Chick-Fil-A is gonna be your pariah? Seriously?

First and foremost, I support gay rights, or rather, human rights. I do not believe in separate but equal, I believe in equality. As for marriage, or the sanctity thereof, there is no such thing. The idea of marriage has changed so dramatically throughout history that trying to claim your current view is the be all/end all is laughable. Sanctity got thrown out with divorce, let alone infidelity and abuse, and ancient marriage was pre-arranged with no say from those actually getting married anyway. Frankly so many people are living out of wedlock these days, myself included, and living happily at that, that I don’t really see what the Defense of Marriage is even realistically supposed to mean other than being a hotly contentious talking point that seems to be wasting more tax dollars than saving anyone’s family (hey, if you let more people get married, that’ll stimulate the economy, too, ceremonies, gift registry’s, travel industry, etc.).


But this is all my view, my opinion. And you are perfectly welcome to discuss it, argue, belittle, support, or completely ignore. Actually, I hope you ignore it, rather than pick a target to pin all the writhing hatred to because their opinion is different. Which brings us to the hot button issue: the Mayor’s of Boston & Chicago want Chick-Fil-A out of town because their CEO doesn’t believe in gay marriage.

Now, straight from Chick-Fil-A’s web page, their mission statement is “Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant.” I love their chicken. I may not personally agree with Dan Cathy’s view when he said he is “guilty as charged” for supporting what he called the “biblical definition” of marriage as being between a man and a woman. That’s his opinion and rightly so and good for him (honestly) for speaking it. We don’t agree, sir, but I love your chicken! And franchise owners have come out and said, “yo, we treat people with respect! That’s his personal opinion!” (Totally actual quote that I paraphrased from a made-up person in my mind). No, seriously, says Lauren Silich, a franchise owner in Chicago, she hires and serves gays “with honor, dignity and respect...” and “(what) was said are the personal beliefs of our CEO. But it has nothing to do with how we run our business in Chicago. It doesn’t translate into any discriminatory action.” Good for you, too.

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop doesn’t want to do business with them over this difference of opinion, but that seems to be the most measured and legitimate response out of all of this. Your powers-that-be don’t agree and no longer want to do business together, sounds good. The Mayors however, are being, for lack of a better turn of phrase (which there isn’t), bat-shit-insane. Boycott and ouster a company who’s President personally said something you personally disagree with. So much for free speech. But also, pick your battles! The Creature Shop is a company that no longer wants to do business with another company. If the Mayors are going to act this way, they need some measured uniformity. If you’re so passionate about this issue, why aren’t you rallying against the government you are a part of? Gay marriage is explicitly prohibited in both Massachusetts and Illinois.

Hanging this demonization on a company whose President said something you were offended by is like blaming the entire state of a nation’s economic well being on just one guy when it was the government at large to blame…wait a minute…

Beyond the headlines, I’ve seen barbs traded back and forth on Facebook, for and against and indifferent. Call my entry into the foray indifferent. For how much I love Chick-Fil-A’s chicken, I simply don’t eat there very often. And I bet you people who are saying you won’t buy there anymore weren’t eating their every day…or every week…hell maybe not even every month. And you who are saying you’re going to eat there to spite the naysayers…have you gone? Did you make a loud announcement to the food court that you were buying this as a big “FUCK YOU” to the complainers? Did you know that complaining about a complaint makes you a complainer, too? Which circles back to my statement where I hope you ignore me. The biggest fuck all you can give anything is to really say fuck it. Be done with it. Drop it. Don’t give it the breath in your lungs. For or against, either eat your chicken or don’t.

Besides, there’s a bigger issue I personally have with Chick-Fil-A. I understand why they’re closed on Sunday. But guess what? After church lots of people (including my family) like to eat out. Sometimes I really want chicken.

Fuckin’ Chick-Fil-A.

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