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| Dan Cathy,
CEO Chick-Fil-A |
I understand that not everyone who went to Chick Fil A yesterday was a Christian. There were many who participated because they felt as if Dan Cathy was exercising his First Amendment right, which is Freedom of Speech, and was being persecuted for doing so.
Then there was of course the majority of the people in attendance who shared or at least supported Dan Cathy's Christian Beliefs, and wanted to show it publicly. Also, many were there because they simply wanted a chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and a sweet tea.
Before I go any farther, let's look at Cathy's exact words that created this political storm.
In a recent interview for The Baptist Press on July 16th Dan Cathy said,
"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 intend to stay the course. 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."
Although I also am a Christian myself, and see where Dan Cathy is coming from about supporting traditional marriage as being a biblical standard, I see also where he made a mistake. Chick-Fil-A is a privately owned company, so he may run it any way he wishes to, but I heard a reporter (can't recall who) say it best when he said, "Mr. Cathy should remember that even though his company is privately owned, it is also publicly supported."
Had Dan Cathy used the word "I" instead of "We" then there would be a lot less controversy maybe. While Cathy didn't come right out and say that people in support of Same-Sex Marriage are not welcomed at Chick Fil A, he did use the word "We" which indicates that not just him, but his company as a whole believes in "the biblical definition of the family unit."
This opens up the question, Does Chick Fil A therefore discriminate against hiring people who are in support of Same-Sex Marriage being everyone in his company (by his own admission) supports the biblical definition of the family unit? If so, then this would be a very unethical business practice even by Christian standards.
I too support "the biblical definition of the family unit, but I believe that Dan Cathy's decision to speak on behalf of his company instead of speaking for himself as an individual was a very poor decision in my opinion, and this is not to say that people still wouldn't have protested if he did express his own beliefs, for I'm sure they would have.
Something I find very interesting is that the politicians that pander to Same-Sex Marriage supporters will often say they are promoting diversification. Nothing could be farther from the truth, for they certainly are quick to attack those who have an opposing viewpoint to theirs such as Dan Cathy's belief in supporting Traditional Marriage. To be a truly diversified culture wouldn't we also be accepting of those we are in disagreement to?
There is no room left for this side of the argument however. You are simply labeled as a narrow minded bigot for standing up for Traditional Marriage. You are scorned even worse if you reference the Bible in doing so. What happened to the diversification? I for one am in support of everyone exercising their first Amendment right of Freedom of Speech regardless of which side of the fence you are on. But back to Mr. Cathy...
I'm pretty sure that there must be great odds in favor that somewhere out of the 1,614 restaurants in 39 states and the District of Columbia, that there must be an employee that supports Same-Sex Marriage. As a matter of fact there are many as I've read countless statements from some of Cathy's employees. The Huffington Post published an article interviewing some of the Gay employees that work for Chick Fil A. Here is one such employee's account in the article,
Andrew, a gay 24-year-old who has been working at the northern Alabama Chick-fil-A since January, sat in his car smoking a cigarette and watching the crowd during a break earlier Wednesday. "I call it hater appreciation day," said Andrew, who asked that his last name be withheld out of fear he'd be fired. "It's very, very depressing."
Now onto another point...
I remember back when the shooting occurred at the Appalachia School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. This happened just prior to my family and me moving here, so mostly I just heard people talking about it. One person told me that for the first time that he ever remembered, there were CNN News vans in Grundy. There were also reporters with camera men walking through the Food City grocery store just next door to the Law School. My friend went on to tell me that he feared that the reporters would zero in on the most backwoods, ignorant, person they could find and interview them. This would then add to the stigma that the people of this region are all just like the one interviewed. He told me that thankfully CNN spoke to people that better represented the area however.
My point is that although there were many Christian who participated in the "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" yesterday, can we trust that the media interviewed the ones that would best represent Christ? - I think not!
In the end did we make a stand for Mr. Cathy, or support our First Amendment rights, or did we just broaden the gap between the Christian community and the Gay community? Are we trying to lead them to Heterosexuality, or are we trying to lead them to Jesus Christ?
My heart breaks for Andrew, who had to work under those conditions. Did he see the love of Jesus in the "Christian" customers? Does he know that Jesus loves him so much that he died for him? I certainly hope he ended his shift knowing that Jesus isn't like some of the people he may have waited on.
I feel like once again, although there were good intentions, we have failed to see the bigger picture, and that is our great commission to reach the lost for Christ. This is because we (the church) keep allowing ourselves to become side tracked into political causes.
I'll not stop eating at Chick-Fil-A (even though it requires a 2 hour drive for me) for they have delicious food. I'll also not stop buying gas even though some of the people who sell us the crude oil believe in beheading Gay people and also Christians.
I'll not stop eating at Chick-Fil-A (even though it requires a 2 hour drive for me) for they have delicious food. I'll also not stop buying gas even though some of the people who sell us the crude oil believe in beheading Gay people and also Christians.
I didn't participate in the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day yesterday. I don't feel like if you did then you committed a sin necessarily, but some questions beg to be answered - How was this perceived by those outside looking in? Did the Christian participants present a reflection of Jesus, or did they cast a reflection on Him?
