If you have missed the firestorm that Chic-fil-A has found itself in after the comments of her President Dan Cathy let me get you caught up. Cathy’s remarks last week to a Baptist Press site, which he affirmed the company’s belief in “the biblical definition of the family unit,” went viral Wednesday. He said, “”We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles”. Supporters and opponents of gay unions immediately weighed in and did so heavily. From Twitter campaigns, petitions to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino telling the Boston Herald he would work to block Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the city. “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population.” and this is where my interest peaked.
I am a Chic-fil-A fan. Not the food, in particular, but the service. I have worked in restaurants most of my life and they have a culture that I think many others should look to and follow when it comes to service. I honestly was bothered by the calls for boycotts and, death threats that went out against Dan Cathy. I mean I thought this was America, the place where we have freedom of speech or have I move somewhere else?
This weekend I was reading The Atlantic and came across an article from author and blogger Jonathan Merritt. I’m only going to give portions of it but he said in these few paragraphs what many were thinking.
Should they swear off the legendary chicken sandwiches to support gay rights? Or could they eat one of the filets anyway, knowing their dollars would be but a drop in the bucket for a chain that has more than $4 billion in annual sales and donated a pittance to groups they may disagree with?
I’d argue the latter — and this has nothing to do with my views on gay marriage. It’s because Chick-fil-A is a laudable organization on balance, and because I refuse to contribute to the ineffective boycott culture that’s springing up across America.
First of all, Chick-fil-A is not a hate group. In a statement released yesterday, company leaders made their commitment to equal service clear, “The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.”
As a native Atlantan, I’ve dined at the chicken chain more than I’d like to admit over more than two decades and even interacted with its leadership team. I’ve never witnessed any customer refused service or even treated differently. On the contrary, Chick-fil-A is known for offering world-class customer service to each person that walks through one of the restaurant’s doors.
Additionally, the organization gives millions of dollars each year to charitable causes — and not just to “pro-family” groups. It funds a large foster care program, several schools of a higher learning, and a children’s camp. It has provided thousands of scholarships for Chick-fil-A employees to attend college and grow past the service sector where they got their workplace start. (On Friday, the company provided free meals for Aurora, Colo., policemen.)
And the company’s leaders claim to do all of this out of convictions rooted in the Christian faith. Anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of the company should know that it does not hide its commitment to biblical values. Its corporate statement of purpose since 1982 has begun, “To glorify God…”
Given this, that anyone was surprised by Cathy’s statements is, well, surprising. Like many conservative Christians, he does not support gay marriage.
I’m flummoxed that so many consumers are so quick these days to call for boycotts of any company that deviates from their personal or political views. For one thing, boycotts rarely cause actual pocketbook – rather than PR — damage. Most consumers don’t care enough to drive an extra mile to get the same product from someone else. And that’s especially the case for companies as large as Chick-fil-A, which has prime locations on many college campuses where there is little head-to-head competition.
But my bigger question is this: In a nation that’s as divided as ours is, do we really want our commercial lives and our political lives to be so wholly intermeshed? And is this really the kind of culture we want to create? Culture war boycotts cut both ways and are much more likely to meet with success when prosecuted by large groups of people, such as Christian activists, who are more numerous than gays and lesbians and their more activist supporters.
Gay and lesbian groups were famously rankled when pro-family activists reacted against Kraft for posting a photo of an Oreo cookie with rainbow-hued filling last month in honor of Gay Pride Month, and also when similar groups protested JCPenney for announcing lesbian talk show host Ellen DeGeneres would be its next spokesperson.
So should the 45 percent of Americans who oppose gay marriage opt for Chips Ahoy! instead of Oreos? Should they begin shopping at Belk instead of JC Penny? If they did, it wouldn’t make any more sense than the endless failed calls for liberal consumers to boycott Urban Outfitters, because its owner is a conservative and Rick Santorum donor, or to not order from Domino’s Pizza, because it was founded by a Catholic conservative who helped fund anti-abortion causes.
Please read the rest of the article here The Atlantic and please let me know your thoughts on the subject.
Will you boycott Chic-fil-A or will you eat more chiken? Why?
I both agree and disagree with Mr. Merritt.
