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Chick-fil-A's gay marriage stance causing a social storm
The fact that Chick-fil-A is a company that espouses Christian values is no secret. The fact that its 1,600 fast-food chicken restaurants across the country are closed on Sundays has long been testament to that.
But the comments of company President Dan Cathy about gay marriage to Baptist Press on Monday have ignited a social media wildfire.
"Guilty as charged," Cathy said when asked about his company's support of the traditional family unit as opposed to gay marriage.
"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. We give God thanks for that," Cathy is quoted as saying.
Strong feelings of support and disagreement have followed, making Chick-fil-A the top Google trend on Thursday morning as the company's Facebook and Twitter pages were burning up with arguments.
"Hate mongers! Never again! Not another $ from me," Duke Richards wrote on Facebook.
"Goodbye Chikkk-fil-a! your food was delicious, but I can no longer eat nuggets filled with hate!" read a post by Blake Brown.
Eatocracy: Fast food with a side of faith
"I am truly ashamed of the recent admittance from Mr Cathy about your bigoted company practices. I hate the fact that my money was used for this. I will never support your company (and) will make sure anyone I know does not either," Mikell Kirbis wrote on Facebook. "While I'm not a Christian I know that hate is not in God's plan nor (is) ignorantly picking sections of the Bible to brandish. Good bye and I hope either you change your ways or close down."
But the support for the company was just as vehement.
"Just wanted to say I'm proud that you stand firm in your beliefs. You knew the risks, and still took the plunge. May God bless this company with abundance. Never back down!" said a Facebook post from David Jones.
"Thank you for standing up for what you believe. The truth is not hate. It's just the truth," wrote Sharon R Boyd.
"I love the values that this restaurant stands for and will support it every dang chance I get! Pay no attention to the morons spewing hate!" read a post from Raymond Joy.
Does religion influence what you buy? Share your view on CNN iReport.
Twitter comments were also divided.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MissMerica/status/225806557227667457%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/danforthfrance/status/225812600171139073%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/TheEvilWesley/status/225760117864402944%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/ChuckyMcDaniel/status/225814099492220928%5D
In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, the company said it would stick by its principles, but it tried to withdraw from the heated social media debate over them.
"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," said a statement from Don Perry, the company's vice president of corporate public relations.
The Human Rights Campaign, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group, said Wednesday that Cathy's comments gave consumers a clear choice.
“It's strange to say, but it's good to see Chick-fil-A finally admit to their anti-LGBT policies," Michael Cole-Schwartz, the organization's director of communications, told CNN. "Now fair-minded consumers can make up their own minds whether they want to support an openly discriminatory company or take their business elsewhere. As the country moves toward inclusion, Chick-fil-A has staked out a decidedly stuck-in-the-past mentality.”
Polling shows increasing support for gay marriage in the United States. A CNN/ORC Poll conducted in late May found 54% of respondents favoring the legal recognition of gay marriage with 42% opposed. The poll had a sampling error of 3%.
Let us know what you think about Chick-fil-A's stance in the comments below.
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Hey Chik-fil-a staff, quick question – what if one of your children turns out to be gay?
BRAVO Chick-Fil-A! They represent Christian values all the way! I have respected this company for years, closing on Sunday in accord with the Ten Commandments (Honor Sunday) and this is just another aspect of the Christian faith. It is those who attack the company now concerning their stance on marriage who are bigoted. They wish to make everyone bow down to their immoral ideas of marriage despite the fact that all studies show that children need both a father and mother. The traditional family is the foundation of society and ALL history attests to that.
I use to think that when you were a Christain you were a good person. WRONG! I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church until I was around 28 years old. Why did I stay so long? I thought they would change and LOVE everybody. Wrong again.
The Bible says their are 600 so called sins. Why do most Christian just pay attention to just 1 or 2 of the sins. The other 598 are OK with them. Remember the Old Testament was written by a old Hebrew men who had 10 to 30 wives and 200 plus concubines. Why are they some Christians hero's?
