I will happily admit to being uncomfortable about the manner in which the Thorburn matter was handled.

But I do find it a little disingenuous that those who wish to via their faith discriminate against someone who is homosexual then bemoans the fact that they themselves get discriminated against because they are discriminatory.

Personal freedom from discrimination shouldn't be freedom to discriminate against others.

This also is another case of democracy via the wallet which is an interesting phenomena in itself.

Hi Foxy

I agree it may have been better to wait and allow him to be judged on his leadership not his faith. However, as I understand it, this was not open to him – he was given an ultimatum to resign either from his church position or his Essendon position. I don’t think that was fair or reasonable.

Hi Rhian,

Thorburn was appointed to the role on Monday but he resigned
on Tuesday afternoon after sermons by the City on a Hill
church of which he is chairman were made public.

The AFL Club on Tuesday said Thorburn, despite not holding
the same personal views as his church, felt he could NOT
serve in both roles and he offered his resignation.

He made that choice.

The rest is an attention grabbing storm in a tea-cup.
The decision was made by Thorburn not the AFL Club for
Thorburn to resign. He made the decision. He needs to wear it.

Hi Foxy

Yes, he made that choice, but it was in response to an ultimatum from the Essendon board and president David Barham.

"The board made clear that, despite these not being views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally and that were also made prior to him taking up his role as chairman, he couldn't continue to serve in his dual roles at the Essendon Football Club and as chairman of City on the Hill," Mr Barham said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-04/essendon-ceo-andrew-thorburn-church-homophobic-resigns/101499074

It was not Thorburn who felt the two roles were incompatible, but the Essendon board

Very many Christian churches have an official position that homosexual acts are sinful, though many members of those churches disagree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominational_positions_on_homosexuality

For example, Australia’s largest denomination, the Roman Catholic church, holds that homosexual activity is a mortal sin against chastity. Does that mean that a person who holds a lay office in the Catholic church is unsuitable to hold a position such as Essendon CEO?

Hi Rhian,

Why did they offer the job to him in the first place
if that was the case as you say? And why did he accept
and then resign?

To me it just does not add up.