Emanuel goes after Chick-fil-A for boss’ anti-gay views

[Capt Worley PE]

I wonder if the lines at CFA are in any way indicative of what's going to happen at the polling places in November.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Interesting take on things:

http://www.perrynoble.com/2012/08/01/ben-jerrys-chic-fil-a-political-correctness/

 

[engineergurl]

that is actually the take on things held by many people that I know...

 

[snickerd3]

blocked for religion/idealogogy

 

[snickerd3]

so what does it say?

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Let me begin by saying I absolutely LOVE Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. (Gonna go ahead and tell you that Oatmeal Cookie Chunk is THE BEST flavor I’ve EVER had!!)

A few years ago I went to Wal Mart (the closest thing to hell I can imagine…that and the DMV), found my favorite flavor and decided to tweet that I was purchasing some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream…and doing so “unleashed the hounds” in a sense. Honestly, I’ve never experienced anything like it, “Christians” began @ replying me on twitter condemning me and scolding me for buying this product because apparently Ben & Jerry’s supported gay rights/same sex marriage.

Honestly, it bothered me. Because, first of all…I wasn’t trying to make a political statement I was simply trying to get some chunky monkey and some oatmeal cookie crunch. I like ice cream…I believe it will be served in heaven (with ZERO calories)! And second, it has broken my heart the way that many who claim to follow Christ have treated those who are homosexuals. We’ve yelled at them, ignored them and in some cases damned them to hell without EVER sitting down and actually having a conversation with someone who is gay.

“But Perry,” you say, “the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin.” Let me put my cards on the table and say that I agree; however, for too long the church has seemed to be obsessed with the sins that we do not struggle with; after all, if I am pointing out the sins of others I don’t have to deal with my own.

People have taken me to I Corinthians 6:9-11 before and said, “look, the Bible says that homosexuals will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.” I always try my best to point out that also included in that list are…

• The sexually immoral (anyone been watching porn?)
  
• Idolaters (anyone love anyone or anything more than Jesus?)
  
• Adulterers (see Matthew 5:27-28)
  
• Thieves
  
• The greedy (uh oh!)
  
• Drunkards (tailgating season is quickly approaching)
  
• Slanderers (uh oh, a lot of bloggers and women’s Bible studies are in trouble!)
  
• After looking at this list I would say we are all pretty much screwed unless Jesus intervenes.
  

And…while I am at it why don’t I just go ahead and throw out that gluttony is way more of a problem in the church today than homosexuality!!! (Please see Proverbs 23:2…pretty intense!!! ONLY in the church can people that are huge condemn people who are homosexual and somehow feel like that they are spiritually superior!)

Do I hate homosexuals or have a “homophobia?” Absolutely not! (And, let me be VERY clear that as a child I was molested…TWICE…by men who were older than me. I have no idea if they were or are practicing homosexuals…but I can honestly say that I have forgiven them and do not think that because of what they did to me that homosexuals are bad people!)

So, if a company or an organization wants to support gay rights/same sex marriage I don’t believe that Christians should boycott and/or protest them (come on people, has that REALLY worked for us in the past?) Jesus went after the hearts of people far from Him through conversation, not condemnation. Yes, sin must be called what it is, even at the risk of offending people: however, when it is done so with a hateful spirit then Jesus is NOT exalted, thus making the confrontation of sin sinful!

We live in America…and people have the right to say what they want to say…

Which brings me to Chick-fil-A…

I love Chick-fil-A…I probably eat there no less than five times a week (no, I am not making that up!) The fact that Truett Cathy has built a business from the ground up and has sought to honor Jesus every step of the way is an inspiration to me. Every Chick-fil-A I’ve ever been in has excellent food and excellent customer service…and I believe I read the other day that they made 4.1 billion dollars last year (not bad!)

Recently Dan Cathy (the current CEO) was asked about his stance on same sex marriage. He did not issue any inflammatory remarks. He did not attempt to call anyone by any derogatory names. He was not hateful in his comments. He did not say that people who are gay would not be hired and/or served at Chick-Fil-A restaurants. He simply stated that he holds to the traditional/biblical view of marriage (which is his right as an American citizen.) And it seemed the world lost its mind.

It’s quite sad really that those who scream for tolerance seem to be intolerant of anyone who does not hold to their particular view.

No one in the media screamed “foul” when corporations came out in support of same sex marriage; however, when one company spoke out against it in a non condemning tone people were calling for a boycott…even provoking the mayor of the city of Boston to say that Chick-Fil-A was not welcome in the city. (Uh…wow, talk about tolerance! Honestly, I believe the city of Boston needs Chick-fil-A way more than Chick-fil-A needs the city of Boston!)

All I am saying is this…I believe as an American everyone has the right to free speech. I also believe as a Christian we have the right to speak the truth in love as it applies to the Scriptures and should not fear doing so because we may be perceived as politically incorrect. Biblical truth (IN LOVE) always trumps political correctness. Honestly, I respect and admire Mr. Cathy as he took a very unpopular stand on one of the most controversial matters of our day. AND…as I’ve stated before, he did it with a non-condemning attitude.