First the part I agree with….That is laughable for anyone to be shocked by CFA’s stance on Christian values. They are and always have been very openly Christian. From their purpose statement “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” (which if you look at this statement, includes fair service to all, regardless of their beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, age, etc.). To their famous stance of not being open on Sundays based on CFA founder Truett Cathy belief that “all franchised Chick-fil-A® Operators and Restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so.” To the various charities that they support and Church events that they sponsor. Our church had an event at Christmastime in which they brought out their iconic person in a Cow suit to hand out free CFA sandwiches. All that being said their stance on traditional family values is about as shocking as finding out that LIfeWay Christian Stores holds that view as way.
The part that I disagree with is the boycott issue. I think it is a wonderfully beautiful thing that in America we have so many choices of who we can give our patronage. I think that if you believe in something strong enough and a company has a stance that either agrees or disagrees with that stance you have the freedom to give or not give that company your business and to try to convince groups of like minded people to do the same. Now Mr. Merritt points out, is likely to actually hurt the business dramatically, no. But it show what the limits are that you are willing to tolerate in your consumerism. It is much more about standing on your beliefs than actually creating such a large boycott that the company changes it’s way. Furthermore I want to point out that this is an option that comes down to an individual level…you have to decide if it is right for you to do business with certain companies or not, but you are not obligated to participate in ongoing boycotts, just because others say you should.
Lastly, I would like to give you my personal stance. I applaud everything that CFA stands for. Even though their food is not my favorite among fast service chains, I have in the past when faced between two options chosen to support them based on their stance. It is a rare quality in the business world in this age to take an unwavering stand despite the feedback you know you will receive. I am certain their are many companies whose founders would turn in their grave to see what their companies support these days. It is almost impossible as a consumer today to avoid all companies that oppose your values. As a conservative Christian I also support traditional family values and would certainly prefer give my patronage to like minded companies however these days is almost impossible to avoid. To show how difficult it is the following is a list of companies that scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2010 Cooperate Equality Index…as I’m sure you can tell by the name this index shows essentially how much a company supports the LGBT stance.
1. 3M Co.
2. AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah
3. Abercrombie & Fitch
4. Accenture Ltd.
5. Aetna
6. Agilent Technologies
7. Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
8. Alaska Airlines
9. Alcatel-Lucent
10. Alcoa
11. Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America
12. Allstate Corp.
13. Alston & Bird
14. AMC Entertainment
15. American Airlines
16. American Express
17. Ameriprise Financial
18. Anheuser-Busch Companies
19. Aon Corp.
20. Apple
21. Applied Materials
22. Arent Fox LLP
23. Arnold & Porter
24. AT&T
25. Automatic Data Processing
26. Bain & Co.
27. Baker & Daniels LLP
28. Baker Botts
29. Ballard Spahr
30. Bank of America
31. Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
32. Barnes & Noble
33. BASF
34. Bausch & Lomb
35. Best Buy
36. Bingham McCutchen
37. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
38. BMC Software
39. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals
40. Boeing
41. Booz Allen Hamilton
42. Borders
43. Boston Consulting Group
44. BP America
45. Bright Horizons Family Solutions
46. Brinker International
47. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
48. Brown Rudnick
49. Bryan Cave
50. Campbell Soup Co.
51. Capital One
52. Cardinal Health
53. Cargill
54. Carlson Companies
55. Carlton Fields
56. Carmax
57. Chapman & Cutler
58. Charles Schwab
59. Chevron
60. Chrysler
61. Chubb
62. Cisco Systems
63. Citigroup
64. Clear Channel Communications
65. Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
66. Clifford Chance US LLP
67. Clorox
68. CNA Insurance
69. Coca-Cola
70. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
71. Constellation Energy Group Inc.
72. Continental Airlines
73. Corning
74. Costco
75. Covington & Burling LLP
76. Cox Enterprises
77. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
78. Credit Suisse
79. Cummins
80. Davis, Polk and Wardwell
81. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
82. Dell
83. Deloitte & Touche
84. Delta Air Lines
85. Deutsche Bank
86. Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
87. Diageo North America
88. Dickstein Shapiro
89. DLA Piper
90. Dorsey & Whitney
91. Dow Chemical
92. Duane Morris
93. DuPont
94. Eastman Kodak
95. eBay Inc.
