Recently Chick-Fil-A president Dan T. Cathy had an interview with a Baptist newspaper reporter in which he stated that he was opposed to gay marriage. It was a personal opinion stated by a man who happened to be a company president. It's not an extreme position -- most Americans share it, although opinions have certainly been evolving.
I pointed out in a recent blog post that there has been an absolute sea change in attitudes towards gays in general in recent years. One rarely hears endless gay jokes, whether by friends or comedians. I can't imagine Jimmy Carter criticizing a politician today as giving "a kind of effeminate impression," a charge he made in 1988 of George H.W. Bush.
This change in opinion doesn't mean everyone has to rush out and support gay marriage. I said so in my blog post. I may eventually; I don't now. And I resent the treatment that this man has received. The left-wing crowd has just gone nuts, demanding a boycott of Chick-Fil-A and vilifying this man in every way.
Meanwhile private citizen Jeff Bezos, who also happens to be the president of Amazon.com, just donated $2.5 million to support gay marriage -- and what a difference his actions are receiving. Those who disagree with him are not in mass numbers calling for a boycott of Amazon, they aren't vilifying him on the Internet, or anything else. They seem to be accepting the fact that people have differing opinions and the right to express them.
We hear so much about how conservatives are intolerant. Take a look at people's behavior sometime and you quickly see who is really intolerant.
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They were met with different responses because they weren't hurting anyone. By denying gay couples the right to civil union, you're efficiently making them less important than the straight couples, and although their sexual orientation is different, that's no reason that they are below us in any way. Furthermore, most Americans DO NOT believe that. Actually, more than half SUPPORT gay marriage. (source : http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/30/gay-marriage-to-be-in-democrats-platform/)
Next off, yes, the attitude towards gays has changed in recent years. It's the same as with black people in the 50's and 60's.
Lastly, people HAVE boycotted groups for supporting gay marriage. People boycotted Oreo for posting a picture on Facebook. (Image : https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/540936_10150998259519653_1378889283_n.jpg)
So, in conclusion, please back up things in your posts before you post them. Your argument is completely one-sided, and has no basis in fact.
Son, I'm glad you have shared your opinion. I had never heard of an Oreo boycott, so it couldn't have been as big a ruckus as the Chick-Fil-A mess. I will be glad to show you some of the things that have been posted about Chick-Fil-A and simply don't believe similar things have been posted about Oreo.
As for whether a majority of Americans support gay marriage, be careful of these polls. When there have been constitutional amendment votes, before the votes only 45 percent would say they supported the amendment, then 55 or 60 percent would vote in favor. So people will tell a pollster what sounds "hip" and "trendy" while voting another way.
Glad you are keeping up with the news, though.
Well said, L'il Colonel. For further reading, you might read the Wikipedia page on "Lawrence v. Texas," the U.S. Supreme Court decision less than a decade ago that struck down laws aimed (mostly) at homosexuals. It will give you a good idea of just how far this battle for rights has come in such a short time. And it has made such great progress because of people like you who have the guts to speak out, even if it's against his own family.
As for you, Big Colonel, I must attack your argument on its premise. With all due respect, *forget* tolerance. I don't want to be tolerated. I want equal rights. I want the tax benefits and the rights to social security payments, the rights to inheritance, rights to make decisions about health care, and the public recognition that the person whom I have loved and cared for almost two decades and who has done the same for me in return- *means* something. To achieve that, I must go beyond tolerance of Mr. Chik-Fil-A. I need to hit him where it hurts - in the pocketbook - so next time he is asked, he will keep his mouth shut and lessen the potential that he will change someone's mind. I do not agree with the mayors and politicians who think they can through public policy stop the expansion of Chik-Fil-A as a business. That *is* wrong. But I will vilify any dumbass who says hogwash (your favorite word) such as marriage being defined as a man and a woman in the Bible. It's defined in the Bible as a man and any number of women, the latter who may have been your former sister-in-law.
So, again, *forget* tolerance. Chalk it up to the gay agenda, if you want, because I've got one: equality of treatment of my long-term relationship through the eyes of the government. Period.
Tell us what you really think Ignatius!
Before I go on, I think it is important to note that I likely could not own a Chick-Fil-A franchise. My understanding is that the president of the company will not approve a franchisee who is not a teetotaler. If her were to give an interview with his church newspaper tomorrow where he denounced drinking, I wouldn't go ballistic over it.
I respect that you have a strongly felt opinion, and if you will note I admit to being someone who conflicted over the whole thing. But the fact is that many people don't agree with you, and I believe that when companies like Chick-Fil-A are vilified because their hired help express an opinion in their church newspaper all it does is harden opinions. And I still can't help but notice that those who oppose gay marriage are not out vilifying Jeff Bezos, or at least not my Facebook friends.
Some of the respect you want you already have. Some of the legal rights you want can be obtained by jumping through some additional legal hoops, although I respect the fact that you want these rights as a matter of course like other married couples and not though the drafting of various trust and advance directive documents.
You know, the public relations director for Chick-Fil-A had a heart attack a few days ago. Maybe he would have had one anyway, but I can't help but think that the vitriolic attacks on his company contributed.
I'm glad to see you don't approve of the violation of Chick-Fil-A's legal rights by various mayors who have turned down building permits and so forth.
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