PASADENA >> A city investigation into Public Health Director Dr. Eric Walsh will focus on whether his religious views about homosexuals, Muslims and other groups have influenced his performance as a city employee.
...He said the inquiry will involve review of Walsh’s online sermons as a Seventh-day Adventist preacher as well as speaking with staff about his performance.
“The issue here is not necessarily what he’s done on his personal time, it’s whether there’s an impact associated with those activities and his employment,” Beck said. “People have a right to their opinion and they have a constitutional right to express it.”
Walsh has been placed on paid administrative leave. ...Walsh drew criticism last week after a series of recorded sermons surfaced online in which he preaches religious views that condemn gays, Muslims and Catholics, decries Darwin’s Theory of Evolution as a satanic belief, and calls pop culture icons like Oprah and Jay-Z examples of the spirit of the anti-Christ.
...In contrast to his statements at the pulpit, at public events Walsh has spoken about the negative effects of discrimination and has championed progressive causes at the Public Health Department, including opening the state’s first city-run dental clinic for HIV patients.
The recordings, most of which were made before Walsh came to Pasadena in 2010, floated to the surface after Walsh was chosen to be the commencement speaker for Pasadena City College. ...
Beck said he was not aware of Walsh’s religious speeches in 2010 when he was tapped for the job by a secret selection committee. He said during the vetting process a background check was peformed on Walsh but the videos did not turn up.
Walsh’s statements and the city’s decision to investigate him have polarized the Pasadena community as a freedom of speech issue.
...Brent Musson, spokesman for Altadena Seventh-day Adventist Church where Walsh is associate pastor, said the sentiments reported in Walsh’s sermon videos are not consistent with Walsh’s sermons at the Altadena church. He said he thinks Walsh’s views have been “distorted,” though he said he has listened to none of the audio recordings in question.
Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints Church, where Walsh has given many speeches including on the harmful effects of discrimination, called Walsh’s religious sermons “heartbreaking” and said he was struggling with the “cognitive dissonance” of Walsh’s work in public health.
“I’m a huge proponent of the First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom of religion are essential to American democracy. I think the issue has to be impact and when you are expressing hate speech as religious leader that’s one thing but when you are expressing hate speech as a public servant and a representative of the people, that’s a different thing,” Bacon said. “And in Dr. Walsh’s case you can’t divide the two, he is one person and his job is to promote public health in the city of Pasadena and the health impacts of bigotry are horrendous.”
