Fired for Preaching: Georgia Dumps Doctor over Church Sermons
ICC Note: According to reports, a doctor from Georgia, Dr. Eric Walsh, was fired after presenting sermons outside of the workplace on issues including evolution and sexuality as he also serves as a minister. First Liberty, an advocacy organization promoting religious freedom who is representing Walsh, stated that the Georgia Department of Public Health carried out an investigation on Walsh’s sermons prior to his termination. Walsh has since filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Health over the matter.
04/20/2016 United States (Fox News) – Bi-vocational pastors be warned – what you say from the pulpit on Sunday could get you fired from your public sector job on Monday.
Dr. Eric Walsh, a renowned public health expert who also serves as a lay minister, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Health alleging he was terminated for delivering sermons on issues ranging from homosexuality to evolution.
“No one in this country should be fired from their job for something that was said in a church or from a pulpit during a sermon,” said First Liberty attorney Jeremy Dys.
First Liberty, one of the nation’s largest law firms defending religious liberty, is representing the Seventh Day Adventist lay minister.
They contend that the Georgia Department of Public Health assigned workers to investigate sermons Dr. Walsh delivered on health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science and creationism. He also preached on what the Bible says about homosexuality.
“He was fired for something he said in a sermon,” Dys told me. “If the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything.”
First Liberty has accused the government agency of religious discrimination and retaliation.
“I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” Dr. Walsh told me in an exclusive interview. “This has been very painful for me. I really am a strong believer in the Constitution. But now I feel like maybe all these ideals and values that I was raised to believe – the ideals they country was founded upon – no longer exist.”