Chicken wars? Really, America?
Can’t get worked up over Chick-fil-A
Fairfield Daily Republic
By Kelvin Wade
From page A7 | August 02, 2012 |
Even after all of the time I spent at Solano Mall in my youth, I never had a bite of what I’ve come to hear is a delicious chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A. So I guess I can say I’m boycotting the company because of CEO Dan Cathy’s opposition to marriage equality, but the truth is, I wouldn’t have been eating there anyway. In fact, I’m not inclined to apply litmus tests to every place I frequent.
As someone who believes in marriage equality but is indifferent to Chick-fil-A, I’m sure my view will satisfy no one but myself.
Look, business owners are free to think what they want and support whatever cause they choose to. Do I think it’s smart business sense to make such a public statement? No. And that’s reflected in the fact that according to global brand indexing giant YouGov, positive opinions of Chick-fil-A’s brand have dropped by 40 percent since the flap. Ouch.
By the same token, the mayor of Boston and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and an alderman in Chicago went too far when they implied they’d prohibit Chick-fil-A from opening stores in their cities. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee tweeted: “Very disappointed #ChickFilA doesn’t share San Francisco’s values & strong commitment to equality for everyone . . . Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not to try to come any closer.”
This flies right in the face of the First Amendment. Are we really talking about banning businesses that don’t espouse the “right” kind of views? What country is this?
But my point is a fast-food restaurant isn’t going to be where marriage equality is decided. I’ve seen people actually lose friends over their support of Chick-fil-A. Really? Are you going to lose friends over the views of someone who owns chicken restaurants?
Are we all going to have to look at what business owners say and donate to before we do business with them? Earlier this week I had lunch at In-N-Out Burger with a friend of mine who is an atheist. I pointed out to her that In-N-Out prints Bible verses on their food packaging. My friend took note of the scriptures and polished off her hamburger with grilled onions. Her only comment was “they make a great burger.” Great attitude.
FoxConn, a Chinese company that contracts for Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Vizio, Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and others, manufactured my iPad 2. It’s been reported that workers toil under extreme hours, unpaid overtime, harsh discipline, unsafe working conditions and inadequate training. Should I give up my iPad?
What about the child labor used to make our clothes and shoes overseas? Am I to walk around naked to protest?
If Mark Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, says something nutty tomorrow or donates money to some crazy organization, am I going to stop being a Raiders fan? I don’t think so.
By all means, if you want to support or boycott any establishment that doesn’t share your views, do so. That’s your right. I’m just not going to get worked up over it.
Besides, the train has left the station on marriage equality. A federal judge just ruled that part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Former Veep Dick Cheney recently reiterated his support for gay marriage. A Pew Poll found that a plurality of Americans, including a majority of Democrats and Independents, support gay marriage. The Democrats have added it to the party platform.
To me, those things matter a heck of a lot more than whether someone eats at a chicken restaurant. Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: First, let's deal with the free speech issue. Most of the time when people bring up free speech they're dead wrong. The First Amendment applies to government restrictions on free speech. In this case, it applies because government officials are implying that business owners have to believe a certain way in order to do business. That flies in the face of the First Amendment and if you consider yourself a civil libertarian or a progressive, you should be the first to defend Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy's right to voice his beliefs. Remember the Constitution?
If a mayor of a city said that if a business owner who believes in marriage equality better not try to move to their city, the same people angry at Chick-fil-A would be angry at those mayors. Think about it.
Second, people have a right to respond to Dan Cathy's beliefs by boycotting his restaurants. That's folks exercising their own freedom of expression. Free speech often has consequences and a boycott is completely legitimate.
As for those who oppose marriage equality on religious grounds: you have every right to believe that. BUT, in my opinion, I think religious beliefs should carry no weight when it comes to whether gays should be allowed to marry. How can conservatives wrap themselves in the cloak of Free Speech in one breath and then in the next demand that the government use religion to make law? This makes no sense. People are free to oppose gay marriage and believe homosexuality is an abomination. This is America. You can believe that interracial marriage is wrong. You can be a bigot. You can be a racist. It's not illegal. But what we believe is often much different than what the law allows. This should be a simple concept.
The Chick-fil-A thing is much more complicated than people have made it out to be. I've seen people unfriend people on Facebook because they differ on this. People have posted, "If you went to Chick-fil-A today, then defirend me." That's silly. There are gay people who work at Chick-fil-A. I'm not going to judge them with as hard as it is to get and hold a job to support yourself these days. There are people who went to the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day just to support free speech, who think it's wrong for government officials to tell people what they can believe. I know of people who are for marriage equality but were appalled by what the mayors have said in this case. In Sacramento, there is a Chick-fil-A franchise owner who supports the gay and lesbian community. There are many people who just love their food and who support marriage equality. yet, we have this rigidity that if you support gay marriage, you must boycott Chick-fil-A or be excommunicated. What are we becoming?
