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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Chick-fil-a, Marriage, and an Open Letter From a Traditional Marriage Supporter.


"The diversity crowd has two fundamental tenets: the first is that they have an absolute commitment to free speech and second tenet is 'shut up'" - Pastor Douglas Wilson.
 

                 --------------------------------------------------

If you've been keeping up with what's current in the American culture war arena, then you've undoubtedly heard something about the controversy surrounding America's tenth most popular fast food chain, Chick-fil-a.

You may ask what is the cause of all the uproar surrounding the chicken chain, an uproar that has resulted in personal and corporate boycotts of the chain, charges of "hate", "bigotry", and "homophobia", as well as potential Chick-fil-a restaurants potentially being barred from cities like Boston and Chicago.

Well, look no further than CFA president and professing Christian Dan Cathy.

In speaking to the "Baptist Press", Cathy had this to say:

 "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. We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that"
  
Hardly controversial or surprising given CFA's history of espousing biblical values.

However, what really got people's blood boiling was Cathy's statements on the Ken Coleman radio show:

Then all hell broke loose.

The Jim Henson company (Jim Henson being the creator of the "Muppets") has now ended it's partnership with the chain citing its CEO's "strong [support]" for "gay marriage" as the reason.

The company had previously provided toys for CFA's kids meals.

In addition, the Democratic mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, has made public statements akin to declaring an (un)holy war against the restaurant chain.

Mayor Menino told the following to the Boston Herald:

  Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. 
"That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.
“If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult — unless they open up their policies." (emphasis mine)


        

And in my state of Illinois, former White House Chief of Staff and current Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel opined to the "Chicago Tribune":

"Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values. They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty".

Furthermore, in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood the Alderman Joe Moreno has vowed to to use his special political privilege (aldermanic privilege) to stop the chain from opening on his neighborhood, saying:

"It's a very diverse ward-- economically, racially, and diverse in sexual orientation." We've got thriving businesses and we want more but at the very least don't discriminate against our LGBTQ folks."

Mr. Moreno did not comment on how exactly Chik-fil-a was discriminating against anyone.

 However, it didn't stop their, many celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon against Dan Cathy and Chik-fil-a.

Grant Gustin, who who plays the openly homosexual "Sebastian Smythe" on the hit TV show Glee tweeted:

  "I'm officially done with Chick-fil-A. Your food is not good enough to take from a bunch of ass holes".

Also, Roseanne Barr of the former "Roseanne Show" tweeted: 

“Anyone who eats S**t fil A deserves to get the cancer that is sure to come from eating antibiotic filled tortured chickens 4 Christ,”

Other celebrity critics include, Jon Stewart and Ed Helms of the "The Office".
    
Remember that all of this is the result of CFA president Dan Cathy saying that he believes God should define marriage, not man, and because CFA supports oraganizations who believe the same.

It is for this reason and others I have composed this open letter:

    Dear Celebrity, Politician, Lawmaker, Neighbor and Friend who thinks myself and people like me are "bigoted", "homophobic", and [insert pejorative adjective here], because we believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,

You should know that I am not a bigot or an "a**hole", nor are my Bible believing friends and family members.

  We live in your political districts, watch you in your movies, babysit your kids, help you at the grocery store, and sit by you at work.

  We love people and while we don't always show it like we should, we don't go out of our way to see people hurt.

  We understand that nothing is more important than loving and serving God, even when our faith puts us at odds with the people we love.

  We believe in marriage as the sacred union of a man and woman not because we hate those different than us, or wish to see people hurt or discriminated against, but because God has ordained marriage to be the sacred union of a man and woman.

  We believe that while other types of relationships may carry certain benefits, marriage is inherently a man-woman union, and to treat different things differently is not discrimination, but common sense.

  We care for our fellow citizens who disagree with us and who may be hurt by our beliefs, but out of love for God, the truth, and our fellow man, we cannot and will not compromise our commitment to the truth about sexual ethics and marriage.

 We also support the rights of an organization to expand and thrive even if it's leaders have beliefs that contradict popular opinion.

  We are committed to pray for you even though you may despise us and it is our hope that you may come to understand our point of view just as we try to understand yours.

          In the love of Christ....

8 comments:

  1. well, dude, I gotta say that you aren't quite right about why everyone is so pissed. They donate money to anti-gay laws. That is why he made the statement in the first place. People have a right to know who is funding political agendas of all kinds. And yes, you are bigots.

    bigot |ˈbigət|
    noun
    a person who is bigoted : religious bigots. See note at zealot .
    ORIGIN late 16th cent. (denoting a superstitious religious hypocrite): from French, of unknown origin.

    zealot |ˈzelət|
    noun
    a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Anti-gay laws"? Do you have something to back up your charge?

