The disturbing attacks on Chick-fil-A
There’s one part of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s recent remarks that the left seems especially intent on disproving: the part where he said,
… we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.
The rest of Cathy’s comments, if you haven’t already heard, concerned his opinion of the propriety of gay marriage from a biblical perspective. As retribution for his voicing this opinion, some liberals in Chicago and Boston want to deny Cathy and his company the right to operate in their cities.
This is disturbing on a number of levels, two in particular.
The first is the idea that local governments might deny a business license to a company because of the beliefs of its owners. In Chicago, Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno threatened to do just that in his ward. (The city’s mayor, former Obama aide Rahm Emanuel, was more oblique, voicing sympathy with Moreno’s perspective but saying only that a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Chicago “would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.”)
As Elizabeth Scalia notes, this is how fascism works. As the far-from-right-wing Boston Globe editorialized, in response to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s statement that “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston” and that the company shouldn’t be allowed to open a store near famed Faneuil Hall along the city’s — first irony alert! — Freedom Trail:
… which part of the First Amendment does Menino not understand? A business owner’s political or religious beliefs should not be a test for the worthiness of his or her application for a business license. … If the mayor of a conservative town tried to keep out gay-friendly Starbucks or Apple, it would be an outrage.
Menino has since backtracked on his threat. Moreno appears to be digging in, although some of his fellow aldermen take a different view.
The second is the way Menino and Moreno are twisting the definition of the word “discrimination” to apply it to Cathy’s objection to — second irony alert! — the redefinition of the word “marriage” to apply to same-sex couples.
“You can’t have a business in the City of Boston that discriminates against a population,” Menino told the Boston Herald to explain his desire to keep Chick-fil-A out of his city.
“If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the 1st Ward,” Moreno told the Chicago Tribune.
But I have yet to see the first shred of evidence Chick-fil-A is actually discriminating against gay couples. Menino and Moreno cited no reports that same-sex couples in a Chick-fil-A restaurant have been denied service or asked to leave, nor any instances of gay employees or job applicants being dismissed due to their sexual orientation. This is hardly comparable to a Southern lunch counter turning away black customers half a century ago.
Nor could anyone accurately describe Cathy or Chick-fil-A as influential political agitators who are enabling some sort of “discrimination.” While much was made back in March of the company’s donations to groups that promote the traditional definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, the company is practically silent in terms of donations to politicians and political organizations. According to the Sunlight Foundation, the sum total of all political donations by the company, its employees and its PAC, between 1989 and 2012, was just $177,410 — about $7,400 a year. And even this meager spending does not appear to have been tied to the issue of gay marriage.
If a mere difference of opinion with elected officials is enough to qualify as “discrimination,” then in some way or another virtually every employer would be, as Cathy put it in the interview that sparked this episode, guilty as charged. Civil society itself would be fractured irretrievably. As Scalia asked,
… where does the “punishment” spiral stop? The press declares Chick-fil-A “homophobic” (a dishonest word) and then the local governments start penalizing them for it; Jim Henson’s outfit stomps off. What next? Will people against gay marriage start boycotting Muppet stuff? Pyres of Elmo in support of Chick-fil-A’s right to be itself?
We’re already seeing a preliminary version of this: Activists are encouraging same-sex couples to visit Chick-fil-A stores next Friday for a “National Same-Sex Kiss Day”; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is encouraging fellow social conservatives to “buycott” the company by patronizing its restaurants en masse next Wednesday.
Does anyone see this thing headed toward reconciliation?
The idea at the foundation of our freedom of speech is often said to have been summarized by the French philosopher Voltaire: “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” It’s a long way from Voltaire’s France to Menino’s Boston and Moreno’s Chicago, and the direction is a very disheartening one.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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474 comments Add your comment
Slick Rick
July 26th, 2012
5:32 pm
@ @@ @ 5:14 – “nasty” because my opinion differs from yours, or nasty because I present you with facts that undercut your thesis? Can you spell “intolerance”? not to worry if you can’t; it’s an essential part of a conservative’s raison d’etre and as such knowing what it means or how to spell it isn’t a necessary precondition to practicing it.
retired early
July 26th, 2012
5:33 pm
There are no homosexuals in Iran according to their president. He is correct…they execute them.
Does that make you Southern Baptist’s mouth’s water. Hey, stay in the closet…or die.
Muslim extremist…..Southern Baptist…..hmm. What is the connection……
fair and balanced
July 26th, 2012
5:36 pm
I agree with Kyle this is over the top for public officials .
