Close to 100,000 Sign Petitions Urging Atlanta Mayor to Reinstate Kelvin Cochran

On Tuesday, Christians gathered at the state capitol in Georgia to support former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran after Mayor Kasim Reed fired him for purportedly handing out copies of his self-published book that echoes the Bible’s teachings on homosexuality and other sins.

Can you imagine the mayor firing the chief had he distributed books condemning the sins of lying and adultery?

ChristianHeadlines.com reports that about 100,000 people have signed petitions urging the mayor to reinstate Cochran:

A petition launched by the National Organization for Marriage says, ““By caving into the radical activists who decided to bully and harass Mr. Cochran, you have sent a message to all Atlanta residents that you will not support their own rights to hold and to express their religious values in the public square, but will sell them out to special interests and powerful lobbies. I urge you to right this wrong and undo the harm done to Mr. Cochran and to all people of faith in Atlanta and throughout the country.”

Regardless of Mayor Reed’s claims, I’d guess that many Christians suspect he terminated Cochran because he was critical of homosexuality. The so-called rights of its proponents and practitioners seem to be waxing as ours are waning.

What exactly did Cochran write that’s so controversial? From ChristianHeadlines.com:

“Uncleanness [is] 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.”

One huge difference between Christians and “radical” Muslims is that Christians don’t call for homosexuals’ deaths. Instead, they pray for their repentance. We need more black Christians (and black men in general) like Cochran to speak out against the normalization of perversion, the celebration of sin, and the erosion of religious freedom.

Photo credit: FEMA/Bill Koplitz