In case you’ve been living under a rock, Chick-Fil-A has been caught up in some controversy over the past few weeks. It all started when their chairman (who was giving an interview for a mainly Christian audience) said that he believed in biblical values and the Bible’s idea of marriage. Here’s what the Washington Times said about the controversy:
Quoting from the Bible was villainy compounded for liberals gagging on their celebrated tolerance, understanding and good will for all. The contretemps was fueled when Mr. Cathy, chairman of Chick-fil-A, gave an interview to Baptist Press, meant mostly for church folk, and was asked to explain the success of Chick-fil-A, a family business that has grown from a single diner in suburban Atlanta to a chain of 1,608 restaurants with annual sales of $4 billion. What he actually said, and how he said it, was lost in the din of outrage over what others, not so well-meaning, said he said.
I highly recommend this snarky article. Kudos to Wesley Pruden for his witty composition. He got to the main point of the matter, and that is: the real issue is freedom to have an opinion that’s different from someone else’s opinion – without threat. Dan Cathy wasn’t picking a fight with the gay crowd. He wasn’t even addressing them. He was making chicken, selling it, and honoring God for the profits his company is reaping.
What does chicken have to do with sexuality anyway? And why do people think it’s suddenly intolerant to be a Bible-believing, heterosexual, married, faithful man or woman?
I love that the people at Chick-Fil-A handed out cold water to protesters. Because it IS true that you can love people regardless of their being different! I love that they are living out their morality in a kind way even in the face of death threats and hate; serving chicken, closing down Sundays to allow their employees time to worship or spend with their families, and loving people that hate them. Nothing anti-American about any of that.
I went to Chic-Fil-A last week on the day that everyone showed their support – just like I had the week before – and the week before that (before the controversy started). We made sure to go for breakfast – since we were on a trip and didn’t want to get caught in the mile-long lines that filled parking lots and ended up shutting the stores down hours early (because they RAN OUT OF FOOD).
We got Chicken Minis and ate them on our way to Houston for the homeschool conference we were planning to attend. I love the Chicken Minis. If you love southern breakfast food – buttermilk biscuits, honey, and fried chicken (breast meat fried in peanut oil)… you can’t go wrong. Besides the little bit of MSG they use in the seasoning on the nuggets… of course. My only beef with Chick-Fil-A is that they use MSG in their seasoning and they don’t sell their breakfast all day long!
I love the clean cut folk they have working at Chick-Fil-A (that actually smile at you and act like they enjoy their job), the clean bathrooms, the yummy ‘Chickin’, and the fact that they haven’t bowed down to the minority public opinion (which seems to be popular with the current administration in Washington as well). Chick-Fil-A continues to stick to their morals, do business in as biblical of a fashion as they can, and God continues to bless them.
We always joke when we are in the busy DOUBLE LANE drive-thru that Carl’s Junior must be jealous because their drive-thru is always empty while Chick-Fil-A is packed. Seems that the “boycot” this past week ended up in a “buycot”.
It wasn’t just the food, or the lemonade (some of the best in the world), or even the marriage issue that made us go support this fast food giant. It was the fact that a majority of Americans are tired of being told that their morality is wrong – that their religion is a threat to society (the farthest thing from the truth) – that the minority should rule.
It was a silent protest against the chipping away of our freedom of speech. Even from the pulpit or the board room, Americans should have the right to speak openly about current events – politics included – and how they feel about them. We should have the freedom to run businesses and clubs (Boy Scouts?!) and hire the people that are most qualified (and even most like-minded if we choose). Even if that means not hiring someone that isn’t married, isn’t Asian, or doesn’t like sweet tea. I think the private sector should be private – and the government should butt their big fat noses out.
How about you? Are you fed up with the agenda? Fed up with minorities, corporate heads, and government telling you how to live your life and trying to re-define you as hateful? I know I am.
{ Freedom of speech means that we all have the right to disagree out loud. Christianity means that we should disagree in love and with civility. }
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Well said. Your last 2 sentences really sum it up! I am tired of being labeled as anything they deem fit because I disagree with what they believe. I think that the cities that are banning chick-fil-a because of their views would be publicly scorned if they were banning a company from opening if they had the opposite view to all this. If they banned a company for supporting the minority’s belief it would not be tolerated. How are they allowed to discriminate against any company- regardless of the beliefs? Chick-fil-a isn’t discriminating in how they operate- this is the owners personal opinion. When did we as a people start allowing our elected officials (who work for us btw) to tell us what is best for us? WE tell THEM what WE want- or at least that is how it’s supposed to go. This is not a dictatorship. Sadly, we don’t have a Chick-fil-a here for me to support & now I don’t think we ever will.