I've always been uncomfortable with labeling the opposition as haters. To label all opponents of marriage equality as haters while at the same time preaching tolerance seems silly. Make no mistake, there are haters out there. There are people out there who hate homosexuals. And it's not just Rev. Fred Phelps and the crazy Westboro Baptist Church. It's not just the nutty N. Carolina preacher who wants to put gays in concentration camps. It's the people who agree with them. There are haters out there.
But there are also folks out there who support a great deal of what gays want but balk at marriage. Maybe they're resistant because of deeply held religious beliefs. Or maybe they're shellshocked by the societal change. When gays come out to their parents, they're often met with hostility and rejection. Sometimes they're embraced with love. And other times, parents need time to absorb the information and come around. Talk to gay people and you'll hear many cases where parents werent' supported at first but then came around to it. Well, there's a good section of the public that doesn't HATE but are adjusting to the societal change of gay marriage. It's reflected in the polling. More and more people are coming along. It would be wonderful if everyone was willing to embrace equality right away for everyone but that's not the way the world works. It didn't work that way for women or minorities. Some people never come around but the majority do. And we stunt the process if we're going to label EVERYONE who is hesitant as a HATER.The more people see that gay folks just want to live life and love who they love more and more people will find it in their heart to embrace them. But when you call someone a hater, it becomes us against them and hearts harden. It's one thing to say that someone's position makes them backers of discrimination vs. hate.
I know this because I was one of them. I was someone who had supported gay equality in every facet of life except I didn't support gay marriage. And it wasn't due to hate at all. I wrote anti-gay marriage columns that were not hateful. I evolved on the issue. Many other people have.
I've rambled on here. But this whole battle over Chick-fil-A seems petty to me. Instead of defriending folks on Facebook, I just send in my donation to GLAAD and keep pushing forward. I'm happy about the federal judges ruling on DOMA. I'm glad that it appears a gay marriage case is heading to the Supreme Court. It's great that more and more Americans are embracing marriage equality. We're getting there.
Fairfield Daily Republic
By Kelvin Wade
From page A7 | August 02, 2012 |
Even after all of the time I spent at Solano Mall in my youth, I never had a bite of what I’ve come to hear is a delicious chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A. So I guess I can say I’m boycotting the company because of CEO Dan Cathy’s opposition to marriage equality, but the truth is, I wouldn’t have been eating there anyway. In fact, I’m not inclined to apply litmus tests to every place I frequent.
As someone who believes in marriage equality but is indifferent to Chick-fil-A, I’m sure my view will satisfy no one but myself.
Look, business owners are free to think what they want and support whatever cause they choose to. Do I think it’s smart business sense to make such a public statement? No. And that’s reflected in the fact that according to global brand indexing giant YouGov, positive opinions of Chick-fil-A’s brand have dropped by 40 percent since the flap. Ouch.
By the same token, the mayor of Boston and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and an alderman in Chicago went too far when they implied they’d prohibit Chick-fil-A from opening stores in their cities. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee tweeted: “Very disappointed #ChickFilA doesn’t share San Francisco’s values & strong commitment to equality for everyone . . . Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not to try to come any closer.”
This flies right in the face of the First Amendment. Are we really talking about banning businesses that don’t espouse the “right” kind of views? What country is this?
But my point is a fast-food restaurant isn’t going to be where marriage equality is decided. I’ve seen people actually lose friends over their support of Chick-fil-A. Really? Are you going to lose friends over the views of someone who owns chicken restaurants?
Are we all going to have to look at what business owners say and donate to before we do business with them? Earlier this week I had lunch at In-N-Out Burger with a friend of mine who is an atheist. I pointed out to her that In-N-Out prints Bible verses on their food packaging. My friend took note of the scriptures and polished off her hamburger with grilled onions. Her only comment was “they make a great burger.” Great attitude.
FoxConn, a Chinese company that contracts for Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Vizio, Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and others, manufactured my iPad 2. It’s been reported that workers toil under extreme hours, unpaid overtime, harsh discipline, unsafe working conditions and inadequate training. Should I give up my iPad?
What about the child labor used to make our clothes and shoes overseas? Am I to walk around naked to protest?
If Mark Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, says something nutty tomorrow or donates money to some crazy organization, am I going to stop being a Raiders fan? I don’t think so.
