Ohhhh, yeah — another article.
Here we go…
On November 24, 2014, Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran was suspended for 30 days without pay. The reason? He’d handed out a book to employees. His 162-page self-penned guide to becoming a better father and husband, “Who Told You That You Are Naked?” addressed sexuality from a Biblical perspective.
A couple excerpts :
“Uncleanness — whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, all other forms of sexual perversion.”
And:
“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.”
You can hear the chattering of left-wing teeth.
The knocking of knees.
The signaling of virtue.
And the action of a city official–
Mayor Kasim Reed wasn’t much impressed. In fact, he was downright distressed:
“I was surprised and disappointed to learn of this book on Friday. 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.”
Disturbed!
The book was so bothersome, in fact, that Cochran got canned.
Kelvin fought the decision, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). And he won. Last December, ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot explained the case:
“The government can’t force its employees to get its permission before they engage in free speech. It also can’t fire them for exercising that First Amendment freedom, causing them to lose both their freedom and their livelihoods.”
Sounds good, right?
On Monday, it got better.
The city council agreed to shell out $1.2 million to Cochran for damages and lawyer fees.
We live in a world where punishment is frequently and harshly dolled to those who subscribe to Christian mores (see here), or even just to reality (here). In this case, as in the recent faith-based baking situations in the U.S. (here) and UK (here), freedom prevailed.
As we see a constitutionalist ascend to our nation’s high court and the promise of a reddened November, let’s hope the triumph of liberty continues to ring, like the chime of a Pennsylvania State House steeple bell.
It sure sounds good to me.
Learn more about Kelvin Cochran in the moving video below.
Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, here, and here.
See 3 more pieces from me: Booker as Spartacus, maturity vs. leftism, and Alyssa Milano’s bold sexism.
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