Chick-Fil-A Gay Basher?

[NORM]

This issue has really heated up, and I'm more surprised and appalled at the behavior of Chick-fil-A defenders than in the man at the center of the controversy, Dan Cathy.

 

Here is the article from which the controversy arose:

 

http://www.bpnews.ne...ws.asp?ID=38271

 

And here is the damning quote:

 

Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

 

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

 

Of course, we all know that "traditional family values" is conservative, evangelical-speak for "marriage is for Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."

 

But, does the above quote rise to the level of gay-bashing as some contend? Or, is this much ado over nothing?

 

As far as I know, Chick-fil-A does not discriminate against gays when it comes to hiring or in its service to patrons. Does Cathy support anti-gay organizations? Probably. He IS a member of a Baptist church in the south.

 

I don't know who fired the first shot, but irregardless, Chick-fil-A and its "supporters" stand at loggerheads with the GLBT community and its supporters, of whom I count myself as a member.

 

Mike Huckabee, a Fox News talkie, decided to make defense of factory-farm chickens 4Jesus a moral battlefield in the Conservative war against Progressives, Gays and their ilk (i.e.; Democrats).

 

Consequently, I've witnessed nearly all of my Christian friends post photos of greasy chicken buckets and waffle fries on their Facebook pages, and Dan Cathy has been suddenly thrust into the Conservative Hall of Fame as a defender of freedom of speech!

 

What?

 

Freedom of speech?

 

I thought this was all about traditional family values?

 

I'm confused.

 

I am also curious. How do my PC friends respond to this issue? Did you go to Chick-Fil-A on August 1st? Did you kiss a member of your own sex on August 2nd?

 

Or, did you, like me, enjoy a garden-crisp salad of field greens, romaine lettuce and grilled, free-range, non-antibiotic-laced chicken breast instead?

 

NORM

[Neon Genesis]

I don't understand why this suddenly became a hot button issue in American politics. It's not like we didn't know for decades already that Chickfila thought gays were evil. You know that all of Europe is laughing at us.

[Yvonne]

Neon,I agree with your sentiments exactly. and I definitely think this is much ado about nothing. It seems the American Way is to be overly-sensitive and reactive to the point of ridiculousness!

 

I think sometimes the LGBT community gets just a bit touchy, like some women's groups, or any "minority" group. I understand that the fight for acceptance and equality can cause people to be sensitive to perceived threats. But really, who cares if the owners are still married to their first wives and love their famillies? It would be different if they had offensive names for specials or refused service or whatever. I think this whole thing is rather silly.

[minsocal]

Never underestimate the negative effect of being made the scapegoat. The consequences are well documented. This became a hotbuttton in Americn politics because scapegoating has been used for thousands of years. Jesus reached out to what population? Those in power? I don't think so.

[Neon Genesis]

 

 

I think sometimes the LGBT community gets just a bit touchy, like some women's groups, or any "minority" group. I understand that the fight for acceptance and equality can cause people to be sensitive to perceived threats. But really, who cares if the owners are still married to their first wives and love their famillies? It would be different if they had offensive names for specials or refused service or whatever. I think this whole thing is rather silly.

From my reading of various gay blogs, the LGBT community doesn't seem to care one way or the other about the issue. This is more of something that's been blown up by the media, a couple of overzealous heterosexual male mayors, and paranoid right wing Christians getting their panties in a knot.

[minsocal]

From my reading of various gay blogs, the LGBT community doesn't seem to care one way or the other about the issue. This is more of something that's been blown up by the media, a couple of overzealous heterosexual male mayors, and paranoid right wing Christians getting their panties in a knot.

 

Yes, drama has made it's way into the heterosexual community. Reason sometimes reverses the course of change.

[NORM]

It grieves me that Christians seem to be leading the "cause" of defending marriage. And how is this defense mounted? Why, by demonizing gay couples and denying them the right to marry the person of his or her dreams.

 

How does this defend marriage? By denying a group of committed couples the institute of marriage, are they not subverting their own purported cause?

