Story of Religious Freedom Defense's Star Witness Is a Canard
Don't be too quick to buy former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran's tale of religious persecution.
BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM
JULY 20 2016 8:27 PM EDT
The star witness of this month’s U.S. House hearing about the anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act convincingly played the victim card. But former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran’s story of faith-based discrimination isn’t what it seems, and his firing wouldn’t have been prevented by the law being proposed.
While several Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform noted July 12 that Cochran’s dismissal would not have been affected by FADA, Cochran stuck to his talking points, insisting he had lost his job as Atlanta’s fire chief solely because of his faith.
Atlanta city officials, Cochran said Tuesday, disagreed with his “Judeo-Christian beliefs about marriage,” which Cochran shared in a self-published book titled Who Told You That You Were Naked?
“I wrote a book to encourage men, inspire them to fulfill their God-called purposes,” Cochran said in his opening statement. “Husbands, fathers, and community leaders. Only a few paragraphs of the 162-page book address teachings — biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality. Verses taken directly from the Holy Scripture. Yet the city of Atlanta's officials, including Mayor Reed, made it clear that it was those beliefs that resulted in my suspension, the investigation, and my termination.”
http://www.advocate.com/religion/2016/7/20/story-religious-freedom-defenses-star-witness-canard
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