The Chick-fil-A-Holes

Who would have thought that the act of eating a chicken sandwich would become a politically polarizing statement?

Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, made the following statement, during a ration interview:

“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’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”

Response was swift and in two opposite directions.

A few mayors cried fowl — ah, foul — and say Chick-fil-A restaurants would not be welcome in their cities or towns.

Some Gay-marriage advocates call for a boycott of Chick-fil-A.

The Jim Henson Company, parent of the Muppets, has severed ties with Chic-fil-A, saying: “The Jim Henson Co. has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over 50 years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors.”

I hope they got out in time to same Big Bird.

Promoting diversity is a good thing, and I think the late Jim Henson would approve of this measure.

Others have gone the other way, embracing Chic-fil-A, in kind of a reverse boycott. (A girlcott? Probably not.)

This group of Chic-fil-A supporters has helped the fast-food chain break sales records. You might have seen news footage of lines of card and people, waiting for a chance to get their chicken sandwich and waffle-fries. They display their partially-eaten sandwiches for the new-cameras, and chomp down on them as if they were performing some kind of religious ritual. We’ll call it “Chick-filatio.”

Those folks, who might have otherwise ordered food from some other company or even prepared it themselves on those very busy days, have shown up to:

     (1)  show support for the American family
     (2)  defend Chick-fil-A’s First Amendment Rights
     (3)  protest Gay marriage
     (4)  all of the above!

Of course, I am all for supporting the American family. But, with only a minority of households consisting of one man, one woman, and one or more kids, support for the American family becomes a rather vague notion. Has it occurred to those who oppose same-sex marriage that allowing it to happen legally would create more American families, not fewer?

Dan Cathy, as a human being and as an American has a First Amendment right to free speech, as do we all. I oppose any effort to take that away. But Chick-fil-A is a corporation. My Constitution, including all amendments, does not say anything about corporations having First-Amendment rights. People have Constitutional rights.

Oh, but Mitt Romney has said, “Corporations are people, my friend.” Well Mitt Romney has said  a lot of damn-fool things — so many of them, in fact, that he occasionally agrees with himself. If corporations are people, and if Bane Capital, under his direction, helped to destroy corporations (which it did), then Romney has led the murder of countless human beings. And that didn’t even include those real humans who might have lost their healthcare due to his actions, and might die as a result. But we’re getting off-topic.

If you are going to buy food from Chic-fil-A for no other reason than to support Dan Cathy’s First Amendment rights, then I suggest you march in the next Gay Pride parade, to support that group’s First Amendment rights.

I have nothing against gay marriage. The meaning and purpose of marriage has evolved over the course of human history. Adults should do what they want to do, especially when it comes to finding ways of being responsible, when it doesn’t hurt anyone else. The marriage of two women or two men does not in any way harm the marriage of a man and a woman. We have more important things to worry about

I know of no instances in which a Chick-fil-a restaurant has discriminated against a gay person. I don’t think those who have taken their anger out against Chick-fil-A or its franchises or employees are doing the right thing. Don’t tell a restaurant chain it will not be welcome in your town because of the views of its CEO. Don’t spray graffiti on the sides of its buildings. If you don’t want to see Dan Cathy get a few cents richer, don’t go there yourself. I, will probably not go back for a long while, and never on a Sunday.

All of this talk of fast-food has made me hungry. Is anyone making a Burger King or McDonald’s run?