A former Iowa newspaper editor is accusing the “Gaystapo” of rewriting the Bible to make it appear that God’s Word did not condemn homosexual acts until 1946.
Bob Eschliman’s comments appeared in his personal blog last Monday, July 21. But he was fired as editor of the Newton Daily News in Iowa after national media critic Jim Romenesko sent Eschliman an email the next day asking if his paper could fairly cover the gay community in light of the personal views he expressed that homosexuals were “the enemy,” the Des Moines Register reported.
Eschliman’s post was taken down, and he was fired. But Eschliman filed a federal complaint against his former employer last Wednesday, accusing the newspaper’s owners, Shaw Media, of religious discrimination and retaliation.
Eschliman described his religious beliefs regarding the definition of marriage in his post and argues that he was fired and discriminated against for being an evangelical Christian.
“Bob believes, as we do, that no one should be fired from their job because of their religious beliefs,” Jeremiah G. Dys, Eschliman’s attorney, told a Christian journalist. “We hope the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will send a strong signal to other companies that this type of intolerance has no place in today’s welcoming workforce.”
Eschliman penned his blog post in April criticizing the “Queen James Bible,” a website that sells rewritten, gay-friendly copies of the Bible because they claim that homosexuality as a sin was not added in the Scriptures until 1946.
“It’s pretty easy to brush off a nonsensical contrived version of the Bible, but that’s not the deceivers’ end goal,” wrote Eschliman, according to the Des Moines Register. “No, they want all Christendom to abandon their faith. They do that by ‘proselytizing’ to church leaders to change their view on homosexuality.”
His blog has been taken down since then but in his complaint with the EEOC, Eschliman noted that the Newton Daily News was aware of his personal blog and never asked him to stop writing on it.
“He expressed an opinion on his personal blog that in no way reflects the opinion of the Newton Daily News or Shaw Media. While he is entitled to his opinion, his public airing of it compromised the reputation of this newspaper and his ability to lead it,” a company spokesman was quoted as saying.
If the dispute is resolved in Eschliman’s favor, the EEOC could possibly order the company to compensate him with back pay, future pay and exemplary damages.
