The relentless war by the left on Christians and biblical values has reached a new and more frightening phase with announcements by Democrat mayors and city officials across the country that they are “banning” fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A from their cities because company president Dan Cathy said unapologetically that he is in “support of the traditional family.”…. Make no mistake about it; this is much bigger than Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A. Far from being champions of the constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and religion, and the “tolerance” prized by liberals, the Democratic Party has now, once and for all, dropped all pretense of respecting the values held by tens of millions of American Christians and has instead launched a concerted attack to undermine those values in favor of the radical homosexual agenda.
If there’s one thing the Radical Religious Right does exceedingly well, it’s portraying themselves as “victims” of hatred and discrimination at the hands of evil, Jesus-hating Liberals. Aside from the absurdity of claiming to be an oppressed majority, they’ve becoming proficient at portraying their hatred as mainstream American values. Por ejemplo, drawing attention to the bigoted, homophobic corporate philosophy of Chick-Fil-A is conclusive proof of “The Democrats’ War Against Christians.”.
Right; when the Radical Religious Right’s boycotts companies they deem “Liberal” or not “Christian-friendly,” they’re exercising they’re freedom of speech. When Liberals boycott a company because of their homophobia…they’re infringing on the company’s freedom of speech??
It’s truly fascinating to observe the verbal and philosophical gyrations homophobes and bigots subject themselves to in order to justify their willingness to discriminate against a minority class and treat them as subhuman, second-class citizens. Despite the protestations of the Radical Religious Right, this isn’t about a fabricated “War on Christians.” It’s not about “punishing” Conservative Christians for their beliefs. Fundamentally, it’s about resisting the efforts of those whose “Christianity” is more about hatred, bigotry, and discrimination than it is about love, charity, and tolerance. It’s about exposing the hypocrisy of those who wouldn’t recognize the teachings of Jesus Christ if He showed up with a tube of AstroGlide and a pair of kneepads.
Despite what the Radical Religious Right demands we believe, the backlash against Chick-Fil-A has nothing to do with a “War on Christians,” who view any sort of dissent as persecution of Christians for their beliefs. Christians, like any other group, are free to believe as they see fit. That freedom does not bestow upon them the right to claim the mantle of a persecuted majority.
Despite what the chain’s defenders and apologists would have us believe, Chick-Fil-A is not what you might think. It has a long history of illegal discriminatory behavior, and corporate management seems to see nothing wrong with using their narrow religiosity as the basis for all manner of personnel decisions:
1) Chick-fil-A has donated at least $5 million to organizations (including a certified hate group) that, among other things, depict gay people as pedophiles, want to make “gay behavior” illegal, and even say gay people should be “exported” out of America….
2) Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy didn’t merely say he supports traditional marriage. Dan Cathy said if you support gay marriage, you “are inviting God’s judgment on our nation,” and that we “shake our fist at Him” when we do. Dan Cathy also said same-sex marriage is the result of a “deprived” mind and called it “twisted up kind of stuff.”….
3) Chick-fil-A supports organizations that have claimed they can change gay people into straight people — “pray away the gay” — despite the fact that practically every major medical organization has stated that this is not only impossible but dangerous and harmful….
4) The media keep saying Chick-fil-A has never discriminated, but the truth is that Chick-fil-A has been sued over a dozen times for employment discrimination. That’s what a leading business publication, Forbes, stated in 2007, when they also called Chick-fil-A a “cult” and reported that Chick-fil-A’s founder and CEO Truett Cathy said he wanted to hire married people because they are more industrious and productive. Truett Cathy has also said he would probably fire someone who “has been sinful or done something harmful to their family members.”
5) Chick-fil-A is just exercising their First Amendment rights by running a business based on the Bible, right? Wrong. There’s a line between the “free exercise of religion” and violating the law. If Chick-fil-A is violating the law by discriminating against gay people, or by firing women so that they can be “stay home” moms, as one woman who is suing Chick-fil-A says in court documents, that’s not exercising religious expression or free speech, and that’s not a First Amendment issue.
Discrimination against a minority class based on religious, moral, and/or other beliefs is not the “free exercise of religion.” An employer can’t use their narrow moral and religious beleifs to make personnel decision based on one’s sexual orientation, perceived parental responsibilities, or marital status. Already being in a position where they hold sway over an employee, this sort of discrimination can be, and rightly is, viewed as coercion.
Chick-Fil-A’s corporate leadership is free to believe as they see fit, but they simply don’t have the right to make personnel decisions based on those beliefs. And when they donate and offer support to groups that traffic in hatred and bigotry, they can’t claim to be surprised when they encounter significant resistance from those opposed to homophobia and bigotry.
Individuals are free to live and believe as they choose. When those beliefs become the basis of corporate philosophy and personnel decisions, that’s where their “free expression of religion” ends.
Despite the bleating from the Rabid Religious Right, there is no “War Against Christians.” Nor is President Obama waging war on religion. Democrats respect religion no more, and certainly no less, that Republicans. Being a Christian is neither “red” nor “blue.” The pushback against Chick-Fil-A is not about some hidden Liberal anti-Christian agenda. It’s about working against hatred, bigotry, and discrimination. Period.
Perhaps it’s time for the Radical Religious Right to examine their beliefs. If they were honest, they’d admit that their “Christianity” has nothing to do with love, charity, and tolerance. It’s about power and control. It’s about forcing their narrow, hateful, fear-based ignorance upon the overwhelming majority of Americans who don’t share their beliefs and prejudices.
It’s about recognizing and admitting that hatred is not an American- or Christian value.
It’s what Jesus would do, no?
