Eat More Chicken?

I have been silent for over a week now which has people wondering what’s going on with me.  I am really sorry that I haven’t been writing, but I have been busy getting the kids ready for school and getting back into a routine after a wonderful trip up north.  It’s now time to get back to reality and the daily grind, and my blog!  And just to warn you, this is a long one, but I am making up for lost time.

I have stayed silent during a week when a lot has been going on.  The Olympics began and I wish I had more to say on the subject, but I really don’t get into the Olympics and have to feel like an unpatriotic bastard for like two weeks.  And then, of course, there is the heated Chick-fil-a dispute, which is what I have to write about.  At first, I was just irritated by the whole thing and tried being silent, but there are a couple of issues going on right now and I see both sides and want to write about it.  The way I will be writing this entry, however, is unique.  I will not be talking about my personal feelings on gay marriage.  It is my business and I am not going to allow my beliefs to behave as a screen between your eyes and what is actually present on this document.  I will say that I have gay friends who I love and respect with all of my heart.  I would never say anything hateful or evil regarding what they do.  I also have friends who are against gay marriage and I love and respect them and would never say anything hateful or evil regarding what they do. I only write this to display what is happening on both sides and I write this to point out where the miscommunication may be. 

First of all, let’s just be real here for a second and admit that people are fickle and in the end, they forget about things that don’t affect them personally.  Those who care with a passion will never buy a sandwich from Chick-fil-a again and those who oppose gay marriage enough to prove a point will eat it every day and have heart attack eventually.  To everyone else, the majority, this will eventually blow over and it will become old news.  It will eventually become a case study that public relations students study in Intro to Public Relations, just like the Firestone and Tylenol cases that I studied. With that being said, I think that we can go ahead and bypass all of the fighting and look at what's really going on here.  The people who read, who vote, who care, the ones not fighting just because it’s fun and trendy—they are the ones who count, so let’s just say that this is only a place for the intelligent to reflect and decide.  I mean no disrespect to anyone, except bigots and idiots, but this thing has become a circus of confusion and it’s important to look at both sides and the facts. 

Originally, I was irritated because I thought that it was a First Amendment issue. I get very upset when anyone tries censoring another person.  I thought “well, here is this old man with an opinion and he has a right to state it.”  I thought it was totally blown out of proportion and ridiculous because freedom of speech and expression should be protected and to infringe on each others’ rights is unacceptable.  I thought that there were a few people who needed to read this amendment over again and realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and all that the president of Chick-fil-a, Dan Cathy, did was have one and announce it publicly. 

I then realized that there is definitely more to this issue and I think that people need to look at both sides.  We are a country who prides itself on civil rights (maybe not always, but now, anyway) and maybe this really IS a civil rights issue, not just an attack on free speech and freedom of religious views. 

In Support of Chick-fil-a:

1. Activists should spend their days working on law makers and not an old man from the south and his chicken-eaters.  There is a whole generation out there who are probably not going to be around much longer because they are old and it isn’t a surprise that they feel that marriage is between a man and a woman.  They are old school.  It makes more sense to work on a younger generation that will actually visit the polls for the next 70+ years rather than the people who already have believed something for 70 years.  It makes no sense.  Chick-fil-a makes chicken, not laws.  I do understand that the court of public opinion sets a stage for other things to happen, but some people are just being hateful.  I would never attack my grandpa for an old school view.  It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t help anything, and I am tolerant enough to tolerate other people, even if their views may not be the same as mine.  Isn’t it hypocritical to say “You have to be tolerant of me, but I am not going to be tolerant of your opinion because it opposes mine?”  We could go around and around about who is right and who is wrong.  We are Americans and this is what makes us awesome.

2. Your beliefs take a long time to reach fruition.  If you are old enough to walk into a Chick-fil-a and purchase something, you are also old enough to have formed a pretty solid opinion.  I remember that one of the things I learned in my government class at Georgia State is that when campaigning, it is most important to persuade people who are independent or undecided because the ones who feel strongly one way or the other are typically not going to be persuaded.  Obviously, the people who went out of their way to buy chicken on Wednesday are not going to be persuaded, so all you are doing, activists, by screaming at them is that….screaming.  Go after the people on the fence.  Start a new ideology.  Strategically, this whole thing makes absolutely no sense. 

