Contributor John Liming reflects on restaurant chain Chick-fil-A’s religious stand against gay marriage.
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I have been hearing all the uproar going on about that “Chicken” thing and since it has gone public, so to speak, I want to weigh in on it for a little bit here.
First off – - – This is The United States of America (The part that isn’t strictly Red or Blue, that is).
Because we are, for the most part, “The Land of The Free” I fully support the rights of anyone to spout off about their “Christian Values” and their “Moral Values” and their “Family Values” all they want.
Like I said, “This is America” and if someone wants to define “Christian” Values in terms that might sound a little hateful or bigoted to some folks (Like me for instance) then it is no skin off my nose and that is their right and I say “Let ‘em have at it!”
It ain’t none of my business and it ain’t about to be any of my business because I am not ever going to go into one of them places. That is my choice.
I guess if I want chicken to eat, I can get it at about a dozen places so my choices aren’t limited either.
Another thing is that I am not about to try and tell other people where to get their chicken because that is none of my business either. The last time I looked, people were still free to eat wherever they want to here in the good old U.S. of A.
But the thing is, I was taught to believe that Christianity was a religion of Love, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, long suffering, healing and all that other “Nice” stuff.
Some of the stuff I am hearing about this hullabaloo don’t seem to be anywhere near Christian to me and I think that if some folks are actually peddling hatred or bigotry as Christian Values they are going to have a hard time convincing Jesus to let them into the Pearly Gates when the time comes – - – and the time will surely come as it does to all of us.
Maybe it is all a matter of interpretation.
So for my part, I don’t want no part of it and definitely none of my money will ever support any of it.
See? I am an American too and although I am not Gay, I do not support any form of anything that I consider to be discriminatory actions or language because I don’t consider such as that to be either American or Christian.
But if the Bible Thumpers, the Pew Jumpers and the Hallelujah Crowd want to take this cause to heart and defend it and support it, then that is on them, isn’t it? I think I will let Jesus sort that one out!
Like I said, “To each his own.”
Jesus of Love or Jesus of Hate!
The voting booths of the conscience are now open.
John’s piece originally appeared at The Liming Liberal Democrat.
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I agree with most of what you wrote, John, but I think it is important that we voice our opinion on matters of equal rights. I don’t believe in general boycotts but I do believe that it is the duty of every person to follow up on the things they believe in. I will never step into another Chick-A-Fil establishment again.
Many people believe that they are hurting individual franchise owners. The rules for a franchise owner are crazy stupid. They must go to church, pray at chick fil a meetings only hire godly people and if they do anything against the chicken god such as get a divorce….they will lose their business. So…all chick fil a restaurants are afflicted by the same wingnuttery as the owner. It is easier to get into Harvard, then get a chick franchise, and all applicants are vetted for over a year, to make sure that they are as saintly as the CEO. F them all.
“chicken god”. Yeah, that sums it up.
Dear Arthur L,
I think my writing pretty much leaves the door open for people to exercise their right to their own beliefs.
As for me, I think we have allowed far too much toxicity, hatred, discrimination and vitriol to dominate the national conversation for far too long and I think everyone understands that such stuff can corrode the very Democracy if left unchecked.
I love Freedom of Speech and Freedom of expression up to the point where someone gets hurt by it and then I think something or someone has to step in and take a position to protect those who are under attack.
I simply cannot see myself supporting hate with my money.
If there is someone out there who gets off on spending their dollars to advance the agenda of discrimination, then that is their bag and they are welcome to it. But not me!
I am a firm believer in Civil Rights for everyone in a Democracy – - – “Rights for all or rights for none” is my mantra.
Even this is a matter of personal choice I guess.
I am afraid that America is becoming divided not only into “Red States and Blue States” (Which is bad enough) but I think the country is now headed toward division between the “Lovers” and the “Haters” and that can go places where I don’t think anyone really wants to be.
John, my feeling is that the ‘lovers’ and ‘haters’ ship has already sailed. And they are pretty much in the boats of the Blue & Red states already.