96. Ecolab
97. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
98. Electronic Arts
99. Eli Lilly & Co.
100. Ernst & Young
101. Estee Lauder
102. Esurance
103. F.H.L.M.C. (Freddie Mac)
104. Faegre & Benson
105. Fannie Mae
106. Fenwick & West
107. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
108. Foley & Lardner
109. Foley Hoag
110. Food Lion
111. Ford
112. Freescale Semiconductor
113. Fried, Frank, Haris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
114. Fulbright & Jaworski
115. GameStop
116. Gap
117. Genentech
118. General Mills
119. General Motors
120. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
121. GlaxoSmithKline
122. Goldman Sachs
123. Goodwin Procter
124. Google
125. Hallmark Cards
126. Harrah’s
127. Harris Bankcorp
128. Hartford Financial Services
129. Haynes and Boone LLP
130. Health Care Service Corp.
131. Herman Miller
132. Hewitt Associates
133. Hewlett-Packard
134. Hinshaw & Culbertson
135. Hogan & Hartson
136. Holland & Knight
137. Honeywell International
138. Hospira
139. Howrey LLP
140. HSBC USA
141. Hunton & Williams
142. Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP
143. Hyatt
144. ING North America Insurance
145. Intel
146. International Business Machines (IBM)
147. Interpublic Group of Companies
148. Intuit
149. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
150. Jenner & Block
151. JetBlue Airways
152. Johnson & Johnson
153. Kaiser Permanente
154. Katten Muchin Rosenman
155. Kaye Scholer
156. KeyCorp
157. Kimberly Clark Corp.
158. Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group
159. Kirkland & Ellis
160. KPMG
161. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel
162. Latham & Watkins
163. Levi Strauss
164. LexisNexis
165. Lexmark International
166. Littler Mendelson PC
167. Liz Claiborne
168. Lockheed Martin Corp.
169. Macy
170. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
171. Marriott International
172. Marsh & McLennan Cos.
173. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
174. MasterCard
175. Mayer Brown
176. McDermott Will & Emery
177. McKinsey & Co.
178. Medtronic
179. Merck & Co.
180. MetLife
181. Microsoft
182. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
183. MillerCoors
184. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo
185. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
186. Monsanto
187. Morgan Lewis & Bockius
188. Morgan Stanley
189. Morrison & Foerster
190. Motorola
191. National Grid USA
192. Nationwide
193. Navigant Consulting
194. NCR
195. NetApp
196. New York Life Insurance Co.
197. New York Times Co.
198. Newell Rubbermaid
199. Nielsen Co.
200. Nike
201. Nixon Peabody
202. Nordstrom
203. Northern Trust
204. Northrop Grumman
205. Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.
206. O’Melveny & Myers
207. Oracle
208. Orbitz
209. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
210. Owens Corning
211. Pacific Life Insurance
212. Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
213. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
214. Pepper Hamilton
215. Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
216. PepsiCo
217. Perkins Coie
218. Pfizer
219. PG&E
220. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
221. PricewaterhouseCoopers
222. Procter & Gamble
223. Progressive Corp.
224. Proskauer Rose LLP
225. Prudential Financial
226. Public Service Enterprise Group
227. Quarles & Brady
228. Raymond James Financial
229. Raytheon
230. RBC Wealth Management
231. Recreational Equipment Inc.
232. Replacements Ltd.
233. Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP
234. Ropes & Gray LLP
235. S.C. Johnson & Son
236. Sabre Holdings
237. SAP America
238. Schering-Plough
239. Sears
240. Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP
241. Sempra Energy
242. Seyfarth Shaw LLP
243. Shearman & Sterling
244. Shell Oil
245. Shook, Hardy & Bacon
246. Sidley Austin
247. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
248. Sodexho
249. Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal
250. Southern California Edison
251. Sprint Nextel
252. Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP
253. Starbucks
254. Starcom MediaVest
255. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
256. State Street Corp.
257. Stinson Morrison Hecker
258. Stoel Rives
259. Subaru of America
260. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
261. Sun Life Financial Inc.
262. Sun Microsystems
263. SunTrust Banks
264. Supervalu
265. Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
266. Symantec Corp.
267. Target
268. TD Bank
269. Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association
270. Tech Data
271. Texas Instruments
272. Thompson Coburn
273. Time Warner
274. TJX Cos.
275. Toyota Financial Services
276. Toyota Motor Sales USA
277. Travelport
278. Troutman Sanders
279. U.S. Bancorp
280. UBS AG
281. Unilever
282. United Business Media
283. United Parcel Service
284. UnitedHealth Group
285. US Airways Group
286. Viacom
287. Vinson & Elkins
288. Visa
289. Visteon Corp.
290. Volkswagen of America
291. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
292. Walgreen
293. Walt Disney
294. Weil, Gotshal and Manges
295. Wells Fargo & Co.
296. Whirlpool
297. White & Case
298. Willkie Farr & Gallagher
299. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
300. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
301. Winston & Strawn
302. Wynn Resorts
303. Xerox
304. Yahoo!
To show just how disturbing a trend this is in business world only 13 companies scored 100% in 2002 in 2011 however the amount soared to a shocking 337 companies. (I could not find the 2011 list in a concise format so I gave the 2010 list which shows only 304 companies indicating a growth of 33 companies in 1 year).
