Christian Man Who Harassed Bikini Wearing Women at Beach Gets Fired

Religious discrimination or fair call?

If you’re not following along with the unfortunate tale of Logan Dorn, you really need to get across this story.

It’s fascinating.

Logan Dorn was the Christian man who confronted and harassed a group of young bikini-clad girls at a beach, comparing their bathing suits to “pornography.” Unfortunately for Logan Dorn, one of the girls filmed the whole exchange and posted it on Tiktok, and it went viral.

In case you missed it, here it is:

The response to this video was swift and brutal. In fact, I’ve already written about it once this week, but as long as the story keeps developing, I’m going to keep on writing about it. And the latest development definitely deserves some commentary.

Logan Dorn is fired

Dorn says that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, a sense of righteous anger, and a desire to protect the eyes of his young sons, but much of the rest of the world didn’t see it that way, including his own employer — a Christian construction company called “Mighty Hand.” In fact, as a result of his actions, Dorn was fired from his job.

On its Facebook page, “Mighty Hand,” made this statement:

“Today information was brought to our attention that one of our employees, Logan Dorn, was accused of harassing a group of individuals over the weekend in Northern Colorado. We began an investigation this morning which has resulted in the immediate termination of Mr. Dorn.

“Mighty Hand Construction does not condone Logan’s behavior in the videos, nor do his actions reflect our values as a company. Mighty Hand strives to be a place of business where all are treated with utmost respect and acceptance, and actions by our employees which go against those values will not be tolerated.”

And so, Logan Dorn was asked to clean out his desk.

Is this religious discrimination?

There is already some commentary flying around about how Logan Dorn’s sacking is an attack on religious freedom. So, I took the liberty of looking up the definition of “Religious Discrimination,” according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

They define religious discrimination thus: When you are treated differently because of your religion or belief, or lack of religion or belief.

So, the question to ask is this: “If a non-Christian man had confronted some young girls at a beach and told them their bikinis were pornographic, would he be treated differently by his employer than how Logan Dorn has been treated by his?”

The answer is no.

If a non-Christian had done what Logan Dorn has done, he would probably be sacked just the same. You can’t play the religious discrimination card if you were sacked for being a jerk.

What about freedom of speech?

There are some that view what has happened to Logan Dorn as an assault on freedom of speech. Those in this camp believe that Christians ought to be able to say whatever the heck they like to people, even if it’s offensive.

And they are — within reason.

But they aren’t free from the consequences of their words. You can tell people they will go to hell if you want to, but don’t expect that to elicit a positive response. You can judge a person’s behavior and speech if you want as long as you’re okay with people responding in kind.

Freedom of speech is not the same thing as freedom to say what you want without consequence.

The Christian martyr complex

Unfortunately, there are Christians who believe that when they get attacked for saying stupid and insensitive things, it’s actually some kind of sign to them that Jesus is ‘on their side’ (as if Jesus even takes sides). They adopt a martyr complex and believe their persecution is the result of righteousness rather than stupidity. “The gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing,” they say, quoting their favorite cherry-picked scripture. “Besides, if they persecuted Jesus, then they will persecute those who follow him.”

The problem with this view is that it makes a few conclusions that aren’t necessarily true. Firstly, Dorn assumes that his message is equal with or equivalent to what Jesus might say. For Dorn to claim that the Holy Spirit inspired him is certainly evidence of the fact. But while Jesus was most certainly persecuted unfairly, for anyone to claim that the same is happening to Dorn is to claim that Dorn’s words are both as innocent and as true as those of Jesus. Could such a case be mounted for Dorn’s bikini hating? I don’t think so.

Secondly, it assumes that what Logan Dorn was saying is “gospel.” Let’s be clear, whether or not a person wears a bikini or not is in no way connected to the gospel. It doesn’t have anything to do with the “gospel.” The gospel — according to staunch evangelicals — is the idea that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our actions. So, it follows that if we are not saved by our actions, neither are we condemned by them so long as we have saving faith. Or, to put it in its simplest terms, as St Augustine said, “Love God and do what you please.”

Therefore, what we wear has nothing to do with our acceptability to God.

How we treat others seems to matter more.

It may or may not be true, but is it loving?

And so whether what Dorn says to these girls is true or not (and I think it’s not), there is a bigger question at play. Is what Logan Dorn did loving? The answer is no. There is no way that confronting a group of people like this is loving. So, when Logan Dorn says to these girls by way of justifying his actions, “I’m just giving you the truth,” he is both claiming the authority of God (who is the only one who really knows the truth) and using his ‘truth’ as an excuse to be unloving.

Dorn is no martyr.

Hey, I’m all for delivering hard truths. In fact, I think that Christ requires that we do that. We are supposed to raise our voices against injustice. We are supposed to speak up for the oppressed. We are supposed to confront corrupt systems. (Maybe this is why Jesus attacked the religious powerbrokers of his day?). But the Bible is clear that whenever we are required to deliver a hard truth, it must be done in the most loving way possible.

Christians are happy to throw their own under the bus

But let me be honest with you. I’m feeling conflicted by this turn of events. On the one hand, I absolutely condemn Logan Dorn’s actions, but on the other hand, this guy has a wife and kids, and now he’s unemployed — mercilessly turfed out by his Christian employer what is more.

Unfortunately, I have learned over the years that often, people of faith are the most inclined to throw their own under the bus. It’s sad, but that’s my experience.

You would think that the ‘Christian’ company that Dorn works for would be gracious enough to use this as an opportunity to educate their wayward brother. You would think that they could win him over with loving discipline where mercy is shown, and Dorn is admonished, “Now go and sin no more.” You would think that an older, wiser Christian could have placed their hand on Dorn’s shoulder and said, “What you did was foolish. But I still love you. Now don’t do it again.”

But no.

They kick him out. They end their association with him. They publicly humiliated him even more than he has managed to humiliate himself. They meekly surrender to the social media-fueled outrage culture that sweeps up all before it.

The sad end to this sorry story

If you believe all you read on social and mainstream media, this story unfolded about a week ago.

In reality, this is a story decades in the making.

You see, Logan Dorn behaved the way he did because he was taught certain things as inarguable, Biblical truth from a very young age. He was made to believe that it was his spiritual obligation to correct people he believes are in error — even if that meant confrontation. In fact, he was told that it was loving to do that. He was also taught that he has the answers that all of humanity needs. Above all, he was taught that women somehow ought to bear the burden of protecting men from mens’ own propensity towards sexual sin — a ridiculous notion.

So, while Logan Dorn made a stupid mistake, the church system he is part of set him up for the failure. He is a monster of their making.

So, it’s abhorrent that Logan Dorn should treat a group of young women on the beach like this.

And it’s abhorrent that his ‘Christian’ employer should now abandon him.

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