Nice post, Heather. I’m with you…
Heather,
I’m so tired of the gay society turning everything into a problem.
Since when does a lifestyle CHOICE give you the right to tell the world what to do and how to live?
They are so hypocritical and I think the CFA thing totally backfired on them.
They are tolerant ONLY of those who support them. Otherwise they are little snotty babies who throw a fit every time someone challenges what they believe in.
God Bless CFA and Mr. Cathy. I’m pretty sure he had a good day on Aug. 1st.
I love this post! I feel the same way. We have always loved CFA, because it is the cleanest, nicest and efficient place to go. The people there are always kind. Even during the lunch rush, they are so fast and efficient and keep smiles on their face. I love how they offer table toppers and little cups of Cheerios for babies. Those little details mean so much.
We supported CFA on the 1st and it was such a great experience. There were all kinds of people in line; white, black, old, young, etc. Everyone in line was so nice and I was truly shocked our CFA didn’t run out of food. I’m not sure how they did it, but they were as efficient as ever. I had to laugh to myself thinking about how different it would have been at a McDonald’s. LOL, they never get the order right. Can you imagine if the place was packed?
The problem is that Chick-Fil-A has ties to extreme anti-gay organizations and in a letter asked President Obama not to condemn Uganda’s impending legislation to put homosexuals in jail.
Recently, an activist decided to protest General Mills support of marriage equality by trying to torch a box of cereal, but ended up burning the grass on the company’s property.
What links to extreme anti-gay organizations? I haven’t ever even heard of an anti-gay organization. Do you have proof of this? What does a crazy person torching a cereal box have to do with Chick-Fil-A, anyway? I guess if we are bringing up random and unrelated hate crimes, we could define what a hate crime really is:
Peaceful boycotts are not hate crimes. Buycotts are not hate crimes. Burning flags or cereal boxes are not hate crimes, although, if his grass fire had torched their building, I don’t know…
The point is, it still should be ok to have a viewpoint that differs from someone else and be safe to voice it and practice it in your own life as long as you aren’t harming or threatening another person. If a Christian says they think gay acts are wrong, that doesn’t make them haters. It makes them different from a gay person. There’s no crime in that. You can say what you want and think what you want about other people – right or wrong. Our constitution affords you that right. Tolerance should be a two way street.
I am not saying that voicing an opposing viewpoint is a crime, but there is a point where an opinion can become hateful, such as stating that homosexuals are pedophiles or they ruin families. Replace sexual orientation with gender, race, religion or creed and you will understand what I mean.
The point is that such attitudes can lead to more violent and immoral actions such as the Sikh temple massacre in Wisconsin and Chick-Fil-A, which has seen its approval rating dropped, donating at least $5 million to groups that have supported the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda.
I hadn’t heard of the Uganda anti-gay bill, and where did you get the info about Chick-Fil-A donating to it? I differ from the opinions of a lot of staunch “Republican”, “Old Gaurd” types in that I am a believer in compassion. I think Jesus was, too. Even if I believe what the Bible says about sin, (and any sin is just as bad as the next), I don’t believe that homosexual acts between consenting adults should be punishable by death (in this side of eternity). I don’t get to make the rules in Heaven, and the Bible is clear about what God approves of, however, killing a child for stealing is wasting a chance at helping the child change and become better than their sin. It’s wasting the chance to share Jesus and love with the child to move them to rise above their past. I have done many things in my life that have deserved much worse punishment than I got. That’s mercy and grace. That’s what Jesus preached. That’s the savior I love.
I highly doubt that if Dan Cathy is truly a Christian, he would willingly give money to people that want to kill people for their belief system. That sounds more like a fanatical Islamist stance (sharia law) than a loving Christian stance.
“A man who is afraid of other people’s beliefs is not secure in his own.” (forgive me, I can’t remember who quoted that one, but it is very true)
Good post. We have been to Chick fil A about 4 times in the last week!!!
While Chick-Fil-A did not spent the money itself, it was Family Research Council, which receives donations from Chick-Fil-A, that spent $25,000 lobbying US congress (at bottom web page) against the condemnation of the Ugandan bill.
Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg was spoke to Chris Matthews, on MSNBC’s Hardball, about their opposition to the military lifting their ban on gay service members and when asked whether gay behaviour should be allowed, he said yes.
Dan Cathy may not agree with homosexuality, but does he support actions by those use his donations. That is why Jim Henson’s Creature Shop severed their relationship with Chick-Fil-A.