Another day, another email from the AFA complaining about intolerant people firing folks for no good reason

When 18-year old Crystal Plotner, who the rink owners say was one of their top 10 employees, casually mentioned she was planning to move in with her boyfriend to her bosses, they implored her to check out their church and re-consider her sinful plans. When she refused to do either, they fired her sinful little ass for violation of their moral turpitude clause. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when I saw the email I received from the AFA's Don Wildmon, wildly complaining about intolerant employers firing good people for no good reason. I saw the subject line of the e-mail and thought it's about time such a fine, Christian organization took up the cause of a great employee like Crystal who wasn't going around preaching against [traditional] marriage at the rink, telling rink patrons about how she was living in sin, or doing anything in a public forum that could make her employers look kinda shady. Then I opened it and found out my friend Don is only concerned about firing people who go out of their way to impugn others (provided the person who was fired is a "Christian" and the people being impugned don't even meet Anne Coulter's liberal definition of Christian.

A public official in Maryland has been fired by the Republican governor because he merely expressed his personal beliefs and the teaching of his church that homosexuality is immoral. Robert Smith was fired from his position on the Metro board by Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Jr. after a homosexual complained. Gov. Ehrlich said he is intolerant to any view that opposes the full social acceptance of homosexual behavior and its promotion in government. He said Smith's comments were "highly inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. They are in direct conflict to my administration's commitment to...tolerance." Gov. Ehrlich contradicted his own statement! He is promoting tolerance toward homosexual practice while being intolerant to Smith's Christian beliefs and the teaching of his church.

Smith, it seems, went on a local cable talk show to espouse his views that homosexuals live a life of sexual deviancy. He not only offended other Metro Board members by these public statements, he also ticked off openly gay board member DC councilman Jim Graham, who called for his resignation. According to Wildmon's email

Addressing his views on homosexual marriage, Smith said: "Homosexual behavior, in my view, is deviant. I'm a Roman Catholic. The comments I make in public outside of my [Metro board job] I'm entitled to make." His personal beliefs, he said, have "absolutely nothing to do with running trains and buses and have not affected my actions or decisions on this board."

Smith responded to a speaker who said homosexuals do not want the government interfering in their sex life. "That's fine, that's fine," Smith said. "But that doesn't mean that government should proffer a special place of entitlement within the laws of the United States for persons of sexual deviancy."

Smith said he has always supported the transit agency's policy against all forms of discrimination. Asked if he planned to apologize to Metro board member Jim Graham, an open homosexual who called for Smith's firing, Smith replied: "I didn't make the comments to Mr. Graham...I'm sorry he feels that way. I don't agree that his lifestyle is an appropriate way to lead one's life."

Smith was fired not because he wasn't doing a good job. He was fired not because of his practice, but because of his thinking! He was fired because he held different beliefs. So much for tolerance! If this firing stands, it means that any Christian who states publicly that homosexual practice is morally wrong does so at the risk of being fired.

The only thing is, based on Smith's own account of the cable show, it sounds as though he was on the show as Metro Board Member Robert Smith discussing local government issues, not as a private citizen (if anyone has footage, I'd like to see how he was billed). I guess the point is, Wildmon is OK with firing someone for doing something he thinks is wrong but broadcasting public accusations based on Christian beliefs doesn't count. I wonder if the AFA will take up the cause for the next BYU professor fired for taking a stance of equality in marriage, after all that person is only thinking and expressing their personal views.

Tags: politics; religion; you've got a hypocrite in; marriage; gay; fundamentalism; conservatism; wizzing on some old document

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