It simply needs to be pointed out that people on both sides of this argument have been way less than civil with each other…which does nothing more than proves the insecurity in us if we feel like we have to “lower the boom” on people who do not see exactly as we see.

Honestly, it is my prayer that people on both sides of the argument would stop yelling at each other and talking about one another and actually sit down and talk to one another understanding that just because two people do not agree on an issue does not mean they have the right to hate one another for it. Conversation is NOT compromise…it’s actually Christ like! And our world would be a MUCH better place if those who called themselves Christians would step up and lead the way in this, understanding John 3:17 is the attitude that we are called to have!

 

[knight1fox3]

^ Wow, a very good read. I especially like the end where he starts talking about Chick-Fil-A and what the CEO actually said.

 

[MA_PE]

So this exchange about chik-fil-a was on another board I go to. The two lengthy posts are from the same guy with a comment in between.

I responded that American wasn't necessarily founded as a Christain country and the Pilgrims were fleeing religious persecution but from the church of England not necessarily as Christians (I recall them being Protestants). and the Amreican REvolution wasn't a "religious war" it was against taxes and oppression from a remote government.

Am I wrong here. I went to cathloic schools through high school and don't believe I was taught that the US was founded as a "Christian country"

It might be that I equate "Christian" with "Roman Catholic" but all this Christianity talk is making my head spin.

Being gay and wanting to be married is like having no super powers and wanting to be a superhero. Just because you want something to be doesn't mean it can be. Marriage is a vow to God that one woman and one man shall be bound in Holy matrimony til death do you part. Now it is written that God disapproves of homosexuality and so do the laws of nature. We don't look at retards as normal. We look at retards as ~. Since it will never be normal for people to be homosexuals then why would we say it is nornmal? Homosexuals make up less than 2%. Sorry, but 2% does not set the rule. Maybe when homosexuality becomes greater than 49% they will have a case to argue but until then.
So with this said, agreeing with homosexual marriage is an attack on religion. Why can we not attack other peoples religion but the Christians and Jews are always being attacked?

If you are a Christian then you know you are not more powerful than God so those who are not real Christians would be the ones who whould challange God, and say God is wrong.

I'm a Christian and an American and I approve this message.

If its only a vow to god then why are there tax and other benefits associated with it? The problem is assuming this has anything to do with religion, it doesn't it has to do with benefits and being able to revive the same benefits the government grants others. I'm in no way saying the church has to marry them. We used to view women and blacks as second hand citizens also.

It's a shame that it appears you are not knowledgeable when it comes to American History. This is a Christian country. There is no such law that was ever written that says seperation of Church and state. This country's entire foundation is built on religion and has been written everywhere that we must follow God. This is a fact unlike the saying of seperation of church and state. All our forefathers said is that we would not establish a religion. This is so that we do not punish other people's religion. Being an atheist is the lack of a religion and being homosexual is not a religion. But, this country was and still is a Christian Nation. This is why our government recognizes marriage and our laws are based off the 10 commandments. Religion is why it's against the law to have more than one spouse, steal, murder, and have sex with family members or sex with animals and until recently same sex. I do not condone any of these but religion is why they are against the law. So if gay marriage is okay then lets throw out the rest of the laws. I should be able to have more than one wife and claim them all for tax purposes.
You see I'm not saying a human being no matter what their sexual preference should be punished. If you're gay then so what pay the same in taxes as a married couple, or have visitation in hospitals, collect estates without being penalized, and same goes for retirement.

Problem is is that they want to claim married as well. You see they are not fighting for civil unions. They are fighting for the religios ceremony of Marriage.

Give them fairness and civil unions. But stay off of disrespecting our God and our religion!

 

[MA_PE]

FWIW: this is what I wrote back to him, and the quote below is his response. Just kind of doing a sanity check, Is my recollection of Amercan History that bad?

I believe this country was founded due to religious persecution, but it was for freedom from the church of England and not for "Christianity" per se but for the Protestants. I do not recall the Pilgrims being Christians. The colonies then formed the the states due to freedom from taxes, not necessarily on a religious basis.

The constitution guarentees "freedom from religious persecution" but does not specify that it is established to solely Chistianity.

Lastly, all the hub bub about recognizing gay marriage is for a legal acceptance of same-sex marriage so (as previously stated) same-sex couples can get all of the same benefits and as "other married couples". It is civil union that's being pushed not a religious union.

Personally, I'm not in favor of equating same-sex couples with a traditional male-female/family couple. But I think we all need to keep to the facts and not confuse the facts with opinions.......and this has/should have nuttin' to do wit a chicken sammich.

You may want to get a real education on history if you are going to try and teach it to others. You're statements are wrong per fact not per me. Get your facts straight first.Did you just really question if Pilgirms were Christian? WOW!!! Enough said. Take care good buddy and enjoy your chicken sammich!