The point is it is unfortunately all most imposible as a consumer to not do business with companies that hold an pro LGBT stance. Do you drive a car…have a computer….fly….use the internet…eat out…watch tv…have a cell phone…go on vacation… go to the movies…listen to music…take medicine…. chances are most of us use products form these companies everyday and it would be virtually impossible in this day and age to have a “normal” life and avoid using any of these companies (and these are just the 100% scores, there are a plethora of 75-99% and very, very few with a score of 0%)
In short, how I approach the situation is by not boycotting all these companies, but rather when I have the option, choosing the company that does have the same values as me. Ultimately it comes down to a personal matter of conscience for each individual. What are your thoughts?
It makes no sense to call yourself a Christian and oppose the equal rights of others. It just shows your true colors as a person who does not know the bible or the true meaning of the love of Christ. It makes you aa hypocrite and devalues the Christian religion as a whole.
Chick-fil-a is not a Christian company. They are aa poser like most “Christian conservatives” who claim to follow the bible as a whole but who pick and choose which scriptures they want to follow.
You believe in traditional marriage? Let’s ignore the fact that traditional marriage involves polygamy, subservience, and marrying your rapist among a plethora of other things. Ignoring that, to vaporize your opposition to gay marriage you better also do these things: avoid blended clothing, avoid consumption of unclean meat, stay away from tattoos, never get drunk, etc. Do all of those things and I will have no problem with your stance, otherwise you are a hypocrite.
Mr. Comode, It’s extremely easy to pick and choose portions of anything to try try and illustrate a particular point. This is perhaps why cultist leaders have so much success using the Bible (or rather portions of it) as support for their radical beliefs. I am not in any way shape or form picking and choosing, I am as anyone practicing a sound hermeneutic would looking at scripture as a whole and interpreting the message that scripture presents in and of itself, rather than picking out pieces to throw them into an argument for the purposes of trying to appear more intelligent and superior by preaching a false message of love and acceptance at while at the same time hurling hateful insults at someone. Addressing the issue of being ceremonial clean and unclean, the Old Testament (Tanakh) , particularly the Books of the Law (Torah) distinguishes greatly between sin and ceremonial uncleanliness. We can go into great detail about the differences in ancient Hebrew culture/religion as it was a Theocracy. We can delve further into Christian studies and see in Christian belief we are no longer held to a ceremonial law but only still the moral law, because Christ has fulfilled it.
Secondly the Bible clearly teaches that as whether it is politically correct or not homosexuality is a sin. Just as an sexual immorality is. Does the Old Testament contain the dirty truth that horrible things happened among God’s chosen nation of Israel… absolutely that’s one of the reasons we can trust it’s authority because it shows the good and the bad. Did rape occur, absolutely. Adultery and then murder to cover it up (pretty sure one of the most revered kings did that one), Polygamy, (oh yeah his son had 700 wives and 300 concubines). As well as tons of other sins, child sacrifice, homosexuality, good old fashioned lust, revenge killing, yeah these are all there. Does it show the horrible consequences of these acts, droughts, death, enslavement and destruction of nations, yup it sure does. The Bible does not condone sin, but it does acknowledge it’s presence in this fallen world.
But regardless of all this my point is not to cause an argument…my point is you value companies and give patronage to those companies that support the same beliefs as you. This in fact is the very reason for the Human Rights Campaign’s Cooperate Equality Index so that if you support their views (which I do not) you can support the respective companies. And i encourage you if you hold rival views to mine to do business with them. I am no man’s judge, but all will answer to the supreme judge, and I have to make sure my actions and beliefs fall in line with I belief, otherwise then I would in fact be double minded as scripture states and would be guilty of the charge of hypocrite you have laid upon me. Also you will take note that in my previous post i did not result to insults, hatred, unkind words or the like. I do not run that way. I do not expect people to live according to belief system that they do not claim to uphold, but at the same time I do not support or condone actions that I believe are wrong. I have known many homosexuals through out the years (my best friend in high school was one though he did not come out till we went our separate ways to different colleges.) I wish them well in life, I do not think myself better than them, as I am just a sinner who has been saved by the grace of God, but I cannot recant my beliefs about what scripture dictates sin as. So I’m sorry if this makes me a hypocrite in your eyes, but all I can do is stay true to my God and my conscience to violate that would condemn me as a hypocrite indeed. And I expect you to do the same, to live in concordance with your beliefs. My goal is not to change anyone’s morality but to present the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, (that all have sinned and thus are worthy of the penalty of eternal separation of God, that no one on his own can overcome sin, but that in his love and desire to be with us God became man and took the penalty for our sins, dying a horrible death on a cross, and then conquering death by raising again, so that we could be forgiven and enter into a relationship with the living God.) and pray that they accept it what happens after that is between them and God.
