The public often learns of a corporation's stance on gay issues, pro or con, when boycotts, picket lines, angry blogs and petitions make the news. There is usually a day or two flare up in the media and then it dies down.
Think Target, Doug Manchester’s Grand Hyatt in San Diego, JC Penney and Ellen Degeneres.
Chick-fil-A is different.
Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, a well-known Christian businessman (restaurants closed on Sundays) said in an interview with the Baptist Press, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.”
The usual trajectory would be: Company makes a statement or donation that offends Gays, Gay Rights activists and supporters protest Company, Company either sticks by its guns or back pedals a bit; story dies.
This time around, mayors from Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Pittsburgh stated publicly not just that they disagreed with a CEO's position, Mr. Cathy's, but that they would use their powers to block his restaurants from opening in their city.
That’s when this chicken story grew legs.
When a government penalizes the livelihood of its citizens for stating opinions they don’t agree with, we’re not in Kansas anymore. We’re in Beijing.
All of a sudden I care about this story. A lot.
I went to Chick-fil-A Monday expecting it to be dead and was stunned to see a completely full parking lot, drive-thru lines with cars backed up to Sports Arena Boulevard and a line out the door.
I parked, joined the line at the sidewalk outside the restaurant and by the time I entered the building, I asked people next to me in line, “Are you here for the chicken sandwiches or making a political statement?”
Here is what some people said:
Young woman, t-shirt, shorts, flip flops, long hair. “I am a Facebook addict and I have been dying to post messages about free speech but I have a lot of gay friends, some married, some wanting to be married, and I just don’t want to alienate them so I keep my mouth shut. But I had to do something, so I came here to quietly show my support of free speech.”
A middle-aged man: “This has nothing to do with gay rights and everything to do with free speech.”
A young man: “Just showing my support for free speech.”
I drove past the Chick-fil-A in Point Loma on Wednesday and saw twice as much traffic and people than I saw on Monday. The line went beyond the restaurant’s property line and almost to the AM PM Mini Market next door.
The news is reporting that on Wednesday, “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” the chain grossed $100,000,000 in one day.
What to make of all this?
I am sensing a growing push-back from a large segment of the population against our government’s growing regulations and intrusions into our everyday lives.
When powerful US Mayors basically make a play to regulate and punish thought and speech, something snapped for a lot of people.
It will be very interesting to see how all these quiet activists vote on November 6th.
tjhat reaction was entirely predictable, and shouldn't have surprised anyone.. what i think really upset everyone was the reaction of elected officials, like menino in boston and emanuel in chicago..taking positions on it that are entirely unjustified.. and people probably should have been upset about that.. people like those and other officeholders are supposed to be smarter than that.. don't knoiw why i'm always disappointed when they prove they aren't.. doug
And who was really in charge of that protest at Chik-fil-A Friday night? It looked like about 40% professional protesters with about 60% genuine gays.
the reaction didn't surprise me at all.. but i certainly don't want my elected officials telling me how to think about this one..i'll do my thinking on my own, thank you..i hope chick-fil-a applies for bujsiness licenses in all those cities..and that the city councils override the mayors and tell them to pound sand..saying they'd much rather have the tax revenues a successful business brings in.. as to the protesters friday?..didn't go.. don't know.. don't care.. doug
(haven't had dessert yet.. candy on my mind).. doug
;-)
Ezekiel 22:2
"In December 1962, President Kennedy was asked by the Saturday Evening Post to submit his favorite quotation. A student not only of history, but also of literature, he chose a passage written by the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., father of the Supreme Court justice. Mr. Holmes wrote: “I find the great things in this world -- is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: to reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -– but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” That, I think, captures well the daring, graceful spirit of the unfinished life we celebrate today; a life that inspires us and lights our way, as we sail on to the new frontiers of our own time. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless this country that we love. Thank you" http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/20/remarks-president-50th-anniversary-john-f-kennedys-inauguration Heaven?? What a loon.
http://bestnewyorkcomedy.com/tag/cartoon-editor-of-the-new-yorker/
--Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
http://www.sdgln.com/news/2012/08/13/fundraising-begins-after-water-fight-damages-lily-pond-balboa-park