The Patriot Post® · Fired for His Faith

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/42196-fired-for-his-faith-2016-04-27

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal owes Dr. Eric Walsh an apology.

Dr. Walsh is an accomplished medical professional. He has multiple advanced degrees and he served on President Obama’s Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDs. Dr. Walsh started a low-income clinic for California families struggling with AIDs and served for more than three years as director of public health for the city of Pasadena, California.

Dr. Walsh accepted an offer from the state of Georgia to serve as a regional director with the state’s Department of Public Health. But the offer was rescinded. Now he’s suing the state of Georgia.

Dr. Walsh’s medical credentials or his job performance were never at issue. It turns out that he is also a lay minister and has preached biblically sound sermons regarding marriage and human sexuality.

The state of Georgia essentially fired him after several bureaucrats reviewed his sermons and decided that someone with traditional Judeo-Christian values could not work as a medical professional for the state of Georgia.

This is absolutely stunning!

The amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman passed in Georgia with 76% of the vote. I bet there are a lot of Georgia state employees who share Dr. Walsh’s views. I guess they could all be fired for their beliefs too.

The left insisted that gay marriage would never affect what pastors can and cannot say in their churches. But there are a lot of pastors in America, like Dr. Walsh, who hold second jobs.

Is their First Amendment right to religious freedom limited to the confines of their church? Do they need to be worried about the government “spying” on them like the KGB and threatening their careers? That is not the vision of religious liberty that our Founding Fathers had in mind.

Governor Nathan Deal recently vetoed religious liberty legislation, suggesting that it was discriminatory and unnecessary.

Dr. Walsh’s case, as well as former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran’s case, proves just how necessary that bill was and how committed the left is to punishing views based on the Bible.

Court Upholds Common Sense

Federal Judge Thomas Schroeder [Monday] ruled against the Obama Justice Department when he upheld North Carolina’s 2013 voter ID law. The left claims that voter ID laws are right-wing efforts to disenfranchise minority voters. But as Judge Schroeder noted in his opinion, black voter turnout increased in North Carolina in 2014.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory praised the decision, saying, “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID and thankfully a federal court has ensured our citizens will have the same protection for their basic right to vote.”

The NAACP is vowing to appeal.

The Supreme Court upheld voter ID laws in 2008. But that decision could be in jeopardy.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the court’s opinion in favor of voter ID laws, but he retired two years later. Obama replaced Stevens with Elena Kagan. In a 2014 dissenting opinion, Justice Kagan indicated a desire to overturn Texas’ voter ID law. Justice Scalia, who passed away in February, was also part of the court’s 2008 majority.

Currently, there are only four justices on the high court who supported voter ID laws.

Big Government & Big Abortion

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently made headlines for her position on abortion. During a recent appearance on the The View, Clinton explained her support for Roe v. Wade by saying that an unborn baby has no legal rights and can be aborted right up until the moment of birth.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said [Monday], “I think we should expand funding for Planned Parenthood,” America’s largest abortion provider. Senator Sanders added, “I will use the Department of Justice to go after” states that are trying to impose restrictions on abortion.

What kind of restrictions is Sen. Sanders talking about? Regulations that require abortion facilities to meet basic health and safety standards. Limits on late-term abortions. Parental notification laws.