3. The people who are adamantly supporting Chick-fil-a have every right to their opinion against gay marriage and they have a right to protect their speech.  I don’t see anything hateful about having an opinion.  There isn’t lynching going on….except for maybe the sacrificial chicken that they are eating.  I say this because someone compared this (on Facebook) to African-Americans in the 60’s.  Come on, now.  Really?  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and no laws have been broken.

4. We believe in Freedom of Religion.  If you have half a brain, you know that this company is religious because they aren’t open on Sundays, which is their right. There are some religions against gay marriage, and that is their right.  Are people surprised that Chick-fil-a backs traditional marriage?  Where is the fuss and why?  Work on a crowd who is undecided and not on a right-wing conservative company who observes Sundays.

5. Persecution goes both ways.  There is some pretty hateful crap going on back and forth on Facebook and it’s on BOTH sides.  So, let me get this straight…..you can be hateful toward someone who buys a chicken sandwich and they aren’t allowed to have an opinion about the oldest union in history?  If you don’t want to support the company, fine, don’t.  But being hateful to others for supporting Dan Cathy is the pot calling the kettle black.  A note to the hateful people on BOTH sides: most activists who have been successful have been peaceful and haven’t started throwing stones.  Logic, patience and proper execution of actions and words goes a long way in life. 

6. Dan Cathy isn’t making laws, he is making chicken.  Why not fight law makers instead of a fast-food chain?

Then I read this rather crappy and opinionated article in the Huffington Post about why Chick-fil-a isn’t what we think and why it isn’t just about views and free speech.  Even though it’s a piece of crap read, you begin to understand why there is more to the story and it gets you thinking.  To activists, it really is a civil rights issue and it’s just like the ones in the 60’s.  I will highlight the five things for you and you determine whether or not you are comfortable supporting the company.  I plan on doing a little more research on the facts and trying to find better articles, but for now, here’s a jumping off point.  It’s pretty plain and simple…..

Against Chick-fil-a:

1. The company has donated at least $5 million to organizations (including a certified hate group) that want to make “gay behavior” illegal and even say that they should be deported.  These groups are against gay behavior and depict them as pedophiles.

So, if your son is gay, do you want him being shipped off somewhere?  Even if you don’t believe in gay marriage, activists ask, do you support this kind of treatment?  They want you to know that this is where your money is going.

2. Dan Cathy didn’t just say that he supports traditional marriage, but that you are “inviting God’s judgment on our nation”.  Activists argue that maybe it isn’t a great thing to support someone whose voice takes the authority of God. 

They have a point here because that is some scary sh** when people do things in the name of God while being hateful to a group.  Remember the 3,000 people who died in the Trade Center?  Guess what….they died in the name of God, just not yours.  What about Hitler?  He was a crazy mother you-know-what-er too, and his hate was aimed toward a specific group.  Activists want you to be very careful about supporting anyone who goes out of their way to deprive another of the equal rights and takes the authority of God.

3. Chick-fil-a supports groups who “pray the gay” away.  Activists say that every major medical organization claims that this is impossible, harmful and dangerous.

Activists ask if your dollar is supposed to be supporting groups that are non-scientific and hazardous to people.

4. They claim that Chick-fil-a has been sued several times for employment discrimination.  They have been called a “cult” and prefer to hire married people because they are “more productive”. 

I won’t have an opinion about this because there is nothing but he-said-she-said in this article, but I will say that Chick-fil-a hires the nicest and smartest employees of any fast-food chain, seeing as how they never get your order wrong and they always deliver your food hot and delicious.  Also, as far as I know, they offer scholarship programs, which is wonderful.  I would need to look at the company’s legal history to know whether this is true or not, and who are we kidding…..most people are too lazy to do this, so I don’t think that this will ever really help activists unless they lay it all out there and show people how many times they have been sued, etc. 

5. Activists claim that the company is not exercising their First Amendment rights by running their business based on the Bible, but violating the law by discriminating against gay people and firing women.

Really, look it up.  The only thing that you can do here is to look at the facts and decide for yourself.  I don’t have the information yet, but I will try to find it.  I would like to see facts before making claims like this, but nevertheless, this is what the activists claim. 

I really love my chicken biscuits and no one makes them quite like they do and I don’t want to give them up, but it makes me uncomfortable if some of these things are true.  However, I also feel a lot better and less annoyed knowing that activists aren’t just being obnoxious and simply trying to censor someone for a belief.  We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts and we do NOT have the authority to treat each other like crap……that is taking the authority of God.  Treat your neighbors as you want to be treated.

So, should we really eat more chicken?  It's a free country.....