Earlier this summer Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy
brought about a swarm of angst against his corporation with his famous “guilty
as charged” line referring to his monetary support of groups that fight to
prevent LGBT equality; or put another way simple human equality. Like many Americans who believe universal
human equality is paramount to the success of a free and democratic society, I
elected to stop eating at Chick-fil-A.
To be honest, it was a very tough thing for me to do because you see, I
really like Chick-fil-A’s chicken. I
mean REALLY like their chicken!
There
is not a single instance in which I pass a Chick-fil-A that I don’t ask my
wife-tears nearly welling up in my eye-why it couldn’t have been another fast food
chain that I could more easily live without.
Because of this, I cannot begin to explain the joy I felt seeing that
Chick-fil-A had decided to cut off funding for non-profits that have political
agendas. Finally, I thought, Chick-fil-A
has had change of heart. Could it be
that my personal boycott of their tasty, juicy chicken sandwiches could come to
an end?
Apparently
Chick-fil-A reached the agreement with an outspoken Chick-fil-A critic and
Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno that would resolve the whole mess. Chick-fil-A wants to expand their operations
into the Windy City but in order to do that they needed to stop the outspoken alderman
from publicly opposing the expansion. Thus
a deal was struck; or so it appeared.
Chick-fil-A would cease funding anti-LBGT groups among other concessions
and in turn Alderman Moreno would cease opposing their expansion into Chicago.
Just
as my taste buds were getting geared up for an all night chicken binge I
learned that both I and Alderman Moreno had been duped. You see, it appears that just days after
Chick-fil-A had agreed to stop funding bigoted groups, Dan Cathy on September
18th, tweeted a photo from a fund raiser for the anti-LBGT group
Marriage and Family Foundation. The WinShape
Foundation which Chick-fil-A operates was hosting a 200 mile couple’s
motorcycle ride called “WinShape Ride for the Family” with an entry fee of
$3,500 per couple with options to pledge $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 to
Marriage and Family Foundation. In order
not to appear to be donating to the group participants were asked to make
checks payable to Marriage and Family Foundation and not the WinShape
Foundation or Chick-fil-A. Sponsorship
packages were reported to have displayed the Chick-fil-A logo as well as that
of the WinShape Foundation.
While
Dan Cathy and the folks at Chick-fil-A have claimed to stand for Christian
principles, their actions have proven to be anything but Christian. In their actions against the LBGT community,
they have proven themselves to be bigoted, aggressive, and intolerant. They clearly do not love their neighbors as
they do themselves and now they have outright lied to elected officials and to
the public for monetary gain.
At first
I was willing to give them the benefit of doubt in believing that their bigotry
was simply their misinterpretation of Jesus’ teachings. I was willing to simply boycott their stores until they changed their ways but now... Now I am through with Chick-fil-A for good!
-The Progressive Cop
-The Progressive Cop
No comments:
Post a Comment