By Token, Our Straight Friend
“I don’t like eating big pieces of onion,” my husband said. “Then don’t eat them,” I replied. We then turned to our son and let him know that just because daddy doesn’t like onions doesn’t mean that mommy can’t eat them. Just because one person doesn’t like something doesn’t mean it should be off limits for anyone else.
This week, some statements made by Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy about gay Marriage created a lot of controversy. During an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said, “We are very much supportive of the family – the Biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives.” It’s never been a secret that Chick-Fil-A is both family-oriented, or that they have staunch religious beliefs. Who hasn’t been completely frustrated after seeing a Chick-Fil-A sign, craving some, then realizing it’s Sunday? Having a strong family unit is important to many people and it’s admirable that they strive to maintain that strength in their lives and in their business.
Cathy then went on to state in the same interview, “…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.” Also very admirable. He knows that not everyone believes the same things he does, but we are Americans and we have the freedom to believe what we want. However, Cathy later said on The Ken Coleman Show, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say ‘we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.” Well, Mr. Cathy, just as you have the right to operate on your principles, I have the right to express my disagreement with your beliefs by not spending another dollar at your restaurants.
I may be what some call a “bad Catholic.” I disagree with some of the basic teachings of the Church, namely Gay Marriage and the right to choose, because I believe that each person should come to his or her own conclusions about important issues and not blindly follow what he or she is told. The “I was just following orders” defense didn’t work for the Nazis at Nuremberg. t also know that the Church is imperfect, what with all the molestation scandals and cover-ups. But what I have always been taught is that our God is a God that loves. He loves all people. I seem to remember something in the Bible about the man who has never sinned casting the first stone? I attended a church that had a priest who said the Bible never condemns gay marriage, only homosexual sex, as it is a type of premarital sex, and all premarital sex is wrong. Many members of clergy would disagree with this statement. Clearly, passages in the Bible are subject to interpretation. The bottom line is, God is not here to tell us exactly how he defines marriage. Perhaps the audacity lies in the belief of some that we can interpret the words in the Bible to justify hate. I could go on at length about the Westboro Baptist Church, Matthew Shepherd, and many other examples of such hate, but I won’t. Hate is wrong and the God I know taught his believers not to hate but to love. I believe it was something along the lines of “love thy neighbor.” It’s on that list of the 10 Really Important Things. Commandments, perhaps?
Hate is often born out of fear. Interracial marriages were still illegal in some states as recently as the 1960s. Why? Because people feared what would happen if blacks and whites got together? That seems like an antiquated notion now, but it was widespread not so long ago. Obviously racism still exists, but much of that same vitriol is now directed toward the gay population. Why? What’s so wrong about it? Some people argue that allowing gay marriage is a slippery slope to allowing bestiality, child molestation, etc. We’re not talking about defenseless children or animals. We’re talking about two consenting adults. Perhaps instead of worrying about defining marriage as gender-related, we should think about marriage as an expression of love between two consenting adults.
Today, Chick-Fil-A the corporation released what appears to be a statement that is attempting to do some damage control. The statement says, “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.” A nice effort, but Chick-Fil-A has a history of giving a lot of money to anti-gay organizations. Is that really treating people with honor, dignity and respect?
Chick-Fil-A makes some darn good food. There’s no concern over pink slime at these restaurants. At the recently opened Chick-Fil-A near me, the employees each carry around packs of wipes to clean down tables and trash areas, instead of the unhygienic wet rags you see at other restaurants. That says a lot about their feelings on cleanliness and family-friendliness, given how many children are in that restaurant. However, I cannot financially support a corporation that believes in denying rights to a group of people based on something that is genetically within them. While I understand that this will punish the independent owners and employees who may not share the same beliefs as the corporation, I do not want any more of my dollars to support organizations that spread hate. While I respect the staunchness of the Cathy family’s beliefs, I respectfully disagree because I believe our God would not support such hate.
As our son grows, my husband and I will teach him that it is important to respect those who have differing opinions and to politely disagree. We will also teach him that it’s never acceptable to use phrases such as “that’s so gay” and the word “fag” should only be used in reference to cigarettes while in the UK. I hope that all believers come to understand that God does not want us to spew hate in his name and that we can all learn to respect one another for our differences and love as God taught us.
This post first appeared on What's Up With That | An Irreverant Look At Queer, please read the originial post: here
