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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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I'll bet the average tea buddy eats twice as much red meat as a gay person. They won't be able to get their cholesterol fix at Chit-Fil-A.
Who cares? It's just his own personal beliefs.
And the fact that he's using tons of the company's money to advocate on this issue doesn't bother you?
But they got really good chicken. At least those in the drive through lanes around the block think so. Maybe it's bad chicken and God just blesses this company with abundance. Whatever, it's their God (and mine), their business and they appear to be true to their faith. Y'all know, I don't even like chicken but I do like this company's business model.
Your heart thanks you for spending your 25 dollars a week elsewhere
Mr. Cathey is free to believe whatever he wants to believe and to give his money to whatever causes he pleases. And I am free to spend my money with businesses that don't fund hate campaigns and promote legal discrimination. I guess that means the $25/week I usually spend at Chick-Fil-A will now go somewhere else.
I appreciate it when a company stands up and practices the values it espouses. I've eaten there once. I'll have to stop by more often!
Thank you Mr Cathy for taking a stand and making a statement. I completely support you and will patronize your restaurants even more frequently. I am so weary of how our society has unraveled. It seems that anything goes today. We even have a President that supports immorality. This is not about hate. It is just wrong. The pendulum needs to swing.
I dont understand just because they dont support gay marriage that they are now hate mongers? What if they did support gay marriage, would they be accussed of hating straight people? People need to relax...chick fil a will end up ok when this is all said and done, judging by most states that have voted on this issue, the majority are against it. So they are siding with the majority.
Just because someone else has their own values and does not agree with yours does not mean they are a biggot or a bad person. Not everyone has to follow the gay marrige agenda. If you disagree don't buy the product and stop trying to push your values on everyone else. Focus on more important things in life.
I respect Chicken filets stand, however, I thought they were about serving food, but as we can all see, they are about distributing a political agenda. Since who you give your money to is who you give your power also, I choose never to eat again in that restaurant and make sure all my friends now what Chicken filet stands for.
What is all the fuss? I'm Catholic and I see Marriage Between a Man and Woman to procreate and build a Family. Ones who have a problem with that should read the Bible.
You are a Catholic, you never read the bible, the bible was told to you by the priest. I know that because I was a Catholic too, you are not supposed to read the bible.
if you dont like it.....dont go there. simple. done.
They have my full support and business always.
Hey let's start a new phrase! "LIKERS"
Pretty sure if GOD was real, he wouldn't give a crap about chicken nuggets
I respect Chicken filets stand, however, I thought they were about serving food, but as we can all see, they are about distributing a political agenda. Since who you give your money to is who you give your power also, I choose never to eat again in that restaurant and make sure all my friends now what Chicken filet stands for.