Atlanta Fire Chief Canned For Anti-Gay Book; He Claims Firing Was For Being Christian
[su_right_ad]Atlanta’s fire chief was let go after publishing a book referring to homosexuality as “unclean”, “a sexual perversion”, “vulgar”, and “inappropriate”. He claims it’s because he’s a Christian.Two specific passages of the book are cited by The Ga Voice for their anti-gay stance:
“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.”
[su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]This follows a month-long suspension in November.
At the time, Mayor Kasim Reed said, “I want to be clear that the material in Chief Cochran’s book is not representative of my personal beliefs, and is inconsistent with the administration’s work to make Atlanta a more welcoming city for all citizens — regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, race, and religious beliefs.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Reed announced Cochran had been “relieved” of his position.
“Not one time during the course of preparing this book did Chief Cochran ever think that it was appropriate to have a conversation with me despite the fact that I have made my opinion — and this administration’s opinion — clear on this topic,” Reed said.
Reed said Cochran was given an opportunity to resign and refused. “Bottom line, he was terminated,” Reed said.
Still in uniform after the news conference, Cochran told reporters, “I’m not apologetic for writing the book.”
He said he will not hide his Christian faith.
“Everything I wrote in the book is based on scriptures, not my opinions,” said Cochran.
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rg9rts January 8th, 2015 at 2:06 pm
He is not the brightest bulb in the box…print the book after you retire..just about as stupid as the criminals that post their exploits on Facebook
Guy Lauten January 8th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Pah. Mr. Cochran was a bigoted “christian” before the book was published, yet held his job. Then he published his screed, he was STILL a bigoted “christian”, and he was fired. Therefore the firing had nothing to do with Mr. Cochran being a bigoted “christian” as he professes. It had to do with his publishing the screed. QED. Bravo Mayor Reed.
arc99 January 8th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Scriptures are OPINIONS. They are the OPINIONS of the translators who read the original texts and translated them into English based on their OPINION of what the original text said and meant.
People seem to forget that unless you know how to read these ancient languages as well as understand the cultural context, you are not reading the “word of god”. You are reading what some mere mortal claims is the word of god.
The same words can mean very different things. For example, take the phrase “I am killing it”
Does the person mean they are destroying a life? Or does the person mean they are enjoying great success in some personal endeavor?
Guy Lauten January 8th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Ahem… the “original text” you speak of is also just the words of a man, one who lived long ago and is now dead. If you keep tracing it back, the whole thing is really just the word of a man or some men that has been passed down (mainly through SPOKEN word) through one of the longest games of “Telephone” ever.
fahvel January 8th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
and mostly written by a woman/women. Have some fun and study the gendered grammatical structure of old aramaic
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
And they were translations of translations of translations … going back a few thousand years, over multiple languages, so who knows what the original authors actually intended to say? It’s like that old game of telephone. The final message is so distorted, the original sender doesn’t recognize it.
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 2:25 pm
You mean god doesn’t speaketh English?
Guy Lauten January 8th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Que?
arc99 January 8th, 2015 at 2:31 pm
only to Charlton Heston
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
That reminds me of the scene in History of the World Part I, where Mel Brooks as Moses comes down from the mountain with three tablets, and announces “The Lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen, (drops one, it shatters) oy, ten commandments for all to obey!”
tiredoftea January 8th, 2015 at 7:29 pm
Or, even exist, BTW.
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 3:09 pm
To a large extent (not for all, there are some very progressive Christians) aren’t anti-gay and Christian the same thing?
fahvel January 8th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
no
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 4:35 pm
From my experience, that seems to be the case.
Guy Lauten January 8th, 2015 at 5:18 pm
I wish I could believe you, but until the people who actually follow the teachings of Christ step forward and start regularly and vehemently denouncing these charlatans and bigots who abuse the name of your religion, your denial echos hollow and means nothing in the real world.
jasperjava January 8th, 2015 at 6:51 pm
As a practising Catholic, I am proud to denounce bigots of all descriptions. The religious freaks who think that being Christian means you must be homophobic are scum.
