Friday, July 27, 2012

The Chicken Debacle...

When I heard about the Chick-Fil-A boycott I didn't actually have a problem with.  I read the quote and thought that the whole thing was blown out of proportion, but people can spend their money where they see fit, and since I boycott quite a few companies, I can understand where Chick-Fil-A boycotters are coming from.

Then local governments decided to embrace the roll of thought police and things started to get a little bit scary (okay, a lot scary).

Before I get into this any further let me go back over what exactly happened to cause this whole uproar, just in case anyone missed it.  Chick-Fil-A's President, Dan Cathy, said this in an interview with the Baptist Press earlier in the week:
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit....We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized. “We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
That's the quote that launched a thousand news articles decrying the bigotry and homophobia of Chick-Fil-A, which left some wishing cancer on anyone who dared step through one of their restaurants' doors.  


Apparently Mr. Cathy missed the mark when he said that we thankfully live in a country where they can believe something and operate on biblical principles, which include being closed on Sundays and supporting a scholarship program, foster care, and a conference and retreat center.  


Now let's be clear: Chick-Fil-A doesn't discriminate in hiring or in service, which is what you might believe if you read some of the articles circulating around out there, which is a conclusion one could reach if they took Cathy's words out of context and did some major twisting.  


So that's why I was baffled when I began to see press articles about cities like Boston and Chicago vowing to keep Chick-Fil-A from opening new stores.

What would happen if a city with a conservative majority decided to ban a Starbuck's or a JCPenny's from opening their doors because those businesses "didn't reflect the city' values"?

And let's think about what's happened in every. single. state. that has opened up this issue in a referendum: the majority of people have, over and over again, said that they support the traditional model of marriage.  Which means that if we're going to play the "if you don't think like I do" game, and institute it across the board, we're going to have to shut down half the businesses in our nation.

I'll admit that I generally avoid this topic, because I know that there's a very good chance that anything i say on the topic will be twisted a misunderstood by those who don't understand that someone can believe that an act is wrong, and still love the person who did that act.  JoAnna summed up the way many pro-traditional-marriage supporters feel at the moment, very well, in this post.  And for those who are truly curious on what many of us believe, Jennifer Fulwiler's article a few weeks back gave one of the best explanations  that I've ever seen.   


I do wonder how many of those who boycott Chick-Fil-A would consider expanding the ban to other organizations that are less then friendly to their beliefs.  A Chick-Fil-A boycott is rather easy.  Other boycotts are more difficult to stick to:






And for the most excellent post I've seen on this whole debacle, click here.  

10 comments:

  1. Good post. The "martyrdom" of Christians in this country continues and it is very sad. We no longer have freedom of religion or freedom of speech for that matter. Why, me following Biblical principles and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church makes me a "hater" of anyone is beyond me. I do my best to love as I am called to do as a Christian. That being said, we are called to "love the sinner, but hate the sin." I am SO tired of being called a bigot or intolerant. It is those who are name-calling at me, who are intolerant, I'm afraid. They are intolerant of my beliefs, my Christian beliefs, that millions have fought and died for my right to express and believe. The closemindedness of those who espouse the beliefs of "my opinion is the only right one" is astounding. And, even more astounding is the fear in the media and in politicians of standing up to it. Very, very sad. We need to pray. God bless, Lisa

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  2. I think we know who the "haters" are here... and it's not Mr. Cathy.

    How holding to the "traditional" view of marriage, which, until a few years back was considered the ONLY view of marriage by virtually everyone, and by every major religion, is "bigoted" or "hate filled" is beyond me. We are facing an aggressive, bullying juggernaut in the radical gay movement; sadly many people have bought into their lies, fearful that they will be regarded as "intolerant" or "backward".

    I, for one, will be eating LOTS of Chick-Fil-A.

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  3. I'm actually inclined to agree, both on the general point, and in this specific instance. The OPEC line was particularly witty.

    I'm probably going to do a full-scale post on this topic soon, since food week fell apart again. I swear, announcing food week in advance is the surest way to prevent from having to do food week.

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  4. I have no reason to boycott CFA since 1) I don't eat fast food and 2) there's none in my area. Which leads to 3) any "boycott" I decided to participate in would be total slacktivism. I'd love to see a city try to ban Starbucks or JCPenney's because the CEO's politics didn't reflect their values. Would it happen? I kinda doubt it but then again, if cities can keep Walmart out then by all means why not? Though there was a Seattle-area church that openly boycotted Microsoft a few years ago, in hopes of getting them to change their pro-gay rights policies. Let Chick-Fil-A run its business however it wants (within whatever federal guidelines we already have in place) and let the market decide.

    That said, I also draw a distinction between civil marriage and religious marriage. I support the Church's right to decide who may and may not get married by them. There are still Protestant churches which refuse (and may legally do so) to marry interracial couples, and you know what? That's fine by me too. I really love how Conversion Diary explains the Catholic stance and the Catholic concept of Natural Law.

    However, I draw the line when the restrictions of a religious marriage are placed on the civil ceremony.

    A same-sex couple should have the same right (IMO) to be married in City Hall as an opposite-sex one. Leaving something like that up to the states doesn't seem right to be because I do view that as a civil right, and if we'd left things like segregation up to individual states there would likely still be Jim Crow laws on the books in some states. And legally...well, should a couple who have been loving and devoted to each other for nearly three decades (as Sally Ride and her partner were) not receive the same legal rights as two people who meet, marry quickly in Vegas and divorce three months receive?

    I don't like radicalism in any form, but...I get it. When people feel like their rights are being impinged on and when they have been direct targets of violence based on their identity, there is a tendency to respond with the same anger. When those threats of violence come from people who identify with a particular group or religion, a natural response is to be suspicious or even bigoted in turn towards people who also identify with that group.

    I also love this quote from the Star of Hope link: "I think all human beings have inherent worth, dignity, and value, regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or any other characteristic. Any unjust discrimination in their regard is to be avoided." I want to put this on a banner and fly it across the state. Or at least put "all human beings have inherent worth, dignity and value" on t-shirt. It sums up so many of my beliefs so neatly.

    Sorry it ran so long! I get all rambly when it comes to GLBT issues.

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  5. I think this whole thing is crazy. Leftist liberals spread this like wildfire and most people are quick to perceive Christians as homophobics. I like your point about Penney's and such. I don't see people wanting to ban other stores for promoting their core values. Actually a small group (One million moms) did try to boycott Penny's but it was unsuccessful because most Christians are not bigots.

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  6. Actually, the boycott against Penney's is succeeding. Their stock has been reduced to junk status and their sales are way down. Their business is failing.

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  7. Okay- so I have an odd question, what is the "O" from in the coexist image you have? We just can't figure it out!

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  8. Oh, and I love your quote about OPEC. I would like to see the U.S. become less dependent on oil/gasoline so we can stop giving our money to countries that don't embrace values of equality.

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