Where do you stand on Chick-fil-A controversy?
Don’t be surprised if you found it more crowded than usual at lunchtime today and throughout the rest of the week at your nearby Chick-fil-A as the brouhaha over President and COO Dan Cathy’s comments about the sanctity of marriage continues to reverberate.
Today is “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” and Friday is “National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A,” but supporters for the events are at polar opposites when it comes to why they are descending on the chain’s restaurants.
Cathy’s comments in the Biblical Recorder newspaper that the nation is “inviting God’s judgment” because it is trying to “redefine” marriage have caused a firestorm of social media and public protests, and calls for demonstrations at and boycotts of the chain’s 1,600 restaurants, which are mainly in the Bible Belt.
While Cathy, son of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, did not specifically address the issue, gays and lesbians, led by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation or GLAAD, say Cathy has, in effect, openly come out against same-sex marriage. They’ve called for a boycott of the chain and want same-sex couples to visit its restaurants for Friday’s “Kiss Day.”
Christians and others, however, led by former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, are urging followers to support Cathy by buying meals at his restaurants, starting today. Check out AJC staffer Leon Stafford’s latest story on what supporters are saying at metro Atlanta locations.
Here’s part of what Cathy said, comments that were reprinted July 16 in the Baptist Press:
“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. I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.”
“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.”
Commenting closed.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
743 comments Add your comment
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
See what I mean? He admits to wearing red panties in a round-about way to insinuate I’m looking through his window. Homophobe.
GaBlue
August 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
Chemical Fil A
http://foodbabe.com/2011/07/09/chick-fil-a-or-chemical-fil-a/
albert
August 1st, 2012
3:03 pm
Cathy is not a Christian. His comments are not Christian, his spending of MILLIONS of dollars towards bigotry is not Christian either.
If the Rapture were today. The streets would be empty and the Chick-fil-a’s would all be packed with people.
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:03 pm
Peadawg, You do know that talking to Gross Out can cause extreme frustration and may lead to a severe loss of brain cells.
Mmmmm Chicken
August 1st, 2012
3:04 pm
If you want to boycott those delicious chicken sandwiches and fries… go ahead! Mor Chikin 4 me!
Peadawg
August 1st, 2012
3:05 pm
“Peadawg, You do know that talking to Gross Out can cause extreme frustration and may lead to a severe loss of brain cells.”
I know he’s probably just trolling for attention.
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:05 pm
Snicker…pending he ever had any in the first place – hence peabrain.
Equality
August 1st, 2012
3:05 pm
@Stan Drulia- Your comments are rude and disrespectful. If you don’t like what Mr Cathy said then don’t eat at Chik-fil-a.
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:07 pm
“trolling for attention”….that is guffaw worthy. There’s a simple solution to everything. You don’t like it? Don’t read it. And you CERTAINLY don’t have to comment. So seems like your own personal problem while I exercise my FREEDOM OF SPEECH..isn’t that the crux of your defense against the bun, chicken filet and “A” pickle?
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 1st, 2012
3:07 pm
Where was the myriad articles and press scrutiny when chains such as Target(Targay( came out FOR gay marriage? That is also interjecting ones values into the marketplace. And need I remind you, that the predominate view in the usa is anti gay marriage..0-32 in ballot initiatives INCLUDING kookyfornia..It is hardly controversial.
Ayn Rand was Right
August 1st, 2012
3:08 pm
argh man – I didn’t mean to suggest that the rights of gay people to marry was “special” as in not important. I meant that the opinions of others about a special interest right should not be a sticking point for those pursuing this right for equality. I personally support the right of all consenting adults to enter into legal partnerships with anyone else of legal age and consent. Marriage should be the purvey of the church, and as we all know, each church has its own interpretations and values.
My point was simply stop flaming the fires of your perceived opponents with arguments and drama. Simply promote your own values and ignore the fire starters. Honey will get you more flies than vinegar.
Rob
August 1st, 2012
3:09 pm
I got a sandwhich today at lunch, i had to complain cause it had some Muppet hair in it!