By all means, if you want to support or boycott any establishment that doesn’t share your views, do so. That’s your right. I’m just not going to get worked up over it.
Besides, the train has left the station on marriage equality. A federal judge just ruled that part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Former Veep Dick Cheney recently reiterated his support for gay marriage. A Pew Poll found that a plurality of Americans, including a majority of Democrats and Independents, support gay marriage. The Democrats have added it to the party platform.
To me, those things matter a heck of a lot more than whether someone eats at a chicken restaurant. Peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
ADDITIONAL NOTES: First, let's deal with the free speech issue. Most of the time when people bring up free speech they're dead wrong. The First Amendment applies to government restrictions on free speech. In this case, it applies because government officials are implying that business owners have to believe a certain way in order to do business. That flies in the face of the First Amendment and if you consider yourself a civil libertarian or a progressive, you should be the first to defend Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy's right to voice his beliefs. Remember the Constitution?
If a mayor of a city said that if a business owner who believes in marriage equality better not try to move to their city, the same people angry at Chick-fil-A would be angry at those mayors. Think about it.
Second, people have a right to respond to Dan Cathy's beliefs by boycotting his restaurants. That's folks exercising their own freedom of expression. Free speech often has consequences and a boycott is completely legitimate.
As for those who oppose marriage equality on religious grounds: you have every right to believe that. BUT, in my opinion, I think religious beliefs should carry no weight when it comes to whether gays should be allowed to marry. How can conservatives wrap themselves in the cloak of Free Speech in one breath and then in the next demand that the government use religion to make law? This makes no sense. People are free to oppose gay marriage and believe homosexuality is an abomination. This is America. You can believe that interracial marriage is wrong. You can be a bigot. You can be a racist. It's not illegal. But what we believe is often much different than what the law allows. This should be a simple concept.
The Chick-fil-A thing is much more complicated than people have made it out to be. I've seen people unfriend people on Facebook because they differ on this. People have posted, "If you went to Chick-fil-A today, then defirend me." That's silly. There are gay people who work at Chick-fil-A. I'm not going to judge them with as hard as it is to get and hold a job to support yourself these days. There are people who went to the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day just to support free speech, who think it's wrong for government officials to tell people what they can believe. I know of people who are for marriage equality but were appalled by what the mayors have said in this case. In Sacramento, there is a Chick-fil-A franchise owner who supports the gay and lesbian community. There are many people who just love their food and who support marriage equality. yet, we have this rigidity that if you support gay marriage, you must boycott Chick-fil-A or be excommunicated. What are we becoming?
I've always been uncomfortable with labeling the opposition as haters. To label all opponents of marriage equality as haters while at the same time preaching tolerance seems silly. Make no mistake, there are haters out there. There are people out there who hate homosexuals. And it's not just Rev. Fred Phelps and the crazy Westboro Baptist Church. It's not just the nutty N. Carolina preacher who wants to put gays in concentration camps. It's the people who agree with them. There are haters out there.
But there are also folks out there who support a great deal of what gays want but balk at marriage. Maybe they're resistant because of deeply held religious beliefs. Or maybe they're shellshocked by the societal change. When gays come out to their parents, they're often met with hostility and rejection. Sometimes they're embraced with love. And other times, parents need time to absorb the information and come around. Talk to gay people and you'll hear many cases where parents werent' supported at first but then came around to it. Well, there's a good section of the public that doesn't HATE but are adjusting to the societal change of gay marriage. It's reflected in the polling. More and more people are coming along. It would be wonderful if everyone was willing to embrace equality right away for everyone but that's not the way the world works. It didn't work that way for women or minorities. Some people never come around but the majority do. And we stunt the process if we're going to label EVERYONE who is hesitant as a HATER.The more people see that gay folks just want to live life and love who they love more and more people will find it in their heart to embrace them. But when you call someone a hater, it becomes us against them and hearts harden. It's one thing to say that someone's position makes them backers of discrimination vs. hate.
I know this because I was one of them. I was someone who had supported gay equality in every facet of life except I didn't support gay marriage. And it wasn't due to hate at all. I wrote anti-gay marriage columns that were not hateful. I evolved on the issue. Many other people have.
I've rambled on here. But this whole battle over Chick-fil-A seems petty to me. Instead of defriending folks on Facebook, I just send in my donation to GLAAD and keep pushing forward. I'm happy about the federal judges ruling on DOMA. I'm glad that it appears a gay marriage case is heading to the Supreme Court. It's great that more and more Americans are embracing marriage equality. We're getting there.
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