However if a company repeatedly lays off workers and outsources jobs to make money like Bain is doing right now in Freeport Illinois, should they be sanctioned in some way by the state and the feds instead of being given tax write offs. And should there businesses be publicized so people can boycott them? (Disclaimer- this has nothing to do with Mitt)
SheeshLouise
July 26th, 2012
5:39 pm
Rafe, what are you talking about??? “Welcome Farrakhan to Chicago”??? Louis Farrakhan lives right on the southside of Chicago. You can at any time walk the street in Hyde Park and stand right at the front gate of his mansion at 51st and Ellis. That is if the FOI doesn’t break you in half once they smell the pork emanating from your presence.
I find it hilarious that you would point out that single individual, when you have any number of millions of people in this country who have expressed ideas about various groups of people or individuals. They don’t have to “welcome” him or anybody else for that matter nowhere. This is a FREE COUNTRY. And please tell us all, when exactly did this “welcoming” happen?? LOL. What a joke!
Sick of Progs
July 26th, 2012
5:40 pm
This is why liberals must be eradicated. Couple deviant morals with political control and this is what you get. How many gay animals are there in a wolf-pack? None, the pack will turn on them and kill them. Hitler had it right, he just picked the wrong groups of people!
@@
July 26th, 2012
5:42 pm
Slick:
Your nastiness has nothing to do with your opinion. It’s how you express it.
it extended inside of ‘em as well.
Now take a hike! I won’t be addressing you any further.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
5:43 pm
fair and balanced
You have a problem with Bain outsourcing jobs, but if America’s mayor’s send the CFA jobs to the suburbs, that is OK. Hypocrisy their name is fair and balanced.
People want to eat at CFA, they are going to eat there, even if they have to drive outside the city limits. The more the left keeps this in the news, the better it is for the GOP in Nov.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
5:45 pm
Slick
Nastiness, hard to describe, but like pornography, you know it when you see it.
it extended inside of ‘em as well.
How Inciteful Is That!
July 26th, 2012
5:45 pm
I see the Muslims up in Tennessee got their Mosque in spite of the objections from some of the locals and their objections to others having equal access to that Freedom of Religion thing.
Dusty
July 26th, 2012
5:45 pm
RETIRED EARLY stepped over the no-hate sign. Just another angry liberal who can’t keep his hate to himself. Put his name on the babysitter’s watch list.
FAIR & BALANCED. get another ID. You are neither fair nor balanced in your suggestive undercover work. U R 2 obvious!
retired early
July 26th, 2012
5:46 pm
Sick of progs
…”the pack will kill them.” Let me know what documentary exposed this attack of a “gay” wolf.
You are just plain stupid. You can fix ignorant…but you can’t fix stupid.
Hillbilly D
July 26th, 2012
5:46 pm
It’s sort of ironic that if you compared folks’ position in this “controversy” and the position they took on the Dixie Chicks “controversy” of a few years back, you’d find that most folks did a 180 degree flip between the two.
Seems to me the positions should be the same. People have the right to say anything they want and other folks have the right to agree with it or get pissed off. Life goes on.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
5:51 pm
SheeshLouise
I am referring to the Godfather Rahm saying Chick-fil-A does not exhibit “Chicago values”, all the while Calypso Louie is openly embraced in the Windy City. A city with 150,000 gang members, Louie, Rahm, the Daleys, Blago, Ayers, Dorn, Rezco,and Obama, but CFA would threaten their neighborhood.
You can’t make this stuff up!
How Inciteful Is That!
July 26th, 2012
5:53 pm
I don’t know what all the fuss is about a blessed chicken sandwich when we got more important matters in government to deal with:
Elibiary, along with Mohamed Magid and Dalia Mogahed, are mentioned in one of the letters sent to various government agencies earlier this month by Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Gohmert. The representatives are all calling for investigations into whether the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. government. Magid is also mentioned in a letter to the Justice Department.
All three say they are in no way affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. But it’s difficult for them to clear their names, Elibiary said, when members of Congress seem intent on dragging them through the mud.
MPJ
July 26th, 2012
5:54 pm
Question to all:
What law, bill or act prohibits a business from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation? Federal, state or local?
Matthew Sailhardy
July 26th, 2012
5:55 pm
Left-wing fascism is as fascist as right-wing fascism. Gays would do well to call a halt to pounding on people who disagree with their lifestyle, but who are not harming anyone.
retired early
July 26th, 2012
5:55 pm
Dusty
I am not the one “full of hate”. I am just pointing out those who are.