Guy Lauten January 8th, 2015 at 7:45 pm
And I applaud you for it. However your excellent stance goes unnoticed by the general public.
Where are the Sunday sermons vehemently denouncing intolerance? Why are there no bishops in the press denouncing the perversion of their religion?
While I firmly believe all such things start with the individual, I see the US Catholic Church’s complete lack of aggressive push-back to these bigots as complicity by silence.
fahvel January 8th, 2015 at 11:03 pm
dumbest response in decades.
Guy Lauten January 9th, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Thank you, I’ve long known that when an asshole calls you an idiot, it’s a compliment.
Bunya January 12th, 2015 at 9:47 am
Most fire ‘n brimstone preachers still use the “hate the gays” rhetoric, but the majority of Christians have toned it down a bit to something like, “I don’t hate gays, but I disapprove of their ‘lifestyle'”, or, “love the sinner, hate the sin”.
fahvel January 8th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
when vulgar people like this say their thoughts out loud they will get the repercussions – they are mealy mouthed creeps with no sense of what xianity is supposed to be.
Larry Schmitt January 8th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Key word: supposed.
Suzanne McFly January 8th, 2015 at 4:53 pm
Funny how much this “Christian man” concerns himself with the sex lives of others. I don’t know much about psychology and diagnosis of mental ailments, but I think he needs a hobby and maybe his time won’t be consumed with thoughts about sexual orientations of others.
Suzanne McFly January 8th, 2015 at 4:55 pm
I do not know what scriptures he is referring to, however I do remember reading “Judge not lest ye be judged” in my bible. Maybe he wants to borrow it, he has plenty of time to read now.
Chinese Democracy January 8th, 2015 at 5:53 pm
Atlanta’s Mayor Dismantles “Religious Freedom” Defense Of Terminated Anti-Gay Fire Chief
Conservative media are falsely claiming that Atlanta’s anti-gay fire chief was fired from his job because of his Christian faith, ignoring the unprofessional behavior that actually led to his termination.
Mayor Reed stressed that his decision is not because of Cochran’s faith: “His religious (beliefs) are not the basis of the problem. His judgment is the basis of the problem.”
When you have more than 1,000 people working under your command, you can’t go around publicly suggesting that some of them are perverts on a par with those who indulge in bestiality or child sexual abuse, as Cochran did in a self-published book. When you serve as a top manager in a government that has pledged not to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation, you can’t suggest to workers that such discrimination might be justified, as Cochran did by distributing copies of that book to his subordinates.
http://goo.gl/qv2OIA
tiredoftea January 8th, 2015 at 7:28 pm
““Everything I wrote in the book is based on scriptures, not my opinions,” said Cochran.”, from the heavily excised Southern Baptist edition, no doubt.
Obewon January 8th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Atlanta Fire Chief Fired For LGBT Bigotry! Blames The Bable for his 10th Amendment Constitutional illiteracy. He clearly illustrates why so many anti-LGBT Christians hide behind their Bible.
crc3 January 8th, 2015 at 8:50 pm
Some people who claim to be Christian…yet are full of hate…are fake Christians. They live their lives more like devil worshipers. Jesus would certainly have accepted ALL PEOPLE into his “church” regardless of race or sexual preference. He would not be pleased with the so-called “Christian” who choses to use the Bible as ammunition to fuel their cause…
Bunya January 9th, 2015 at 3:19 pm
To be fair, he has to blame his termination on SOMETHING. He certainly can’t put he was fired from his last job for being a “bigoted, homophobic, religious nutjub” on his job application. That really won’t look too good on his resume (unless, of course, if he was applying for a job with the KKK) . It’s always best to blame the former employer by using the “they fired me for my religious beliefs” excuse.
Guy Lauten January 9th, 2015 at 5:43 pm
Sounds like a perfect resume addition for his application to Faux Noos.