In a recent interview Chik-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy plead guilty to supporting traditional Christian values, stating specifically that his organization believed marriage was forever and between one man and one woman. This naturally was received as a healthy expression of opinion in the public forum. Opponents acknowledged that while they may not agree with Mr. Cathy's opinions, they certainly support his right to have them and proceeded to engage in a courteous dialogue on their differences of opinion.
Hah, just kidding. It actually began a massive firestorm of manufactured outrage at a person who dared to have an opinion contrary to some other people's beliefs. I mean, who is this guy? He treats this like it's his Constitutional right or something!
The actual quote is as follows:
Of course, he was wrong on that last part about being able to operate his business as he saw fit. At least, he was in Chicago, where "Alderman Joe Moreno, who represents Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, plans to use his aldermanic privilege, a Chicago tradition in which City Council members defer to aldermen on local matters, to block the restaurant's permit." For those of you having a hard time understanding this Chicago slang, when they say "a Chicago tradition" they mean "rampant corruption and abuse of power".
Said Joe Moreno:
This sort of action is the height of hypocrisy. The National Review Online made an excellent point:
Even aside from that, why is this a surprise? I mean, who didn't know that Chik-fil-A was a Christian organization? They aren't even open on Sunday! "OMG, I am shocked and outraged that a Christian organization might express traditional Christian values and donate to organizations that share their viewpoint!" said No One, Ever.
We live in a country where you have the right to express your opinion and worship your God as you see fit. We live in a country where you do not (and I cannot possibly emphasis this enough) have the right not to be offended.
If you, as a private citizen, don't like Chik-fil-a's comments, then don't eat there. Encourage your friends not to eat there. Go all Tea Party on them and buy their chicken then throw it into a lake or something. But don't pretend like they crossed some invisible line in the sand by having an opinion and should therefore be banned from your city.
As for me, I don't agree with their opinion, and even resemble the sort of person they disapprove of...but damn, their chicken is good. So I'm going to keep eating it.
Hah, just kidding. It actually began a massive firestorm of manufactured outrage at a person who dared to have an opinion contrary to some other people's beliefs. I mean, who is this guy? He treats this like it's his Constitutional right or something!
The actual quote is as follows:
“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 know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
Of course, he was wrong on that last part about being able to operate his business as he saw fit. At least, he was in Chicago, where "Alderman Joe Moreno, who represents Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, plans to use his aldermanic privilege, a Chicago tradition in which City Council members defer to aldermen on local matters, to block the restaurant's permit." For those of you having a hard time understanding this Chicago slang, when they say "a Chicago tradition" they mean "rampant corruption and abuse of power".
Said Joe Moreno:
"It's a very diverse ward-- economically, racially, and diverse in sexual orientation," Moreno told ABCNews.com. "We've got thriving businesses and we want more but at the very least don't discriminate against our LGBTQ folks."He continued by saying "So, we want to maintain that diversity, unless that diversity means that someone may have an opinion contrary to mine. If that happens, then naturally I'm going to use the power of my elected office to crush their business, despite them not having done anything illegal whatsoever. It's tradition." The mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has also come down on the fast food chain and is supporting this "tradition".
This sort of action is the height of hypocrisy. The National Review Online made an excellent point:
"Rahm Emanuel has been many things in life — ballet dancer, investment banker, congressman, White House chief of staff, now mayor of Chicago — and he apparently wishes to add another title to his curriculum vitae: Grand Inquisitor. He has denounced the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A and endorsed a Chicago alderman’s plan to block construction of a new outlet because the company’s executives do not share his politics. This is a gross abuse of power: Imagine if the mayor of Provo, Utah, had tried to punish a business for supporting same-sex marriage — the Left would demand his resignation, etc. The powers of government are not to be used for parochial political ends. Even in Chicago."Here's the deal: Mr. Cathy didn't "target" gay folks, the so called "LGBTQ...IWHQNDYT" crowd (I added a few more letters since that acronym seems to get bigger every day, and I want to stay ahead of the curve). He targeted the decay of the institution of marriage as he sees it, and said he doesn't approve of it and neither does his organization. That means he was no more "targeting" gay people than he was "targeting" divorced people, of which I am (quite happily) one. There are plenty of good, decent, caring people that do not support same-sex marriage. I used to be one of them, before I was persuaded through reasonable, calm discussion to change my stance.
Even aside from that, why is this a surprise? I mean, who didn't know that Chik-fil-A was a Christian organization? They aren't even open on Sunday! "OMG, I am shocked and outraged that a Christian organization might express traditional Christian values and donate to organizations that share their viewpoint!" said No One, Ever.
We live in a country where you have the right to express your opinion and worship your God as you see fit. We live in a country where you do not (and I cannot possibly emphasis this enough) have the right not to be offended.
If you, as a private citizen, don't like Chik-fil-a's comments, then don't eat there. Encourage your friends not to eat there. Go all Tea Party on them and buy their chicken then throw it into a lake or something. But don't pretend like they crossed some invisible line in the sand by having an opinion and should therefore be banned from your city.
As for me, I don't agree with their opinion, and even resemble the sort of person they disapprove of...but damn, their chicken is good. So I'm going to keep eating it.
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