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Although the basis of this video is about the election, the points about "Christianity" apply here as well. Essentially "Christianity" is a magical word used to bind all types of New Testament-based religions together in order to gain a stronger "religious" argument.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGxVeQw3SE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[mudpuppy]

I had an argument with someone once where they claimed Catholics weren't Christian. My view is anyone that believes in Christ as the savior is christian, the rest is just dogma/details.

 

[engineergurl]

Protestants and Puritans are Christians... I was under the understanding during the 16th century when King James started making changes to the Church of England was when the reformations occurred... the Pilgrims were then persecuted for holding a more pure (hence Puritans) view of the religious rites, scriptures and traditions and fled England not just to America but to other countries as well.

Regardless--- Protestants (Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans), Eastern Orthodox, and Catholics are all Christian Religions

 

[mudpuppy]

Dex's quote lost me at the first sentence, "I went to Wal-Mart to buy Ben & Jerry's". <shudder>

Good grief, those are two of the very few brands I will not patronize. Wal-mart due to being evil, poor quality and so forth and Ben & Jerry's for being against nuclear power.

But hey, the author has every right to shop for B&J at W-M if they so choose.

 

[engineergurl]

Dex's quote lost me at the first sentence, "I went to Wal-Mart to buy Ben & Jerry's". <shudder>

Good grief, those are two of the very few brands I will not patronize. Wal-mart due to being evil, poor quality and so forth and Ben & Jerry's for being against nuclear power.

But hey, the author has every right to shop for B&J at W-M if they so choose.

It's actually a very good blog article...

 

[engineergurl]

MA- I think that I would actually probably be more focused on the guys statement about (I cringe even typing this word because I CAN'T STAND it when people use it) "retards" ... WTF is that all about?

 

[MA_PE]

Thanks for the opinions. I'm almost as sick of hearing about "Christians" as i am about the "gay rights" people as far as the chik-fil-a saga is concerned.

MA- I think that I would actually probably be more focused on the guys statement about (I cringe even typing this word because I CAN'T STAND it when people use it) "retards" ... WTF is that all about?

Well, these guys are not a necessarily sophisticated group like the EBer's. That's about all I can say about that. Of course, it's just a word, that over time has become a derogatory term. As is often the case a term that is originally used simply to describe a person morphs into a slur. I thought it was originally developed as a clinical terms and a quick interent search provided this link which supports my suspicions. Intersting read, which obviously some "Christians" like the dope above could benefit from.

http://www.washingto...0021103896.html

 

[MGX]

The word retarded bothered me as well; that is until I found the Association of Retarded Citizens, a federally-recognized non profit. If they use the word retarded in their name I don't mind using it either. Furthermore, the word retarded IS the politically correct term since retarded replaced the words cretin, moron, etc. If the word gets replaced again the concept entirely will be on the euphemism treadmill for eternity.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

The problem lies not with the word itself, but rather the meaning given to it by the person saying it.

Dumbass is not a bad word, but if you say it to RG on a day he hasn't had his coffee...

 

[wilheldp_PE]

The word retarded bothered me as well; that is until I found the Association of Retarded Citizens, a federally-recognized non profit. If they use the word retarded in their name I don't mind using it either. Furthermore, the word retarded IS the politically correct term since retarded replaced the words cretin, moron, etc. If the word gets replaced again the concept entirely will be on the euphemism treadmill for eternity.

"Colored People" doesn't fly any more despite the existence of the NAACP. Just sayin'.

 

[engineergurl]

I think the word bothers me most is because I trained myself not to use it. A very good friend of mine has a daughter who is now in her early 20's but who only developed to about the mental capacity of about a 10-12 year old. The daughter loves with out fault and with out judgement but the word hurts her... it also bothers her mother because of that hurt... and it bothers me because of it as well.

I can utilize the word retard in a scientific sense and in reference to traffic with no issues, but when referring to another human being, I picture her face full of hurt when she overheard it. I usually only tell my close friends that it bothers me... and I tend to ignore the people I overhear or that I don't have to deal with on a regular basis.

But that post was from someone preaching... and they said that we would never look at them as normal. Perhaps mentally challanged, mentally handicapped or "retards" (yes I just cringed)... won't seem normal to someone who isn't exposed to them on a regular basis, but to those people who deal with the challenges every day... it is normal. Which is the same with homosexuality, or being of a different ethicnic background, skin color, sex, etc etc etc

I think my point is, the dude from chick-fil-a was asked a question, and he answered honestly. Gay people live their lives honestly being true to who they are. (I will admit that I'm not being politically correct there because I can't remember the correct term). Isn't being honest more important than pretending? I try very hard to hear from all sides when I have a difference of opinion of something, because even if I don't agree with the persons statement or opinion, I feel like they should have the chance to educate me in something I don't understand or don't have experience first hand.

We can all form our own opinions, but what it comes down to is "the only right we are given on this earth is the air we breath, the rest we have to earn" (I love that quote).