I am not gay, but I will defend their rights as if they are my own, because in the end…they are…
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
5:57 pm
Inciteful
I see the Muslims up in Tennessee got their Mosque
Yep, they did, any Idea when they will start construction on the First Baptist Church of Damascus?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 26th, 2012
5:59 pm
Hillbilly D
Pardon my ignorance but, how will I know when my corn is ready for harvest?
Up Up and Away
July 26th, 2012
5:59 pm
retired early
I wouldn’t worry about it. Some of the bloggers, whether they come from the left or right, who are talking “hate” would be advised to read some of their own crap that they post on this blog.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
6:01 pm
Inciteful
They may be telling the truth, but when your religion does not think lying to infidels is a sin, then people will always wonder about their truthfulness. Polygraph?
SheeshLouise
July 26th, 2012
6:01 pm
Rafe sorry bit you just DO NOT know what you are talking about. If you MUST be informed, Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have NEVER been engaged in any open “embrace” with the city of Chicago for as long as I have been alive. I won’t even waste my time getting into it with you, because you are not at all interested in the truth. The NOI has always operated in its own space, never seeking the approval of ANY entity and operating in the concept of strict self-reliance. The only reason you are hearing about them in the context of the crime in the city is because they are likely the ONLY people who can get it done. You are in the dark man!! The city administration and police have no interest in really doing anything about it because they are corrupt and always HAVE been! I will leave it right there because the schooling would be too intense for you. All I suggest is for you to do is stop popping off about that what which you really have no idea about. It doesn’t make you look smart at all.
JamVet
July 26th, 2012
6:02 pm
First Baptist Church of Damascus?
Because we desperately want to be oh so much like the Syrians and other barbarians.
Enhanced interrogation, anyone?
Hillbilly D
July 26th, 2012
6:04 pm
Kamchak
That’s something that just comes with experience. A couple things to watch for are the color of the silks as they turn darker, they’re getting ready and also feel the ears. This is something you just sort of learn but you can feel when the ear is filling out. Corn goes from ready to too hard in a matter of a couple of days. It’s tricky. Maybe one of the locals can sort of guide you through it. That would be my suggestion.
Another good sign, although not a pleasant one, is that when the coons start hitting your corn at night, it’s just about ready.
I know that’s pretty vague but it’s one of those things that’s hard to describe, you just sort of have to know. My Grandpa could stand back and look at a field and tell you about how many days away you were but I’ve never been that good at it.
It’s been so dry here, until the last week or so, that my corn looks pretty well hopeless. This is the worst garden year I’ve had in many years.
Dusty
July 26th, 2012
6:04 pm
Hillbilly D, 5:46
How can you not forget the Dixie Chicks when you have eighty thousand Dixie chicks living next door? errr Nevermind. Just a thought before curfew time.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
6:05 pm
Kamchak
When the overwhelming majority of the silks turn from tan to brown. When all the silks are dark brown, it is past its prime.
TRUTH
July 26th, 2012
6:05 pm
I don’t think Chick-Fil-A discriminates against the LBGT community, if they did, they would not exist in Atlanta. However Mr. Cathy’s views are his own and he is entitled too them. As I read earlier, if there is disagreement with his viewpoints, its like a bad radio station (V103, oops I said that out loud??) just change the station. You DO NOT HAVE TO PATRONIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT. This is far more effective than trying to answer a blog post about it.
Just sayin’….
Rightwing Troll
July 26th, 2012
6:07 pm
“I still love chicken.
In the normal godly biblical manner, of course.”
Welcome to Georgia sister… where the mens are mens and the chickens are skeered…
@@
July 26th, 2012
6:07 pm
What law, bill or act prohibits a business from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?
I don’t think there is one. All proposals have died for lack of support. Even when the Democrats were in the majority.
I’m not sure why that is. Maybe they’re covered under another law.
How Inciteful Is That!
July 26th, 2012
6:11 pm
Yep, they did, any Idea when they will start construction on the First Baptist Church of Damascus?
I didn’t realize there was a Damascus, TN. Thanks for the info., Rafe.
NA
July 26th, 2012
6:12 pm
1. Dan Cathy has a right to his beliefs and you can not fault that
2.He is not bashing homosexuals, he again just stated what he believes
3. Why is this being made into a homosexual cause—- people just jump at the chance to create a cause where there is not one—- they are creating hatred where there is none
4. Do the people who find fault with his views think that being heterosexual is wrong , as it sure sounds like it——– just remember without those bad heterosexuals you would not be here
5. this whole thing is a non issue———- Chick fil a runs a good, profitable, clean business in which people line up to buy their product. they close on Sunday because of their views—— that is admirable this day and age—— next the people complaining will have a problem with his religion and the fact that his company is responsible for the deaths of many chickens.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 26th, 2012
6:13 pm
Hillbilly D
Right now the ears are still kinda small and I’m comparing them to what I normally buy in the store or farmer’s market, but I haven’t seen this variety (or more accurately, I haven’t seen this variety identified as such) so I don’t know if ear size is a good indicator.
