Cathy’s comments sparked a political firestorm across the country, but Chick-fil-A’s political activities and beliefs are no secret to anyone. It was only a matter of time before they erupted, and now they are embroiled in a controversy that shows no signs of ebbing.
The controversy began when Cathy expanded on prior comments about the fast food chain’s prominent social beliefs in a recent interview on an Atlanta radio program.
“I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’”
Yikes.
Whether or not you agree with its stance, the fast food chain has brought this controversy on itself. Chick-fil-A has had a longstanding opposition to LGBT rights, and over the years the Cathy family, its WinShape Foundation and other associates have donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups such as Exodus International, Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council. Yes, that’s right, Exodus International, which is “Proclaiming Freedom from Homosexuality since 1976.”
Isn’t it nice to know that a portion of the money you’re spending on waffle fries is going to fund efforts to “pray the gay away?”
Emotions are running high in this ongoing story of bigotry, homophobia and regressive thinking, but here’s where the story gets sticky. I applaud the Jim Henson Company for severing its ties with the fast food giant complete with a healthy dose of embarrassment, and I support those who are actively protesting and boycotting Chick-fil-A. But when city officials in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco attempt to actively bar the chain from opening stores, I can’t agree.
From foxnews.com: “The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words,” said Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “When an alderman refuses to allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint the government disagrees with, the government is practicing viewpoint discrimination. What the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words.”
Chick-fil-A may be a deep-fried hate group disguised as a restaurant financed by the dollars of unsuspecting lunch-goers, but the ACLU is correct. It’s not the government’s place to intervene in this manner.
It’s improper, and if anything, it lessens the impact of Chick-fil-A’s opponents. Let the free market do its job. If you feel that strongly about the restaurant chain’s actions and beliefs, then get up, get organized and get active. Organize protests, or pass out fliers. Should you really be eating fast food anyway? Forget the chicken sandwiches and French fries, go to the market and buy this weird thing called a fresh vegetable.
Once upon a time, dinner came on a plate and not in a bag. Do you truly want to strengthen the family unit here in America? Shut off the television, put away the iPad and actually cook dinner with your children. Bring them into the kitchen and interact with them. Sit across the table and have a conversation with your spouse and your loved ones and stop worrying about the lesbians who live two streets over. I can almost guarantee you they are spending less time worrying about your marriage then you are about theirs.
Chick-fil-A deserves to be maligned, and I hope it doesn’t stop until its owners stop funding hate. Yes, they have the same freedom of speech we all enjoy, and their supporters are right when they point this out. But, I suspect if Chick-fil-A was giving money to the American Socialist Party or the Earth Liberation Front, windbags such as Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee wouldn’t be championing their constitutional right to freedom of expression.
Chick-fil-A may work to deny the LGBT community the rights they deserve, but do not sink to their trans-fatty level. No matter how repellant, the Cathy family has the right to be bigoted hatemongers, but they also have the right to operate restaurants. What they don’t have the right to is success at the expense of others’ freedom. It’s time to start voting with your dollars, folks. They won’t listen to anything else.
Sean Cary is a local business owner, freelance writer, host of Nevada Matters heard on Fox News Radio (www.nevadamatters.us) and pundit on the television show “Nevada Newsmakers.” Contact him at sean@seancary.com and read his blog at www.seancary.com.
Chick-Fil-A's Brand Approval Rating Plummets After Anti-Gay Controversy: YouGov REPORT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/chick-fil-a-brand-approval-rating-anti-gay-controversy_n_1719359.html
It confuses me that a religious group would claim to be pro-family and yet many of the comments on this piece are bashing the author when he quite clearly states that one should spend more time with their family. An argument for argument sake?
And to those who are in support of hate: Believe in the myths of your book if you want, but only if you stand by all of it. Not just your favorite soundbites.
Don't tell me that homosexuality is unnatural when it occurs in nature. Marriage does not. You are not pro-American, you are not even pro-humanity.
In many primate bands when a new male takes over the band he kills all of the offspring under a certain age of the old alpha male. The function is for the females to be ready to conceive again so that the new male's genes can be passed on.
So by the reasoning in your last paragraph (Don't tell me that homosexuality is unnatural when it occurs in nature.) when a woman hooks up with a new boyfriend/husband it is ok for him to kill her children. He's got to pass his genes on. By killing the girlfriend's/wife's children there will be more resources for his offspring (genes) to be successfully spread.
There a a number of step-parents that assault the kids of the previous marriage.
thanks for supporting my second paragraph.
joann
To pillory a man for his traditional view on marriage and to have people threaten his business is a great showing liberal tolerance. The same tolerance shown by muslims.
Real Christians do not hate. Real Americans do not hate, but they wont stand for such drivel either.
Chick-fil-A does support murder of gays in Africa.
This depends on if you know the translation of the Bible and if you understand that hating an act is not the same as hating a person. Homosexuality is not a Civil Right. No one can tell if someone is Homosexual, until their actions show it. On the other hand Interracial Couples are discriminated against, because of the skin color and the act of superiority of those who think their skin color is superior to others. God is the same Yesterday Today and Forever and the act of Homosexuality is an Abomination, but I like Sean. I just had him on my radio program
Its disgusting how you all talk about going to Chick Fil-A on august 1st to show your appreciation for hatred in america and discrimination. Dont bash Sean cary either he is actually a great person who I have had the honor of working with at Fox News. Someone who actually voices their opinion and lets the world know the truth behind the bullshit the media feeds us every day.
You all just need to open your eyes to the bigger picture and stop giving your dollar to a company who promotes ignorance,stupidity and lack of morals.
Obviously, Americans do appreciate Chick-fil-A and Dan Cathy. Otherwise, it would not taste the success it has (no pun intended). Maybe Sean Cary is just uptight because he can't write a decent article. He's probably the first guy you'd see rushing into the McDonald's drive through too.
For Jewish writers of Scripture, a man sleeping with another man was an abomination. But it was also an abomination (and one worthy of death) to masturbate or even to interrupt coitus (to halt sex with your spouse before ejaculation as an act of birth control). Why were these sexual practices considered abominations by Scripture writers in these ancient times?
Because the Hebrew pre-scientific understanding was that the male semen contained the whole of life. With no knowledge of eggs and ovulation, it was assumed that the man’s sperm contained the whole child and that the woman provided only the incubating space. Therefore, the spilling of semen without possibility of having a child was considered murder.
The Jews were a small tribe struggling to populate a country. They were outnumbered by their enemy. You can see why these ancient people felt it was an abomination to risk “wasting” even a single child. But the passage says nothing about homosexuality as we understand it today.
I think your bias is showing ...
Oy...
People keep talking about what this country was 'founded' on. What it was founded on was rape, pillaging and genocide, or is it more convenient to forget that part? But it has changed; we are no more the people that started this nation than we are the people that lived in biblical times. We have EVOLVED. Or at least, some of them have.
The bible thumpers obviously didn't get the memo.