It used to be that taking a bite of a chicken sandwich just meant you
were hungry. Now it has become a symbol of whether you stand for or against
same-sex marriage, or – alternately – the right to express your personal views
without fear of retaliation.
At Chick-fil-A locations across the country, people voted with their
wallets today, coming out to express support for the fast-food chain after CEO
Dan Cathy said in an interview that he is a firm backer of traditional
marriage.
“I believe what the Bible says (about marriage),” Chauncy Fields told
us after wolfing down a breakfast of chicken and biscuits. “So I came out
here to support Chick-fil-A and the movement.”
Chris Johnson sees a double standard. “He (Dan Cathy) said the exact
same thing that President Obama said,” Johnson told Fox News -- referring to
the president’s past opposition to gay marriage – “And he gets negativity, and
Obama gets positivity.”
At one Atlanta location, the restaurant was packed, while the line for
the drive-thru looped twice around the building and out into the street.
The backlash across the country against Chick-fil-A has been ferocious. After the mayors of Chicago and Boston heaped scorn upon the company, the mayor of Washington, DC, suggested it was peddling “hate chicken.”
The backlash across the country against Chick-fil-A has been ferocious. After the mayors of Chicago and Boston heaped scorn upon the company, the mayor of Washington, DC, suggested it was peddling “hate chicken.”
Those comments drew a sharp response from Rev. William Owens of the
Coalition of African American Pastors. “Some people are saying that because of
the position that Chick-fil-A is taking, they don’t want them in their cities.
It is a disgrace. It is the same thing that happened when I was marching for
civil rights, when they didn’t want a black to come into their
restaurant," he told a press conference in Washington, DC.
The Chick-fil-A firestorm has taken on different meanings for
different people. For some, it harks to the days of intolerance and
segregation. For others, it is about religious views of marriage. But for most
people who Fox News spoke to today, it is about free speech.
“I think it comes down to a First Amendment issue. I mean, I do
believe in the traditional values of marriage between a man and a woman,” youth
pastor Stephen Lenahan told Fox News after a leisurely breakfast with three
members of his ministry. He is also puzzled as to why Dan Cathy is such a
target, when other corporate CEOs who openly support same-sex marriage are not
similarly criticized by conservatives.
Lenahan says he sees a bigger issue at work here. “There is kind of a
culture war going on and people aren’t really respecting each other and
difference of opinion. There’s no dialogue taking place to get to the
heart of what we really believe as a nation and what is truth.”
Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day – as it is being called was the idea of
former Arkansas governor and Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee. But as
protests against Chick-fil-A swelled across the country, dozens of groups and
prominent individuals joined in support of the company.
Among the groups is Project 21, a black conservative activist
organization. One of its members, Demetrios Minor, said critics of Dan Cathy
have taken his statements completely out of context. “I think liberals
are missing a vital point in their blind hatred of Chick-fil-A,” Minor said in
a statement sent to Fox News. “Being against gay marriage is not being
anti-gay.”
Crtitics of Chick-fil-A argue that the company’s opposition to gay
marriage goes well beyond Dan Cathy’s statements. Over the years, its
philanthropic wing, WinShape, has donated millions of dollars to outside
organizations that actively lobby against efforts to legalize same-sex
marriage.
On Friday, supporters of same-sex marriage will have their say. They
plan a “kiss-in” at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country – encouraging
gays and lesbians to share a public display of affection at the home of the
chicken sandwich.
Source : FoxNews.com