Religious Freedom and the homosexual agenda
Barely five days after The New York Times ran a major news article on the firing of Atlanta ’s fire chief for his views on homosexuality, a major Times opinion writer declared that religious liberty is a fine thing, so long as it is restricted to “pews, homes, and hearts” — far from public consequence. The firing of Kelvin Cochran as chief of Atlanta’s Fire Rescue Department came after the city’s mayor, Kasim Reed , determined that the chief could not effectively manage the department after he had written a book in which he cited Scripture in defining homosexuality as a sin. The most crucial portion of the Times story includes the mayor’s rationale: “At a news conference, Mr. Reed said that Mr. Cochran’s ‘personal religious beliefs are not the issue.’ But Atlanta’s nondiscrimination policy, the mayor added, is ‘nonnegotiable.’ ‘Despite my respect for Chief Cochran’s service, I believe his actions and decision-making undermine his ability to effectively manage a large,