"Every now
and then an event comes along that offers a unique reflection of our
world. A mirror, if you
will, of what our culture has become. One took place this past
week through the catalyst of three words from the CEO of a restaurant chain:
"Guilty as charged."
Dan Cathy,
president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, gave an
interview to Baptist Press. Correctly saying that there is no such thing as a
"Christian business," he did offer that organizations such as his can operate on biblical
principles" asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom
on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we
have."
Then came
the match that lit the fire. When asked about the company's support of
the traditional family, Cathy simply said, "Well, guilty as
charged." He then went on to say, "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...our restaurants are typically led
by families...We want to do
anything we possibly can to strengthen families."
Gasp! How
dare he say that when it comes to families, his support goes with the historic,
traditional understanding of millennia that reflects his Judeo-Christian values.
At least that seemed to be the collective response from such cultural epicenters
as the media.
The
Baptist Press interview was picked up by the
Huffington Post, Associated Press, USAToday, Los Angeles Times and more -
most with the phrase
"anti-gay" in the headline - fueled by the "revelation" that the
privately-owned business donated to Christian groups that opposed homosexuality.
[Of
course, overlooked were the millions of dollars Chick-fil-A gives each year to
other charitable causes. For example, they fund foster care programs, schools of
higher learning, and children's camps. They provide scholarships for the
employees to attend college, and this past Friday, they provided free meals for
the police force in Aurora, Colorado.]
Many on
twitter and in the blogosphere immediately labeled them a hate group. Yes, a
hate group.
Then the
mayor of Boston vowed to
block Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the city because
it is a business "that discriminates against a population."
The Jim
Henson Company of Kermit and Miss Piggy fame said they will stop providing
toys for the
fast food chain's kids' meals because the company
won't
endorse same-sex marriage. They plan on donating money already
received from Chick-fil-A to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD).
Ed Helms,
star of the sitcom The Office, publicly promised a personal boycott.
Okay,
let's put our big-boy pants on for a minute. Cathy never uttered the words
"anti-gay" in the interview. All he did was state, when
pointedly asked, his support for the traditional family as outlined in the
Bible.
Further,
the company made it clear following Cathy's comments that
they had no intention of entering the policy debate over same-sex marriage, and
that the Chick-fil-A
"culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with
honor, dignity and respect - regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual
orientation or gender."
And
indeed, there has never even been a hint of discrimination in Chick-fil-A's
history.
So
Chick-fil-A is not a
hate group, does not discriminate, and is not actively working in the realm of
public policy. It just has
personal core values. But my, what a mirror this has provided,
and the reflection is worth noting in detail.
Fifty
years ago, any support of homosexual practice would have ended your business.
Now, the threat to your
business is support of the traditional family. It is a
fascinating progression that has taken place in American culture.
-
First, classical Christian orthodoxy was marginalized.
-
Second, it became ostracized.
-
Third, it became demonized.
-
Fourth, it became penalized.
-
And now the move would seem to be to have it criminalized.
Defining
discrimination as disagreement, and then disagreement as a hate crime, is one of
the more frightening developments of our time. But developed it has. As the
Baptist Press reporter has since said of the tempest over Cathy's remarks, "I
don't understand why that's a bad thing all of a sudden. It was not an anti-gay
statement. It was a pro-family statement."
But that's
the point. That's the reflection given to us in this mirror. Welcome to our
world. [James Emery White]
Chicago's
Mayor weighed
in by saying, "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago
values."
But
interestingly enough the ACLU supported Chick-fil-A,
saying, "The
government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but
what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words," said Adam
Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
"When a (govt. official) refuses to allow a business to open because its owner
has expressed a viewpoint the government disagrees with, the government is
practicing viewpoint discrimination."
Hmmmmm.
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