Essendon: Church deletes Holocaust reference in abortion sermon
The spectacular exit of Andrew Thorburn from his job at Essendon after just 24 hours has taken another turn.
The church at the centre of the Essendon chief executive scandal has taken down the comments that cost Andrew Thorburn his job.
The City on a Hill Church website has removed a sentence that compared abortion to Holocaust concentration camps.
Mr Thorburn quit his job at Essendon, which was due to pay him more than $850,000 a year.
He was forced to choose between running the club he had supported since he was a child, or sticking with his church.
But the removal of the comments that caused shockwaves at Tullamarine has shed new light on the issue.
Herald Sun journalist Sam Landsberger, who broke the story, took a screenshot of the City on a Hill website on Monday.
The text of a 2013 sermon about abortion on the site read: “Whereas today we look back at concentration camps, future generations will look back with sadness at the legal murder of hundreds of thousands (sic) human beings every day through medicine in the name of freedom.”
A screenshot of the same sermon on the website done on Thursday revealed the sentence has been removed.
Jewish groups had slammed the comparison of abortion with concentration camps, which was part of a campaign that killed up to six million people during World War II, as “shameful”.
However, Mr Thorburn said in a second statement this week that his departure from Essendon raised questions about religious freedom.
“It is troubling that faith or association with a church, mosque, synagogue or temple could render a person immediately unsuited to holding a particular role,” he said.
“That is a dangerous idea, one that will only reduce tolerance for others and diversity of thought and participation in our community and workplaces.”
Mr Thorburn added that “people can hold different views on complex personal and moral matters while being able to live and work together respectfully and harmoniously.”
The City on a Hill Church posted a confirmation that it had deleted a section of a sermon that compared abortion to the Holocaust.
“This summary was edited on Oct 4 by removing a poorly worded reference to concentration camps that we sincerely apologise for. Note: the sermon video retains this reference,” the church’s website said.
Essendon has been in crisis with Mr Thorburn’s departure after just 24 hours in the job.
It comes after previous chief executive Xavier Campbell, who was reportedly paid $850,000 a year, also departed.
The club dumped Ben Rutten before a search for a new coach, which settled on Brad Scott.
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