Thursday, August 02, 2012

Chick-fil-A Boycott Backfires

Liberal activists and Democratic politicians have attempted to demonize the Chick-fil-A restaurant franchise because of its owner's personal views opposing gay marriage. They've urged a boycott of the restauarant chain. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a Chicago alderman have even gone so far as declaring that no permits will be issued to the restaurant chain to establish new restaurants in the city. That prompted the Chicago GOP to file a complaint against Emanuel and Alderman Joe Moreno with the Illinois Attorney General's Office for breaking the state's civil rights law by discriminating against the restaurant chain. Yesterday, conservative activists urged supporters of the restaurant to patronize the restaurant in a show of support dubbed Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. By all accounts, supporters packed into the chain's restaurants across the nation, including Indianapolis. The Star reports:
The lines were long Wednesday at Chick-fil-A — at the food chain’s half-dozen locations in the Indianapolis area, as well as 1,600 others nationally — as its owners’ feud with gay-rights advocates over their stance on same-sex marriage drew an organized show of support.
Hundreds of lunch-goers gathered in the food court at Circle Centre mall, and most seemed to be there to express their support for the company president’s stance in support of traditional rather than same-sex marriage.
Wednesday was proclaimed Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day by conservative commentator and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and others among the food chain’s supporters.
The feud stems from a recent defense by Dan Cathy, son of company founder S. Truett Cathy, of his family’s contributions to conservative family organizations opposed to gay marriage and his vow to stand firm in defending their beliefs. Cathy told the Baptist Press last month that the Atlanta-based company was “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of a family.”
It's important to point out that the restaurant chain has a policy of nondiscrimination towards gays and lesbians. The company's owner has never hidden his Christian views and how he applies his Christian views in the management of the company. It's one of the few restaurant chains in the country that is always closed on Sundays. If someone doesn't want to support the restaurant chain because of the owner's religious or political views, that's their right, but it's clearly a violation of basic civil rights laws when elected officials attempt to use the power of government to punish the company because of their disapproval of the political or religious views of a company's owner. Mayor Emanuel stated that Chick-fil-A's values "were not Chicago values" in announcing that he would block future efforts of the restaurant chain to expand in his city. Yet Emanuel has publicly embraced the Nation of Islam and its controversial leader, Rev. Louis Farrakhan, who has made his anti-Semitic views and opposition to same-sex marriage well known, to assist the city in fighting its skyrocketing murder rate.

6 comments:

CircleCityScribe said...

This whole issue was blown out of proportion by Liberal Democrats!

Geeezzzzz! One man speaks his personal moral opinion (which he is absolutely entitled to do) and suddenly liberals attack the business he runs, and impute the personal opinion on the business without any cause or basis.

This business does not discriminate or even take a stand on moral issues. It is wrong to impute the ideas of a person on another entity. In this matter, the beliefs of a corporate employee (which are not shown to be the corporate beliefs) are imputed by Liberals and now they have apparently tried to ban the corporation from doing business in their city.

It's just wrong.

Unknown said...

I think it's important to clear up a couple of misperceptions that have been floating around. The boycott isn't about his views on marriage equality. He has the right to spout off whatever nonsense he wants. His statements that we're inciting God's wrath, etc is his opinion. He's welcome to it.

The problem is that the chain has donated over $5 million dollars to hate groups like Exodus International (which claimed they could turn gay people straight and set up camps to send teens to for conversion therapy. The majority of kids forced into them come out with severe depression issues and a majority of them end up with mental issues and a high suicide rate). The group has since admitted conversion therapy doesn't work. They also donate to groups like the Indiana Family Institute, Focus on the Family, etc. Some of the groups have been designated as hate groups - so it's not just the guys like Erik Miller from Indiana. While he's disgusting, he's not risen to the rank of hate group.

Instead, they're giving to groups that claim LGBT people were the backbone of the Nazis, that gays and lesbians should be guaranteed so we'll "die out," blame us for any major natural disaster, etc.

This causes real problems for LGBT youth who are the number one suicide risk. These groups have actually advocated for parents to disown gay children.

It's much bigger than his opinion on marriage equality. It's the active support of groups who want to keep us as second class citizens - or in some cases reinstate sodomy laws or the "traditional Biblical" solution for gay sex - execution. That's a whole different ball of wax.

It should also be noted that the company's consumer index rating has plummeted lately. The majority of Americans now have a negative view of the chain. There has been a difference made.

They've also been the target of several discrimination claims for fired LGBT employees, freedom of religion violations (you can't even own a franchise unless you agree to abide by their religious beliefs), and refusing to serve openly gay people.

This is much bigger than one guy's comments, Gary.

patriot paul said...

30 Chick-Fil-A set a 1 day world sales record in a letter its president sent to Rev. Rick Warren

Gary R. Welsh said...

It's also important to point out that individual franchise owners and their employees don't share all of the owner's political views. A boycott punishes them for the views of the restaurant chain's founder. On that basis, unknown, I would never go watch another movie because I deplore how the actors, producers and directors donate so much money to radical, left-wing candidates and causes.

Unknown said...

I think it's interesting the way "Unknown" uses the term, "hate groups."

Indy Rob said...

I guess donating money to groups in support of traditional marriage amounts to hate speech in the same way that donating money to Planned Parenthood amounts to supporting abortions.

Neither statement is accurate by the way.