church custodian. Good job FRC. I guess you guys can support him and send him on a speaking junket.
Chris Vogel
It is not that his freedom of speech has been restricted, obviously, since he has expressed himself very clearly, and, in his words, in a manner that is inappropriate, unclean, vile and vulgar. (Interesting, though, that these views seem to come, invariably, from religious conservatives.) What his kind never seem to understand is that other people are entitled to have opinions, too (this is, apparently, news), and that some of these opinions will be different than his (the horror! the horror!) and that some of those will be about his (more horror). The central problem, of course, is that he might, however covertly, apply his vicious and dingbat views in management of his staff. Is it possible to be sure that he hasn’t, or won’t? It is just like racism, and the answer is, given how fervently he espouses them, no.
jlfbman
Wonderful example of how it’s going to be now and into the future. Officially…..shut the fuck up if you are going to denigrate, insult etc etc…..your hateful opinions are no longer going to be tolerated….got it?
tdh1980
Freedom of religion and free speech only mean something to these people when the Christian faith is being scrutinized. If Cochran were a Muslim behaving in this manner and spouting anything construed as “anti-American” ideas, he would be branded a terrorist and forced to face harsh and swift penalty.
gjg64
@Harley: Oh no, he’s going to get a great paying gig on Fox News as the oppressed black Christian.
RichieW
This is not about free speech. It is about the chief handing copies to members of the fire department who did not even ask to have one. Even if they asked for a copy it would be wrong. It is the chief pushing his bigotry down the throats of his subordinates. If your boss gave you a book he wrote and it said gays were all vile people would you ever in his presence stand against gay bigotry? It is one thing to believe the crap that he does, it is another to push it on people who work for you who are powerless to tell you to go to hell. It tells gay employees that this superior (his role not his intellegence) thinks they ought to die and go to hell. Nice going asswipe. Glad you got fired. Oh by the way the FRC is going broke so they will not be able to help you. They are just desperate to try and fire up the base to get more of other peoples money.
enlightenone
Just another sociopath next door setting fires not putting them out!
1EqualityUSA
Chief is putting a lot of stock into a part of the Bible that absconded with the tale from earlier Sumerian and Akkadian myths. This is why it is so important to have separation of Church and State. If he wants to live by his beliefs, fine, but do not expect to force others to believe or have their civil rights curtailed by older Sumerian and Akkadian myths that were repurposed. Biblically illiterate people abuse the Bible and cleave to flimsy passages to harbor hatred for their brothers and sisters. Some make money stirring up hatred towards others. Some are speaking before they are ready to intelligently apply their knowledge with the spirit intended. What part of, “love thy neighbor” does he misunderstand? hoodwinked chief, spoke before he was ready. What fools these mortals be.
tdx3fan
@Chris Vogel: So, I am sure you also support firing atheist from positions of power in the government because they might not look favorably upon believers, correct?
What annoys the hell out of me is that so many people want to spouse this hypocrisy. If you believe this guy should be fired for sharing his views with people because you do not like his views then you better believe that someone that shares their views with someone should be fired even if you do like those views.
Unless there is actual evidence that this person has discriminated against LGBT people then he should not have lost his job.
tdx3fan
@RichieW: So, if someone handed out a pamphlet that went against their employees strong religious beliefs then you would also want them fired right?
marcuswingspan
“check their faith at the door of public service”. Separation of church and state. Period. You can be gay, Christian or KKK for that matter, but bringing your little e-book and distributing it at work would be no different than someone else bringing in their self-published book of porn shorts and distributing that. You can talk about your life with co-workers in discourse, that’s free speech, but when you force others to participate in your values about the topic of those issues, i.e. racism, religious, sexual, etc.; that crosses a line I’m sorry to come once again, face to face with the hypocrisy and double standards of groups such as The American Family Council.
Saint Law
@tdx3fan: When you work in the public sector hate speech directed at many of your subordinates is discrimination, Numpty.
aliengod
@tdx3fan: I’d have to agree with you. We all have the right to be considered innocent unless proven guilty. I’ve not read of an instance where this man discriminated against any of his employees.
@Saint Law: We differ in the fact that my sexuality is not the primary focus of my life. There are other, more important things at times.
jwtraveler
“The naked truth is that the actions taken against the chief are designed to send a message that will silence Christians…”
If only…
IvanPH
Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from the consequences that will be made by your employer.
Harley
@tdx3fan: The chief didn’t get fired for being a Christian, as I’m sure most of his subordinates are also Christian, but by being insubordinate to his boss, handing out filth to his employees that did not care to see it. If an atheist did the same thing then, yes, fire the individual. If the atheist keeps his atheism to himself then, no, no reason to fire as long as he is doing his job based on the established job description he sign on his employment contract.
valhallaarwen
Chris Vogel, I would like to point out something as well about the story. When I read it days ago, I found out that yes, he did write and believe that gay folks are worst than other. He doesn’t see it what he did, but a lot of folks do. He stated that gays were immoral yet straight people get a pat on the back who cheat on others and not called the same thing. As a black person, I am sooo sick and tired of these hypocritical religious black folks who will say all of the “right things” and act all holy but are straight up sinners. Why is it acceptable to have a bunch of children oow, have multiple baby daddies, be married multiply times, but not okay to be gay? Why is it okay to go to jail, kill someone, but it’s not okay to be gay? I wonder these things. This is the type of thing that can bring the city into a lawsuit situation imo, and the mayor is correct to nip it in the bud. And I love how folks are trying to throw religious freedom in it, because if this guy was a muslim and wrote this book the religious right would be up in arms.
valhallaarwen
“Uncleanness – whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, all other forms of sexual perversion.”
“Naked men refuse to give in, so they pursue sexual fulfillment through multiple partners, with the opposite sex, the same sex, and sex outside of marriage and many other vile, vulgar and inappropriate ways which defile their body – temple and dishonor God.”
This is part of the reason imo he was fired. Why is it that homosexuality is included in unclean list (sorry for using the earlier statement but I just found it)but cheating with the same sex isn’t (either married or unmarried)? Where is all the outrage about allowing unwed mothers into their church? Why do they get a pass? why are some folks acceptable in the church or can be Christians but others aren’t?
Bauhaus
@Harley:
Well, he was fired for the following:
Cochran was let go from his job with the city after it was discovered he had self-published an e-book called Who Told You That You Were Naked, in which he refers to homosexuality as unclean, inappropriate, vile, and vulgar.
Bauhaus
@tdx3fan:
Geez, what an insufferable twit you are. You defend of every bigot on here. Yet, you claim to support gay marriage. You’re either a self-loathing closet-case, self-loathing, or just a troll. You rail against religion in one post, and defend the obvious abuse of it in this. I’d rather eat rocks than be trapped in your mind.
Bauhaus
@aliengod:
Out of the depths of misery appears you. No surprise, you defending the indefensible.
aliengod
@Bauhaus: You provide such enlightening commentary. It’s amazing. Now go back to eating your rocks.
NiceNCool1
nutcase Christians hate it when they lose their privileged position and get treated like everyone else.
lykeitiz
Well…..maybe he’s right. Maybe we should all take the Bible literally. How much do you think we could fetch for him at a slave auction?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Very few things in this world infuriate me more than a Black person spewing abhorrent, noxious bigoted hatered against another minority…
It seems this disgusting pig somehow forgot the lynchings, fire hoses turned on and dogs being sicced, on his fellow Blacks only one generation ago for the same “reasons” of bigotry and hatred…………..
Bob LaBlah
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: He didn’t forget. His reasoning for those acts will be “the devil made them do it”.