God bless em'. GOP Jesus hates other people too.
Hey Chick-fil-a staff, what if some of your children turns out to be gay? Your own kids are going to hate you. HATE PROMOTES HATE!
they will call you, question
I love how a 'human rights group' that only supports LGBT people labels another group as intolerant. When this group supports those that differ in their viewpoint, then they will have the right to discuss Chick-fil-a. The hypocrisy of the left is astounding, yet even more troubling is their lack of self-awareness.
This is geh
A lot of hypocrisy going on here. Chick-Fil-A should be allowed to have a view, albeit misguided, and not be judged negatively. Just the same, gays should be allowed to be married and not be judged nagatively. It's OK to have a belief and stand by it. It's very wrong to treat people poorly due to your beliefs. Chick-Fil-A is doing nothing more than being honest. Is ANYONE suprised a religious-run business believes this? You shouldn't be and you shouldn't be using this as a reason to protest. I'm actually glad there are so many people protesting... maybe the lines wil be shorter now!!! You can't change the past... you still ate the sandwiches and still love the taste. Admire the fact that they actually had the nerve to stand by their beliefs and, actually, NOT treat those people poorly even while they believe it. It's not like they are banning a gay person's business.
Actually, they're doing more than just being honest. They're actively spending millions of dollars advocating against equal rights for certain people.
"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. We give God thanks for that,"
Ok, where does it mention to kill gays or to hate gays? Just because they do not believe in gay marriage, does not make them gay bashers. People need to relax already with this garbage.
Uh, doesn't it say to do that in the bible? Or are they only selectively following it?
D, I ask again, were does he (the quoted person) say to bash gays??
Having an opinion is now hate speech? He never said anything against the gays but stated that he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. There is nothing hateful in that at all.
well said......It is as we need to be ultra PC now and lie about what we believe in.
No, they will elect political surrogates to do their dirty work. Conservatives in America have a more nuanced hate against gay Americans. They don't chop off their heads like in the Middle East or East Africa, they just elect vehemently anti-gay politicians to suppress avenues of dissent.
I'll bet if this were 1952, this story would be about them not serving black people. If this were 1902, it would be about serving women.
Why must the white Anglo-Saxon protestant male (WASP) always have to have someone who is beneath him?
/BTW, I'm a WASP, it's just an observation. Why can't there just be equality?
Why does a restaurant feel the need to make a public announcement as to their views on gay marraige? Shut up and serve food – that's how to run a business.
Well said!
And stop spending millions on advocating on social issues too!
Why does the gay community feel the need to make a public announcement that they are gay and proud of it? You have the right to march down a public street on gay pride day announcing your pride just as CFA has the right to publicly announce their stance on gay marriage.
Since the clear majority of Americans do not support gay "pride" agendas, as evidenced by the fact that voters have shot down the oxymoron of "gay marriage" time and time again, we can expect that Chick-Fil-A will continue to do even better in the future, regardless of threats by bigoted gay rights advocates. I personally do not like the food at Chick-Fil-A and only eat there when I can't find anything else. However, I applaud them for their continued stance against the Gay Coercion people. Next time my grandchildren ask to go to Chick-Fil-A, I'll take them there for sure – and then stop somewhere else and get myself something.
"Since the clear majority of Americans do not support gay "pride" agendas,"
54% of Americans support gay marriage... Time for you to grow up and face reality.
And, if he really meant the biblical definition of marriage, he would support multiple wives, the forced marriage to your brother's wife if you brother dies, etc. I think to say it's hate is going too far, but to say that it is the nastiest of bigotry is not.
That was old testament, read the new
Thank-you Chickfila for standing on the principles of the Word of God. There is no compromise in Gods Word. The World is always trying to throw their heathen practiceson everybody. If you don't want to eat their, go somewhere else. Standing on the Word of God.
And how do you know the bible is "god's word"? Because fat preachers told you so while you were growing up in the sticks? That's not fact. Only idiots take an ancient text literally.