Dear Gary D,
Goodness will win out in the end even though it may require a lot of suffering to see it come about. Iron must pass through the fire before it becomes steel.
I think nations bubble and boil much in the same manner as tar pits in volcanic regions – - – they puff and swell and steam and smoke and then settle down again only to reappear later once again in their eruptive natures.
I think Life itself is like that.
Seasons come and seasons go and plants grow and flourish and wither and die and new generations come after to do it all again.
I used to have a saying, “We do repeat the mistakes of the Past but as each generation rises, it tends to repeat those mistakes in a more refined manner than those who went before.
The ships of Love and Hate may have sailed, but there are those in the world with the strength and tenacity to swim against the tides and that is where the greatness of nations is born.
Hope springs eternal in a heart where the Sunshine of Love is allowed to shine and from that foundation all that is worthy grows after the fires and the storm have consumed and laid bare.
Let us therefore choose the path of Love because the path of intolerance leads to dark and desolate places where malodorouos beings torment the senses and the soul.
The very angst of some of the vitriolic Right is evidence enough of personal agonies – - – hatred is a consuming fire and can even change the body chemistry from that of health to a cancer that consumes.
Love builds, Hate destroys.
Lovers endure, Haters become victims of themselves.
I do not take communion at the altar of the almighty chicken that can judge others as unworthy.
The republicans have used hate and fear as a campaigning tool since newt introduced it in the 90′s. Before that democrats and republicans saw each other as fellow Americans that they had disagreements with.
John, I wish that I had your view that goodness will win in the end. I don’t. I have never seen such hate spread through different propaganda medias without being called out by someone in the media, someone who would question that something deadly to democracy is spreading through the air like a virus.
It was during the youth uprising in the 60′s that a well known republican layed out the groundwork that has brought us our current day politics. Their vision was to establish conservative think tanks that would garner respect in the media, conservative universities that would teach their ideology, conservative supreme court justices and other judges. Well now with citizens united, loss of the fairness doctrine, regulation changes to allow propagandists to control many media outlets, voter suppression in swing states, the republicans have all their ducks in a row to reverse all the progress made since the new deal. Karl Rove once opined that he would like to see the day when conservatives could run this country unimpeded under one party rule. They are so close, Karl can almost taste it.
Unfortunetly, what would be manna from heaven for the 1%, will be poison for the rest of us.
There may be hope for the future. Check out how the Canadian Government is handling this problem in their country. If enough Americans wake up, we might see movement toward the Canadian Ideal in this country too. Check this out:
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/5123-fox-news-lies-keep-them-out-of-canada
Thanks goodness we don’t have a Chick-Fil-A in New York.
Biblical marriage, huh? Which one?
Sydney, I have to disagree with you somewhat – I believe the first modern day fear mongering ads were produced by LBJ – the famous Daisy ad in response to Goldwater’s discussing the possibility of using low-yield nuclear weapons in Vietnam. It ran only once (that was enough). He also associated Goldwater with the KKK. (Goldwater voted no on the Civil Rights Act.) Goldwater accused LBJ of war-mongering and too weak to keep the Communists from taking over the country.
Prior to that my recollection is (although I may be wrong) that typically the ads were character assassination and promoting fears of outside invaders (Communists, Nazis, Mexico, etc). Our history hasn’t been a pretty one when it comes to this stuff. Andrew Jackson was villainized and his political opposition (John Quincy Adams) claimed he was a murderer and an adulterer.
That said, the modern-day version of fear mongering and division in the GOP was vastly promoted under Nixon with Kevin Phillips and later with Lee Atwater under Reagan. I’ve read several very good books by Kevin Phillips – he’s become disenfranchised with the GOP (several years ago) and is now critical of their economic policies. Newt just took it to a new level. And the country has been the worse for it.
This went way beyond gay marriage. Cathy was doing the Pat Robertson thing saying that gays will bring on “god’s judgement” and the apocalypse. That is scary talk and how does he think people will react?