Interesting information, hope you make some more articles soon.
Honestly there is not way to discuss this situation or the context in which Dan Cathy spoke without incurring the emotional wrath of the LGBT community, justly or unjustly. I would like to believe that we live in a culture that is open to discussion of opposing points of view, but that is not the culture of the United States anymore. We are in the age of close mindedness.
The climate has de-envolved in the our country in the last decade, maybe since 9/11, that has changed how we operate with human beings. Perhaps it is the rise of social media that has brought on this idea that our personal opinions are infallible and we, as the opinionated, have the right to angrily and aggressively attack those who oppose us, all the while protected behind our faceless computer screens or twitter handles.
Still it is without a doubt the greatest problem that we are having in this civil rights issue is that that it contains no civility and more conjecture than educated discussion. Studies have shown that the United States are as polarized right now as they were during the Civil War. This is at the least troubling and at most terrifying. But instead of musket, rifles, cannon; we are using Facebook, Twitter, and TV new. (If anyone tries to parallel the Union or Confederacy with the current sides of the LGBT civil issues they have missed the point.) For many they believe that because gay rights is the issue at hand that we are being open minded as a country but the truth is we are far from it. There is no room for the idea of the enemy must be destroyed, defamed, or vilified in order to gain ground for a cause in open mindedness. Those ideas are only needed in the face of war to get rid of an overwhelm evil. I mean there is not a enough listening by either side to say that we are open minded.
Right now the debate rages over an idea of what is owed to those who already live in privilege. Yes, to live in the United States is privilege.
No matter what side of the issue you lean towards, right or left, we are making more money, even on unemployment, that 95% of the world; we are tweeting our opinions via our iPhones or Androids; and watch the coverage of the news on one of our 2 or 3 TVs in our house. Gay or straight, christian or not, there is no victory in the way we are going about this.
I will be honest for moment. How can we as a culture try to focus on the “new civil right movement” when we haven’t even solved the last one? We still have a ways to go towards African American and other ethnic culture being accepted by culture at large, maybe even more that gay culture at this moment.
During the greatest civil right movement in the history of our country there were men named Lincoln, Douglas, King, Parks, and Kennedy that stood up to lead the discussion of freedom with a conviction for the entire country’s well being not special segments wants. (Sorry if that sounds damning to the LGBT.) Think about that. Yes there was a war, but it was to free slaves (men, women, and children sold as property and bound by the will of slave master) and not comparable to the current plight. These men spoke and persuaded and discussed the injustices in the United States. They did not scream vulgarity at each other to win an argument or attack good men to advance their cause. They had debates, peaceful rallies and sit in, and gave speeches that stir the hearts of men.
I am not against the civil rights of the LGBT (in fact I tend to lean towards civil rights), but who is your face (and you can’t claim Obama, yet) and strong voice of reason. Who is willing to fight the fight with dignity and conviction and not trying to shame good men? Who will give your “I Have a Dream” speech and stir the hearts of America cause that is what this country needs in this debate. Right now I see angry mobs on both sides and that is the scariest part of all. Our future could be forged by anger and discontent either way. Is that victory? Are we open minded then?
The ways are just as important means in this. When will we see this?
Simply put, “good word Travis!”
I usually do not create a lot of comments, but i did
some searching and wound up here In Defense of Eating at Chick-fil-A | Neo Soul Faith.
And I do have a few questions for you if it’s allright. Could it be simply me or does it appear like a few of these remarks come across like coming from brain dead folks? 😛 And, if you are writing at other places, I would like to follow anything new you have to post. Could you make a list of every one of your shared pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
Terrific work! This is the type of info that should be shared across the net.
Shame on the seek engines for not positioning this put up higher!
Thank you =)