National Chick Fil-a Uproar
You’ve no doubt heard by now about the whole Chick Fil-a controversy that seems to be spreading every day. The whole uproar started when the company revealed $3 million dollars worth of donations that the company’s president Don Cathy made to a series of conservative, anti-gay rights organizations.
In a recent interview with the Baptist Press, Chick Fil-a president, Dan Cathy stated that his national fast-food chicken chain was “guilty as charged” for “backing the biblical definition of marriage”. Explaining himself in a later interview, he elaborated, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”
There has been a huge backlash against the company in the past week, including the mayors of Boston and Chicago announcing that Chick Fil-a chains would not be welcome in their cities.
UPDATE (7/27)- Mayor Ed Lee in San Francisco has joined Mayors Menino and Emanuel in declaring Chick Fil-a would not be welcome in their cities. He tweeted, “Very disappointed #ChickFilA doesn’t share San Francisco’s values & strong commitment to equality for everyone.” and “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.”
What are your thoughts?
Alex: However misguided and bigoted Cathy may be, there’s no law that says bigoted assholes are not allowed to run a business. Nor is there a rule against Cathy donating money to causes he supports. That being said, he’s also an asshole. Huge props to Mayor Menino in Boston and Mayor Emanuel in Chicago. Good for them for taking a stand. Cathy, Chick Fil-a, (not to mention the Boy Scouts) are clearly behind the times. The national attitude towards homosexuals just isn’t the same as it used to be. As great as all of the boycotts are though, neither Cathy nor Chick Fil-a are going to change. Nor will they lose a whole ton of money (Atlanta LOVES Chick Fil-a). The biggest effect of the whole thing will be to highlight how much most people don’t see gay rights as a big dilemma anymore.
Jay: I’ve always thought the Chick-Fil-A owners were whacked out, but this is a bit much. There’s nothing wrong with infusing religion and your own beliefs into your business, but for the love of God, don’t be stupid about it. Now, I love Chick-Fil-A to death, and since there aren’t any franchises in this shithole city I live in anyway (Boston), I guess I don’t care if Menino wants to ban them. It’s too far north anyway. Shame on Dan Cathy for saying the stupid things he did, but remember: fundamentalist Christians will always be there to piss the sensible people off. It’s the way of the world.
Matt: With half the world about to enter another depression, monthly job reports that make you want to put a bullet in your head and have to hear Jay Carney spew bullshit every week…I don’t really give a damn about Chick-fil-A. I’m sorry, but the social issues are going to have to wait, or we won’t have a country to worry about them in. Did you really think the president of Chick-fil-A, who has kept his store closed on Sundays for decades, was an atheist? Where he chooses to donate the money really shouldn’t concern the rest of us. Don’t want to support him? Don’t eat there. I’d rather these liberal political leaders actually do something constructive to make people vote for them rather than rip on some poor old guy who hates Gay people. But then again, that’s the kind of crap that determines a politician’s resume these days, which is exactly why we are where we are now.