So, Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A is not a fan
of same-sex marriage. This isn't big news at this point, everyone
has heard about it and most have voiced their “opinions”,
normally in the form of re-hashed and re-posted pictures filling up social media feeds. Did you notice that the word “opinions” was in
quotes? Good, it'll make more sense in a moment.
We (the vast majority of the people
who will read my lowly little blog) live in the United States of
America. While the majority of people complain about our government
we tend to crowd around our patriotism a few times during the year
whenever there's a possibility of fireworks and/or cook outs. It seems that a lot of people have forgotten what privileges being
American grants us, all the while using these same privileges to
their fullest.
Now, you do not have to agree with me
on any of this. It won't hurt my feelings if you take nothing away
from this blog beyond the fact that I enjoy run on sentences, I'm not
very good with punctuation, and that I'm mouthy. But at least hear
me out.
First off, I would like to say that I
do support gay marriage. I also, however, support the first
amendment'. You know, the one that says that we, as Americans, have
freedom of speech and religion. This means that while I don't agree
with Mr. Cathy's stance on same-sex marriage, I will not fault him
for his beliefs and opinions. So while I see everyday people
preaching about Chick-fil-A's intolerance they need to remember that
the first amendment is a two way street. You have to tolerate other
people's opinions and religious beliefs just like they're expected to
tolerate yours.
Yep, that's George Washington, one of
our Founding Fathers, facepalming at all of this.
I was surprised when the mayor of Boston sent Mr. Cathy a letter requesting that he not bring his restaurant into Boston because of their conflicting beliefs. I was also surprised by the scathing Twitter updates from the Mayor of San Francisco stating that the restaurant chain could stay away from his town as well.
I found it odd that Mr. Cathy would come out
and directly say that he was opposed to same-sex marriage. I mean,
what does that have to do with chicken and cows that can't spell?
The only thing he actually said, in a nutshell, was that he believed
and supported the idea of traditional family in the biblical sense.
While he never came out and said “and by traditional I mean not
gay”, I guess he really didn't need to, it was pretty self evident.
This really shouldn't come as a shock coming from a company that is
closed on Sundays, Easter and Christmas. The company has since
issued a statement acknowledging that they should leave the “policy
debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
However, they are still an Equal
Opportunity Employer. They will not deny a customer service due to
their sexual orientation. They do not have LGBT torture chambers in
the back of their restaurants with trails of glitter and chicken
nuggets leading back to them.
But if they did, I bet they'd use these
little guys right here for the nuggets.
I see so many people insisting that
the company change their views. They're a privately owned business.
If this is their view, than whether we like it or not, it's their
right to have it.
However, don't think that this means
that I'm going to run out and buy myself a chicken sandwich. If
you're going to boycott Chick-fil-A, understand why you should. It's
not just because the CEO doesn't agree with your opinion and/or
lifestyle.
Chick-fil-A owns an organization
entitled the Winshape Foundation. It is also privately owned, so
again, it's their own business. However, this foundation donates to
and supports many organizations that are anti-gay. While this still
touches base on my first amendment stance, some of these
organizations are pretty extreme.
Focus on Family has made a lot of waves
in their attempt at stopping same-sex marriage. They're also affiliated
with Exodus International which believes that with mental health
counseling they can make people “ex-gay”. This hasn't gone very
well for them. One of their very founders and a ministry leader both
left the group to be with one another. A chairman was caught in a
gay bar flirting with men, he was photographed and all. Hmm, on
second thought, if their own leaders can't stay “ex-gay” then I'm
not certain if I can really take them as a serious threat.
The Winshape Foundation also donates to
the Family Research Council which villainizes homosexuals as
pedophiles and sexual offenders. They're against removing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy
because this will encourage the molestation of heterosexual service
members. They also want to outlaw homosexuality and that “criminal
sanctions against homosexual behaviors” should be enforced. This
organization distorts and misrepresents actual scientific research
and spreads general slander.
These are only two … or perhaps by
default three, organizations out of the many that Chick-fil-A
supports. However these are the ones that actually bother me the
most. These are the ones that are extremists and have actually set
out to not only abolish same-sex marriage, and in some cases make
homosexuality a criminal act. I won't eat at Chick-fil-A because I
don't want my money to fund these organizations in any way shape or
form. But I will not stop my husband from eating there and I won't
fault you for eating there, either.
So, if you want to boycott Chick-fil-A
then I would recommend asking yourself “why?”. Is it because you
have taken the time to research the company and you do not want to
fund these organizations, or is it just because you're being
intolerant to someone with differing opinions and religious beliefs
of your own?
'(While I understand that the first amendment protects us from government inhibition, it's this protection by the government that allows us to live in a country where people can believe that God is a woman or an alien and people can openly slander the president without worrying about the government kicking down our doors and dragging them into the streets for blasphemy and contempt. While I suppose this blog should be more directed at intolerant people demanding tolerance, I seem to want to use the first amendment as a reference since to have your own beliefs and have the freedom to voice them is something that our country was founded on. You can't sue your neighbor for being hateful and cruel towards you if you both don't agree on a political or religious matter based alone on the first amendment, but you can bet you have the right to post anti-Obama propaganda all over the internet or wear a Kippah or a Niqab as your religious beliefs dictate.)
(I'm going to be honest with you, if I get a nasty, hate-filled comment on this, I'll just delete it. If I get a comment filled with biblical references as to why same-sex marriage is wrong, I'll just delete it as well. While I am an advocate for the first amendment, hate-filled comments are a waste of energy on both of our parts and trying to persuade me [or hell, yourself, I don't know] about why the bible says it's wrong has nothing to do with the point of this blog and if you don't understand that then you've just wasted your time reading this.)
