Former Atlanta Fire Chief Voices Christian Beliefs Despite Firing

An Atlanta fire chief who was recently fired from his position due to his Christian views on homosexuality has reaffirmed his beliefs in a recent speech.

Ousted Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran spoke to the congregation at Elizabeth Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta over the weekend, weeks after he was fired from his post as fire chief for distributing a book to his coworkers that discussed morality, including the Christian belief that homosexuality is a sin.

Cochran had written the bookdistributed to his coworkers, entitled "Who Told You That You Are Naked?." 

"The truth will set you free, but I've also found out that the truth will make a lot of people angry and that there are worldly consequences for standing up for righteousness in these current times," Cochran said this past weekend. "God intended for a man and a woman to procreate in the bounds of holy matrimony, and that's what got me in trouble."

The fire chief, who also serves as a baptist deacon and teaches Sunday school, was fired from his post by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed earlier in January. Reed had first learned of Cochran's book back in November, and the local official took to his official Facebook to denounce the book's message.

"I profoundly disagree with and am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback regarding the LGBT community," Reed said last November via his official Facebook page. "I will not tolerate discrimination of any kind within my administration."