Chicken Fried Hate

As has been well documented lately, the left is hating on Chick-fil-A…again. No one should be surprised by this hate, least of all, Chick-fil-A. Back in 2012, Chick-fil-A became a prime target of the left when its then President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy—son of founder Truett Cathy, and now the Chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A—gave a benign interview to Baptist Press (the Cathys are long-time members of New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA).

The following exchange between Mr. Cathy and Baptist Press is what first drew the ire of the left.

The company [Chick-fil-A] invests in Christian growth and ministry through its WinShape Foundation (WinShape.com). The name comes from the idea of shaping people to be winners.

It began as a college scholarship and expanded to a foster care program, an international ministry, and a conference and retreat center modeled after the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.

“That morphed into a marriage program in conjunction with national marriage ministries,” Cathy added.

Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. “Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

“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,” Cathy emphasized. [Emphasis mine.]

“We intend to stay the course,” he said. “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.”

Note that Mr. Cathy didn’t mention politics, political parties, legislation, the courts, or anything that could be deemed political. He didn’t make reference to any organizations other than his own business and charity. Neither did he say anything about homosexuality or same-sex “marriage.” Nevertheless, and predictably, the left still decided to make an example out of the fast-food icon.

Apologists for the LGBT agenda attempted to organize a nationwide homosexual “kiss-in” to take place at Chick-fil-A restaurants. LGBT enforcers within the Democrat Party took notice of Cathy’s modest attempt to spread the truth on marriage and family. They were not about to let even the least amount of light shine into their darkness. As CNN noted,

Philadelphia City Councilman James Kenney sent a letter to Cathy this week, telling the CEO in blunt terms to “take a hike and take your intolerance with you,” and vowing to introduce a resolution at the next council meeting condemning the company.

“There is no place for this type of hate in our great City of Brotherly and Sisterly Affection,” Kenney wrote.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee tweeted: “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.”

In Chicago, Alderman Joe Moreno has been working for months to block construction of a Chick-fil-A in his district, citing traffic congestion and worry about the company's “business practices.”

Mayor Emanuel, a Democrat, said this week that “Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago values. They're not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members.”

And in Boston, where Chick-fil-A is considering opening a location, Mayor Thomas Menino, also a Democrat, made it clear the chain would not be welcome.

“I don't want an individual who will continue to advocate against people's rights. That's who I am and that's what Boston's all about,” he said.

After this heat from the left, Mr. Cathy did what some considered a bit of a retreat—or even a “sell out”—in his efforts to spread the truth on marriage and the family. The left-media took notice and wrote headlines like “Chick-fil-A promises to stop giving money to anti-gay groups.” Homosexual activists claimed to have been shown tax records that indicated “Chick-fil-A had pulled its support of groups opposing gay marriage - including the Family Research Council, the Eagle Forum and Exodus International — as early as 2011.”

This information was reportedly circulated among gay advocacy groups “to show the chain’s willingness to change.” Mr. Cathy denied charges that Chick-fil-A had capitulated to the homosexual agenda, declaring, “Chick-fil-A made no such concessions, and we remain true to who we are and who we have been.”

However, Chick-fil-A also released a statement saying that “our sincere intent has been to remain out of this political and social debate…” If only leftist corporations and organizations were so accommodating.

In the six years since this initial dust-up between Chick-fil-A and the LGBT tyrants, and in spite of the relative silence from the chicken sandwich giant on the highly important matters of marriage and family, the left’s hatred for the Christian-owned business has not abated. Whether it’s in the pages of The New Yorker, on the Huffington Post, on the campuses of a growing list of leftist-dominated colleges or universities (and even high schools), or out of the mouths of totalitarian-minded liberals, the hate-filled, intolerant left continues to attack Chick-fil-A.

In other words, it makes little difference whether Christians (or those like-minded)—in fast food (chicken or pizza), photography, baking, floral design, sports, bathrooms, schools, hospitals, or even homes or churches—are vocal about the truth on marriage, family, sex, gender, and so on, the left is already bent on vengeance.

What’s more, those corporations, small businesses, schools, “churches,” and the like, who’ve aligned themselves with the perverse LGBT agenda are rarely hesitant to let it be known loudly and proudly where they stand on sex, marriage, and the family. Virtually all of corporate America and the government schools have, in one way or another, sold their soul on these grave matters.

And like it or not, part of this fight is political. In spite of losing the electoral battle on marriage—in a landslide—the left fought on and eventually—as is so often the case in such things—got the court victory they lusted after. Because they have made a god of government, the principle instrument for the left to spread its corrupt worldview is politics; thus, we must fight in the political realm.

We are far past the moral crossroads Al Mohler referenced several years ago. There is no room for compromise, and there is little to no opportunity for silence. If high-profile Christian business owners, athletes, entertainers, politicians, pundits, pastors, and so on won’t boldly and loudly stand for the truth on something as fundamental as marriage and the family, what can they be trusted to stand for? To whom much is given, much is required.

Again, marriage is the oldest institution in the history of humanity—older than God’s covenant with the nation of Israel, older than The Law, older than the church. Marriage is one of the earliest truths revealed by God. If anything is true, marriage as the union of one man and one woman is true. On this, there can never be compromise, and there should never be silence.

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2018, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of America
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com