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:09 pm
Gross Out is definitely trolling. That’s what happens to people who keep getting their Obama bucks and sitting at home with nothing to do.
james
August 1st, 2012
3:09 pm
Who really cares.. eat there don’t eat there this
is just stupid… Chick-Fil-A won’t go out of business
cause the gays boycott they probably didn’t go there
anyway… more important things in the US going on then
this crap….
Abe Froman
August 1st, 2012
3:09 pm
Would my shopping at Target today negate my Chick-Fil-A #1?
John
August 1st, 2012
3:10 pm
Call it what you like but the fat are definitely getting fatter today.
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:11 pm
Gross Out, would you feel better if they added the lettuce and tomato to your sandwich? You do know that is an option if you want to pay for it. Maybe then you wouldn’t be so upset with them.
DeannaInGa
August 1st, 2012
3:11 pm
It is one thing to stand up and be vocal about your beliefs and live your life according to your beliefs. It is another thing to have your beliefs end up being so corrupted that you forget your beliefs by funding hate groups, hate groups being defined as groups that employ lies (an un-CChristian act) in propaganda so warped that even Christians are duped into following those un-Christian beliefs, such as the belief “one man and one woman constitutes a traditional marriage. Even Peter didn’t believe in marriage because it got in the way of a deep relationship with God. If you read the propaganda of the hate groups that Chick-fil-a supports, you would see it reads like something that the Nazi government propaganda put out in 1933-1937.
Bill
August 1st, 2012
3:11 pm
I drove 32 miles to go to Chick-Fil-A just to help support free speech and religious freedom. I also fought for this country to have these right.
If you gay are whatever just shut up and lets all enjoy our freedom.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
@Abe, you didn’t get to be the sausage king of chicago by equivocating on the big decisions..
LovingIt
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
Forget Target….shop at Wal Mart if for no other reason than to tee off the Decaturites….
Equality
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
Mr. Cathy’s statement was against gay marriage just as many elected officials have done. He said nothing about changing the laws to make it illegal to be gay.
c-bear
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
Christians prey together.
Typical
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
If you have time, please read the all the comments from the left. They are all attacks and name calling.
Exactly the type of behavior that claim to hate.
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
Exiled Dawg…you still reading my comments? Dude…I appreciate you being a fan and all but I have other Jihadists I need to address. Now rush along and stalk someone else.
Peadawg
August 1st, 2012
3:13 pm
“If you gay are whatever just shut up and lets all enjoy our freedom.”
Gay’s aren’t allowed to express their beliefs but CFA is? WTF?
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:14 pm
Gross Out, this is the hardest you have worked in a day since you started getting your free government money. Good job! A couple more hard days of work like this and you can get a real job soon.
St Simons - we're on Island time
August 1st, 2012
3:14 pm
on the news, a picture of LINDSEY GRAHAM eatin at Chick-Fila
oh cons if you just for one day possessed the gene for irony
Is he at the Kiss-In or the fundie-fest?
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:15 pm
Everyone can thank me for my wonderful insight into the mind of a Jihadist.
Tag
August 1st, 2012
3:15 pm
I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.
Same sex unions should be called something else, but it’s OK.
This is Tiresome
August 1st, 2012
3:16 pm
Either eat there or not – I don’t care – but don’t make this some sort of cultural crusade. We have bigger chickens to fry.
Big G
August 1st, 2012
3:16 pm
The south. Home of bigots. Used to be interracial marriage. Actually, in many areas, still is. Now they have new people to pick on. Suck that grease fill chicken into your diseased colon, and blow it out of your ass.
Leigh
August 1st, 2012
3:16 pm
In 2008, Barack Obama was voted President even though he specifically expressed that his stance was FOR Traditional Marriage prior to the election.
Now the people who voted for Obama in 2008 without question are getting into an uproar over the CEO of a closed-on-Sundays, devotedly Christian company taking the exact same stance on Traditional Marriage as Obama did in 2008.
And yet there was no uproar when the potential PRESIDENT of the US expressed Traditional Marriage values in 2008, but now the CEO of a chicken sandwich company is receiving vitriolic comdemnation from Obama supporters.
So, basically you think the CEO of a chicken sandwich company’s views are more important than the Presdient’s views on Marriage? Cause ya sure as heck didn’t seem to care in 2008.
