By Bob Allen
The top spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Georgia affiliate called on the state’s General Assembly to pass a new bill bolstering religious freedom at a Jan. 13 rally claiming Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran was fired for voicing his Christian beliefs.
Meanwhile, another diverse group of Georgia faith leaders issued an open letter describing two so-called “religious liberty” bills proposed in the legislature as a license to discriminate.
Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, was among conservatives calling on Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to reinstate Cochran, fired for alleged policy violations after a religious book he wrote for men at Elizabeth Baptist Church, where he is a member, drew criticism for disapproving comments about homosexuality.
“We are living in a country that guarantees that there will be no laws prohibiting the exercise of religion. That includes Atlanta, Georgia, and all the state of Georgia,” White said at the Standing for Our Faith Rally gathering promoted by national figures including Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
“I stand here today representing 3,600 Georgia Baptist churches, of which Elizabeth Baptist Church is one,” White said, “and 1.4 million Georgia Baptists across this state who are deeply concerned over the action in this process that we have seen.”
Also on Tuesday, another group at the state capitol urged defeat of proposed legislation including House Bill 29, aimed at preventing “government overreach” on restricting religious expression.
“I am for religious freedom, and I am for religious responsibility” James Lamkin, pastor at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, said in a news release from Faith in Public Life. “And I am against House Bill 29. I believe we can do this because we stand strong together on the ground of religious freedom.”
Other Baptists signing the Faith in Public Life letter included Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., and Ron Grizzle, director of the Center for Teaching Churches at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta.
Religious liberty advocates say a poorly written state Religious Freedom Restoration Act could legalize discrimination by allowing businesses to refuse to serve customers based on religious objections.
“We believe that businesses that are open to the public should be open to everyone on the same terms,” the coalition said. “We strongly oppose giving for-profit corporations religious rights that could allow them to discriminate against employees based on any characteristic — from their religious practices to their sexual orientation. This principle harkens back to the civil rights movement and our nation’s core values of equality and justice.”
Over at the other rally, White said he is grateful for Chief Cochran’s “willingness to take a stand for his Christian beliefs.”
“No one in this country today should write a book about their personal beliefs and then lose their job over it,” White said.
“There are some who declare that this is an issue against homosexuals,” White said. “It is not. It is a matter of religious liberty. It is time for us in Georgia to take a strong stand about religious liberty.”