The Christian Bible speaks of the days when the wolves will be divided from the sheep for all the world to behold and I think yesterday was one of those times as we watched multiple thousands of hate mongers and bigots who pretend to be Christian flock to the support of this obscenity in a “National Appreciation Day.”
You ask “How will the people react?”
My answer to that is, “The People will do what the Scripture has predicted that they will do – - – those on the side of tolerance, love, God, Jesus and True Christianity will pray for those who cannot see the light of Love in the Gospels and will, themselves eschew all appearance of evil by refusing to partake of the Sacrament of Hate disguised as a chicken sandwich.
Those who have chosen the path of hate will partake of their false joys for a season and will finally reap the rewards of their disobedience to God – - – a reward very well delineated within the Sacred Realms of Holy Writ.
Hate is really nothing more or less than an advanced kind of cancer and if unchecked by an infusion of love and tolerance will eventually totally consume those who are afflicted by it.
John,
I apologize for not commenting earlier. Though I have intended to visit back over here at Mario’s I have been busy with other things.
I personally want to thank you for this article and I think it’s very articulate of you to speak so strongly against bigotry. And you’re right; bigots have the right to speak their mind but we have a choice if we want to use their products or eat their chicken in this case.
I haven’t written anything concerning the “Chic-fil-A fiasco and I’ve never really been a customer of theirs, except when someone gave me a gift certificate for Christmas from there. I don’t remember it being that great a sandwich really. I’m a KFC lover, through and through.
Things are changing and things are different than when I was young. If an company like Chic-fil-A did what they do now back maybe 30 or 40 years ago, it would not have the same positive effect that it has now, as far as the support from heterosexuals such as yourself.
So it feels good to live in a freer society and be looked on in a much more favorable light than I did in the 70s. So thanks for the support.
Your comment included, “…If an company like Chic-fil-A did what they do now back maybe 30 or 40 years ago, it would not have the same positive effect that it has now, as far as the support from heterosexuals such as yourself…”
My support is not so much from the Hetero standpoint as it is from a wish to be found obedient to what The Lord has taught us. The Lord accepts all who come to Him and he expects us to treat other people exactly the same as He treats us and as we are commanded in the admonition – - – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
I have an old saying that I picked up from a wise person years ago that goes something like this: “If you cannot love your worst enemies, then you haven’t even come close to understanding what being Christian is about.”
So many wear the badge but so few seem willing to stand for true Righteousness in this day in which we live.
We are admonished to refrain from judging others in the same manner as Jesus refused to judge the Prostitute who came to him. He forgave her and actually “Loved” her with a Godly love in his heart.
Can you imagine what some of our so called “Christian” Brethren might do today in the same circumstance?
They might put on their Pharisee face and declare to the world, “We do not support the idea of having these kinds of people in our midst and if conditions became right, they might even try to have them expelled from Society or worse.”
But Jesus was not of the bigoted mind set and He demonstrated exactly how we are supposed to respond in similar circumstances.
My support of the Gay Community to be treated as equal citizens in The Land of The Free is based on my perception of “What Would Jesus Do” which seems to be a calling card of so many on the intransigent Right.
John,
It’s unfortunate that the Christian Right can’t really live up to that “What Would Jesus Do” then maybe they would be a completely different group of people.
Still, I must tell you John that there are many wonderful Christians out there and when you meet one and know one you know they are a true Christian because they will carry it in their continence. And, usually there are Christians in most denominations because Christianity has nothing to do with denominations.
It is always the loudest who would use their so-called Christianity as a tool to design a world that is perfect for themselves, without regard to others. True Christianity should not care so much about the things of this world but for the Kingdom of God which is not of this world.
Their main focus as Christians should be to save lost souls, not transform the government into a religiously controlled machine forcing everyone to live by a certain religious law – much like Sharia but this would be a form of Leviticus law, at least the parts they liked.