Yeah, I was warned about the raccoons. On a positive note, I saw my buddy the groundhog twice (got a shot off at him once and missed!) but he’s leaving my garden alone.
How Inciteful Is That!
July 26th, 2012
6:14 pm
They may be telling the truth, but when your religion does not think lying to infidels is a sin, then people will always wonder about their truthfulness. Polygraph?
It’s a good thing one of those Ten Commandments is “Thou Shalt Not Lie,” or we’d be in a world of hurt.
Aquagirl
July 26th, 2012
6:15 pm
I don’t know if ear size is a good indicator.
You know what they say about big ears……
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
6:15 pm
Sheesh
Since you questioned my intelligence, I will post this, normally I do not like to do research for others.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/13996951-418/rahm-welcomes-help-from-farrakahn-ignores-anti-semitic-remarks.html
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 26th, 2012
6:17 pm
Mayor Mumbles Menino couldn’t pronounce Constitutional if his life depended on it.
Courtney
July 26th, 2012
6:18 pm
Build a Chick-fil-A in Midtown. I bet it will be packed just like the rest of them. Gay people are more tolerant than liberals.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
July 26th, 2012
6:18 pm
Out of here, off to CFA, and a couple of sandwiches.
Dan Cathy is GREAT
July 26th, 2012
6:21 pm
Dan Cathy has done more for the kids in Georgia and other states than anyone else. He does not discriminate on blacks, gays, or anyone regarding their religion. So – LEAVE THE MAN ALONE!
He is a good and honest man who happens to be a Christian and believes in God’s word and the Bible. He has just as much right to his belief and the queers, gays, whatever do to theirs. He simply stated he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. SO? Good for him – and good for him that all of his restaurants are closed on Sundays…he holds true to his religion.
The gays, queers, should go find others who do discriminate against them – he is not one of them….
GET REAL !!!!
Hillbilly D
July 26th, 2012
6:23 pm
Kamchak
You can’t always go by ear size. The varieties I grow, the ear grows to about full length and then fills out.
You know what they say about big ears……
Big earmuffs?
JamVet
July 26th, 2012
6:25 pm
Gay people are more tolerant than liberals.
Like gay people aren’t predominantly liberals???
More Republican logic…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 26th, 2012
6:26 pm
You know what they say about big ears……
Little pitchers have ‘em.
JDW
July 26th, 2012
6:35 pm
Kyle wrote…”But I have yet to see the first shred of evidence Chick-fil-A is actually discriminating against gay couples”
Dan Cathy kind of stuck his foot in his mouth a bit, but nowhere in those remarks does he say he is against gays. He says that he is a supporter of traditional marriage…he does not say he is in favor of treating gays in a discriminatory fashion. In fact Don Perry reiterated Chick-fil-A’s official stance almost immediately by publishing their policy…
“Chick-fli-a’s goal is “to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender”
I know firsthand that they adhere to that policy and I think that they are being treated unfairly from both sides.
Chuck
July 26th, 2012
6:38 pm
I don’t care much for Chick-Fil-A myself.
@@
July 26th, 2012
6:42 pm
I’m wonderin’ why liberals didn’t boycott Obama, who, during the campaign, said he believed marriage was between one man, one woman.
If only they had…
schnirt
Up Up and Away
July 26th, 2012
6:45 pm
@@
Are you against boycotts?
@@
July 26th, 2012
6:52 pm
Up:
I’m in favor of consumer activism. Boycotts are more like terrorism…not very effective. They usually end up damaging the activists’ cause.
Good food
July 26th, 2012
6:54 pm
Good food,clean facilities,polite people, quick service,fair price that is what makes Chickfila successful. The owners view on gay marriage has no bearing on a job well done. To each his own.
@@
July 26th, 2012
6:54 pm
…or image.
Fred ™
July 26th, 2012
6:56 pm
Funny how Mr. Cathy has to forfeit his right to free speech. As an Independent, I’ve gotten a lot of grief over this issue because I’m not afraid to speak my mind and echo that nasty french guy, (all french are nasty to me lol) in his sentiment: I may not agree with what you say but I have defended with my life, your right to say it.
What is funny is that in all the attacks I have gotten, not one single person has asked me if I agree or disagree with Dan Cathy. Not that it matters, I wouldn’t tell anyone here anyway lol.