Friday, July 20, 2012

The High Price of Supporting Biblical Marriage


In an interview two days ago with Baptist Press Dan Cathy, CEO of the national fast-food restaurant Chick-fil-A, did what a public figure in the United States isn’t supposed to do. He stood up for traditional marriage.




The fast-food chain is “very much supportive of the family…that is, the biblical definition of the family unit,” he said. When asked if his remarks meant that Chick-fil-A supports the traditional family unit of a husband and wife, Cathy really stuck his foot in it. “Guilty as charged,” he agreed.


“We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,” Cathy said. “We don’t claim to be a Christian business, but as an organization we can operate on biblical principles.”


Chick-fil-A, one of the most successful fast-food restaurant chains in the country, has more than 1600 restaurants and annual sales of more than $4 billion. The chain is well known not only for its unique chicken recipe but also for the Christian values that permeate the corporate structure. All of their restaurants, for instance, close on Sundays.


The pro-Christian stance hasn’t gone unnoticed. Chick-fil-A has been scrutinized by pro-homosexual groups for some time. Equality Matters, an LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgendered, for those needing need help in interpreting the modern smorgasbord of sexual preferences) organization dedicated to rooting out any and all expressions of political free speech by people who don’t support their radical agenda, accused the restaurant last year of donating $5,000,000 to Christian groups opposing homosexuality.

Equality Matters’ purpose was to elicit a boycott until the restaurant came to heel, a tactic successfully used in similar cases. Chick-fil-A is made of sterner stuff, though, and successfully resisted the group’s thuggery.

The president of the Human Rights Campaign, another organization advocating same-sex marriage, was also critical of Chick-fil-A’s position on traditional marriage. The restaurant "has finally come clean" after cloaking its positions for years he said.

"While they may have been in neutral, kicking this fight into overdrive now allows fair-minded consumers to make up their own minds whether they want to support an openly discriminatory company."

The economic club will continue to be used to beat opponents into submission. Make no mistake, the radical proponents of same-sex marriage will attack any and all people standing up for biblical standards. Their antagonism is more and more directed not only toward squelching the biblical witness to marriage but also the Constitutional guarantee of political free speech.


Here’s a small sample of how the blogosphere has blown up with hatred toward Chick-fil-A.









Yesterday, the company issued a statement re-stating the position it’s always held:

Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family. 

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. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena. 

Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

Beleaguered CEO Dan Cathy stood up for believers everywhere, especially those in public positions, when he said his company’s leaders “intend to stay the course.”

"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," he said.

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