 

They say they are supporting Biblical marriage.

 

I think they are thinking of some other Bible, because from what I've learned, marriage between ONE man and ONE wife is hardly the norm.

 

1. Arranged marriages are the standard. Also, cross-ethnic marriages were forbidden for large chunks of biblical history. Genesis 2:24

 

2. If a woman was “married” and infertile, she could give her property; her slave, to her husband as a wife. The most famous examples are Abraham, Genesis 16:1-6, and Jacob, Genesis 30:4-5. A futuristic horror novel was based on this theme in The Handmaiden's Tale, where fundamentalist Christians (shudder) rule the world.

 

3. A slave owner (slavery was also the "norm" in the Biblical world) could order a female slave to “marry” a male slave without any input from the female. The consummation of this “union” usually involved rape. Exodus 21:4

 

4. If a man raped a woman and she wasn’t married, she would be forced to marry him. A man could rape any woman that he liked and they would be considered married. Deuteronomy 22:28-29

 

5. Women become the property of the victors of war. Female captives were forced to submit to their male captors, usually by force. Deuteronomy 21:11-14 and Numbers 31:1-18

 

6. When a woman was widowed without a son, it became the responsibility of the brother-in-law or a close male relative to take her in and impregnate her. If the resulting child was a son, he would be considered the heir of her late husband. Genesis 38:6-10

 

Those are just a few of the examples I could find in a 20 minute search.

 

So much for "family values" found in the Bible.

 

NORM

[Neon Genesis]

 

 

Consequently, I've witnessed nearly all of my Christian friends post photos of greasy chicken buckets and waffle fries on their Facebook pages, and Dan Cathy has been suddenly thrust into the Conservative Hall of Fame as a defender of freedom of speech!

 

What?

 

Freedom of speech?

 

I thought this was all about traditional family values?

 

I'm confused.

 

I am also curious. How do my PC friends respond to this issue? Did you go to Chick-Fil-A on August 1st? Did you kiss a member of your own sex on August 2nd?

 

Or, did you, like me, enjoy a garden-crisp salad of field greens, romaine lettuce and grilled, free-range, non-antibiotic-laced chicken breast instead?

 

NORM

The free speech protest is in response to a mayor that threatened to ban Chickfila from their city because the CEO was opposed to gay marriage. The mayor later apologized for saying that but that doesn't seem to stop the Religious Right from dragging this out forever. I sincerely doubt that most of the Christians in the protesting actually know what the situation is about. They just know it has something to do with evil gays, Huckabee, and freedomz.

[NORM]

The free speech protest is in response to a mayor that threatened to ban Chickfila from their city because the CEO was opposed to gay marriage.

 

Yes, further investigation on my part did reveal this. Sadly, it was, in my opinion, an overreaction that probably doesn't help advance the GLBT community's fight for equal rights.

 

The mayor later apologized for saying that but that doesn't seem to stop the Religious Right from dragging this out forever. I sincerely doubt that most of the Christians in the protesting actually know what the situation is about. They just know it has something to do with evil gays, Huckabee, and freedomz.

 

That's good that he apologized. He should.

 

I think the whole Chick-Fil-A thing was an embarrassment for the Christian community.

 

Here's an article written by a sane, rational, Christian - just so we don't generalize that ALL evangelical Christians were stuffing factory-fed, deep-fried chicken down their gullets:

 

http://matthewpaultu...iled-yesterday/

 

NORM

[minsocal]

Yes, further investigation on my part did reveal this. Sadly, it was, in my opinion, an overreaction that probably doesn't help advance the GLBT community's fight for equal rights.

 

 

 

That's good that he apologized. He should.

 

I think the whole Chick-Fil-A thing was an embarrassment for the Christian community.

 

Here's an article written by a sane, rational, Christian - just so we don't generalize that ALL evangelical Christians were stuffing factory-fed, deep-fried chicken down their gullets:

 

http://matthewpaultu...iled-yesterday/

 

NORM

 

We await your fullest investigation, as always.