HYPOCRITS.
marcus
August 1st, 2012
3:17 pm
i support chick-fil-a and their stand against gay marriage; as a brother of a sister who is in a “relationship” with another female, i can not honestly say i would approve of them getting “married.” i respect the fact that they have the right to choose whomever they want to love and i am jealous of the true affection and devotion they have for each other, but i feel that marriage would be an abomination in the eyes of god, if there truly is a god!
Uncle Joe
August 1st, 2012
3:17 pm
May the tyranny of desperately rationalizing minority end! Long live the true freedom and the health of the nation! I will never “dignify” or “respect” that which is harmful to individuals and society. The traditional beliefs of men like Truett Cathy are right and good for the nation. The demands of special interests are a major force destroying our nation. “Strength through diversity” is a modern myth created by liberalism.
LovingIt
August 1st, 2012
3:17 pm
Would it be ok for CAIR to contribute to the Muslim Brotherhood? I think they may have something to say about homosexuality?
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:17 pm
For the second time, the Exiled Bulldawg has TRIED to impersonate me. Fail. I told you once, sir, you lack the creative intellect to express what is with fervor and flavor. But thanks for the endorsement. Southern Baptist = Jihadist Muslims in that they are both interchangeable.
Abdullah
August 1st, 2012
3:19 pm
I am right wing Mujahadeen and normelly we make a fight wit the American Christians. But today we come together as a like a brothers putting down our Kalishnakovas and fight agianst the butt pirates. It is nasty what the gays do.
LovingIt
August 1st, 2012
3:19 pm
Thanks, BigG! Was always confused as to my true identity but you have solved the mystery. Well done!
Peadawg
August 1st, 2012
3:19 pm
Am I the only straight guy that wants to go watch the ladies at the kiss-in on Friday at CFA?
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:19 pm
Gross Out, I wish I could take credit for it. Somebody else is doing it. I do like it though. I actually thought you posted it.
Leigh
August 1st, 2012
3:20 pm
And I don’t care if Obama has changed his views. That’s not the point of my previous post.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 1st, 2012
3:21 pm
@Big G..isn’t blowing it out your ass a decidedly gay thing to do?
LovingIt
August 1st, 2012
3:21 pm
Abdullah:
Don’t forget the Hindu’s. Don’t think they hold the pirates in high regard either.
gabuldawg
August 1st, 2012
3:22 pm
Peadawg, I wish I could join you for a chicken sandwich and some front row seats. It would cost too much to fly in from Germany though.
FM Fats
August 1st, 2012
3:22 pm
I’m never going back to Chick-fil-A. I asked them to hold the pickle and they wouldn’t.
c-bear
August 1st, 2012
3:22 pm
Was there a reason that God brought home Mr. Perry at this specific time? My extreme condolenses to his family and friends. But maybe he needed a good PR man to straighten out the mess that the blind sheep had created. God works in mysterious ways.
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:22 pm
^5 @ Big G. Yep..these same Southern Baptists are the grandkids of those bigots who stood in the way of Civil Rights and desegradation. Their grandparents said the same thing back then that they, fast forward a couple of generations, are now saying about the LBGT community. I still hear elderly white people (Southern Baptists) use the N word in my presence and use it freely to describe our President. They assume, stupidly as they are, that because I’m “white, I MUST be one of them. Hate, judgemental, etc.
Gross Out Chick-Fil-A
August 1st, 2012
3:23 pm
^5 @ Big G. Yep..these same Southern Baptists are the grandkids of those bigots who stood in the way of Civil Rights and desegragation 50 years ago. Their grandparents said the same thing back then that they, fast forward a couple of generations, are now saying about the LBGT community. I still hear elderly white people (Southern Baptists) use the N word in my presence and use it freely to describe our President. They assume, stupidly as they are, that because I’m “white, I MUST be one of them. Hate, judgemental, etc.
Truth
August 1st, 2012
3:23 pm
So, where’s the out cry against establishments like Star Bucks, Amazon and others that donate money to organizations that support gay rights and even abortion. No, that is fine for the intolerate left wing that think ony they have any rights. Got news for you. There are plenty of us with different views and values and we are not going away.