      I'll respectfully disagree with your characterization of a person you don't know and your skewed use of the term "bigot".

      Thanks.

      Delete
  2. That's fine if you don't believe that marriage can be between two same-sex individuals. However, the minute you step up to prevent a same-sex couple from enjoying the happiness and legal benefits of marriage, you're using a particular belief to affect the lives of others in a negative way. Their lives, by the way, wouldn't affect yours in the slightest regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation.

    People who strongly support gay marriage aren't asking those who oppose it to change their lives in anyway, but simply open their heart to those with a different perspective. No one is saying Christians can't go to church anymore on Sundays or read the bible. Gay marriage supporters are simply asking for one thing -- gay marriage!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm sorry Anonymous, but you have misrepresented the position of traditional marriage advocates. We are trying to preserve marriage as it has been normally understood for centuries. While gays and lesbians have a right to live as they choose, they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for all of us.

    Also, you cannot deny someone something that they never had the right to in the first place.

    People who support marriage redefinition are by and large in the business of marginalizing and stigamatizng those who don't agree with their idea of what marriage should be. This is what we are seeing with respect to the CFA controversy.

    The Nation Organization for Marriage lists on the website just some of the ways the redefinition of marriage will affect traditional marriage supporters:

    “Who gets harmed? The people of this state who lose our right to define marriage as the union of husband and wife, that’s who.

    “If courts rule that same-sex marriage is a civil right, then, people like you and me who believe children need moms and dads will be treated like bigots and racists.”

    “Religious groups like Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army may lose their tax exemptions, or be denied the use of parks and other public facilities, unless they endorse gay marriage."

    “Public schools will teach young children that two men being intimate are just the same as a husband and wife, even when it comes to raising kids.”

    “When the idea that children need moms and dads get legally stigmatized as bigotry, the job of parents and faith communities trying to transmit a marriage culture to their kids is going to get a lot harder.”

    “One thing is for sure: The people of this state will lose our right to keep marriage as the union of a husband and wife. That’s not right.”

    So you are incorrect when you say that marriage redefinition won't affect people like me.

    Gay "marriage" supporters are not simply asking for open heartedness, they are asking the government to redefine marriage in our country.

    At the end of the day those who believe that marriage is inherently a man-woman union are not anti-gay and just because a person chooses to exercise their free thought doesn't mean their business and all the people they employ should be penalized by the political powers at be.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry but the idea that a marriage for love between one man and one woman is the way it's been "for centuries" is simply a flat-out lie.

    Just read the bible. A good number of the men in that had not only more then 1 wife, but uncounted concubines and produced children with them. Hardly fits in with your definition of "traditional marriage" now does it?

    "traditional marriage" is more accurately described as a per-arranged business agreement between two men where one pays the other to marry his daughter, literally selling her for his own power and fortune. Love had very, very little to do with it until very recently. Women were treated as property (this includes in the bible itself) and had little to no say on whom they married.

    Stop misrepresenting "traditional marriage" to forward your own bigoted agenda. And yes, anyone who invests money to try and stop gays from marrying is a bigot, period.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I said nothing about marriage "for love"? Your entire third paragraph is directed at a straw man.

      The Bible prescribes man and woman coming together in marriage in order that children may have mothers and fathers. This is not contradicted by the fact that the Bible describes other types of relational arrangements.

      The history of western civilization has been marked by monogamy as the norm. I would implore you to show otherwise.

      Call me names if you will, but name-calling is not a substitute for truth and if you want "tolerance" you'd better start giving it out.

      Eric M.

      Delete
  5. The National Organization for Marriage is Christian based and not sanctioned by the govt.
    ~"“Who gets harmed? The people of this state who lose our right to define marriage as the union of husband and wife, that’s who. " so basically they want to keep their definition, rather than redefine it. for no reason other than to keep the definition the same.
    ~"believe children need moms and dads"...studies actually prove that same sex partners are better parents and that there is notneed for both male and female
    ~" the job of parents and faith communities trying to transmit a marriage culture to their kids is going to get a lot harder.” because their job gets harder??? seriously? maybe they should pray for strength. Bigots are making it hard for same sex couples to raise well rounded children.
    ~“One thing is for sure: The people of this state will lose our right to keep marriage as the union of a husband and wife. That’s not right.” Nooooo.. you still get to get married.

    ~“Religious groups like Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army may lose their tax exemptions, or be denied the use of parks and other public facilities, unless they endorse gay marriage." completed unvalidated and many of us think they should pay taxes, because they make a profit, like any other business.
    ~“Public schools will teach young children that two men being intimate are just the same as a husband and wife, even when it comes to raising kids.” As they should, as there is no valid data supporting that kids need both genders as parental figures
    ~

    ReplyDelete