Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist
Billy Graham, has come to the defense of Kelvin Cochran, the Atlanta
fire chief who was fired over anti-gay comments.
In a self-published book titled Who
Told You That You Were Naked, Cochran described gay people as
“unclean.”
(Related: Atlanta
Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran fired over anti-gay statements.)
Cochran is the “latest target of
politically correct bullying against Bible-believing Christians,”
Graham wrote in an
op-ed.
“Cochran didn't discriminate against
anyone, he didn't persecute anyone for homosexuality or create a
hostile work environment. Instead he was persecuted and denied his
career because of his privately held religious beliefs. This is true
discrimination.”
(One could argue against both of those
points since Cochran distributed
his book to co-workers.)
“The LGBT community wants us to be
afraid of expressing our Christian beliefs. They want us to cower in
the face of their threats to the livelihoods of believers. But we
shouldn't back down! Cochran said, 'I'm not discouraged and I'm not
downtrodden,' he said. 'This is a God thing and He's going to do
great things and He will vindicate me publicly.'”
(Related: Franklin
Graham prepared to have his head “chopped off” for opposing gay
rights.)