Hellobee Boards

Marriage equality is just a matter of time. The path to marriage equality will be a bumpy one, but I personally believe that the company is on the wrong side of history here.

I agree with Mr Bee. Luckily I have never eaten at a Chik fil A and now I never will.

As for free speech, he has every right to say whatever he wants and I have every right to make personal consumer decisions based on that speech. Think about if he had said something racist. Gay rights are our 21st century equivalent to the civil rights movement.

I don't think that supporting the biblical definition of marriage (i.e. man and woman, not same-sex) is the same as hating gay people, so I don't consider the statement inflammatory. Most people who I know that are now boycotting ChickFilA are doing so because "how can they be so hateful?! what bigots! etc."

I don't think the statement Dan Cathy made was meant in a hateful way. I'm a Christian also and I don't think it's right to judge people for anything (per the Bible). That doesn't mean I support same-sex marriage. I think everyone has a right to their own opinions, and I have always found ChickFilA to be courteous and generous (they donate a lot of free food and they have great service!).

I had a chicken biscuit for breakfast today.

@LivsMama: According to Wikipedia, the company franchises out the operation of locations, but retains ownership.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A#Business_model

Agree with the PPs - he has his right to voice his opinion, and I have my right to not eat at his restaurant. I think Mr. Bee has a great point about the wrong side of history.

I don't think what he said deserves such backlash. It's his opinion, his right to say what he wants. What he said wasn't even hateful. It was merely a statement.

@Mrsbells: I agree with you. I don't see anything wrong with that statement either. I am also a Christian.

@Rubies: Completely agree with you!

@mrs. bird: Honestly though, Mayor Menino didn't really think this one through. I was talking about this with my dad (I'm originially from Mass and my parents still live there). Dad and I are both 100% pro same sex marriage. But as my dad says "Is Mayor Menino going to evict the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts from Boston too?". There are obviously TONS of organizations that are very vocally anti same sex marriage that have a large presence in Boston.

@Bookworm: Since the company is privately owned there is less distinction between what is the owner's money and what is the company's money than if it was a publicly held corporation.

I have never eaten a Chick Fil A before and following this probably never will. As many of you said before me, this guy has a right to free speech, and I have the right to spend my money at establishments that I feel are more in line with my own personal views.

@Mrsbells: @MrsBrewer: I ended up deleting the end part of my post about the hijab because I feared it had the potential to turn into something ugly. Thank you for your support on the matter, though!

@Rubies: Sounds good...I deleted my comment referencing it now too!

@Mrs. Jacks: agree 100%. Perfectly said.

@Rubies: I agree!

The problem with his statement is that by defining a family in the biblical sense, it marginalizes and delegitimizes all other types of families besides 2-parent, heterogeneous couples, which is not only hurtful and unfair to all the families who fall outside that category but preserves an existing imbalance of power that privileges his definition of family in structural (legal) and systematic (political) ways...

That's my 'doctorate-speak' assessment, anyways...

@Trailmix: Yikes! I disagree with him, but respect his right to have his own opinion even if I disagree strongly with it? Just as I hope I have the right to communicate my disagreement.

To me, that feels like the American way. I agree with Justice Brandeis on this subject: "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the process of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."

I am 100% pro-equality, I believe he has the right to his personal feelings, however as a business owner I feel like it should be separate and not necessarily announced as the stance a company has, it could be offending (and obviously is) thousands of people.

I have the same feelings about a business owner hanging a sign in his door for a certain presidential candidate, it's a way to alienate customers, why would any owner want to do that and risk losing business? Keep politics out of business in order to keep it successful in my eyes.

@LivsMama: Wow, good to know! We don't go there all the time, we rarely have fast food, but I did assume it would be healthier than the other chicken nugget options out there. Guess I should do my research!

@jessiejo17: Unfortunately, since the bulk of their business is in the Bible Belt, I don't know that they'll see a drop in profits. In fact, it may be the opposite! Sigh.

@artbee: @Mrs. Yoyo: I was shocked when I read that. We dont live near any, so I didnt know what their kids meals were like, but I would have seen grilled nuggets and automatically thought "jackpot. Healthy(ier))" They have great nutritional info on their website broken down by individual item. The grilled nuggets have 40mg of cholesterol alone and the fries have...wait for it....ZERO. What the.....ALL of that is from the chicken?!

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Menu-Detail/ChickfilA-Grilled-Nuggets#?details=nutrition

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Menu-Detail/ChickfilA-Waffle-Potato-Fries-Kids-Meal#?details=nutrition

Sorry to threadjack.

Free speech doesn't mean your speech doesn't have consequences. If a company owner/President says something that they know is a hot button issue and will offend a lot of people (he's said more on SSM and those who support it than just the quote above), and issues the statements as those of the company, well, there are going to be reactions.

I don't think the issue is really what he said, it's the amount of company/customer money spent on anti-SSM campaigns. How would some of the Christians in this thread feel if a business they patronized came out with anti-(insert your denomination here) remarks as a company and donated large sums of company money to groups looking to marginalize your religion and make its practice illegal?

Different religious and conservative groups have been boycotting "liberal" business for years (Disney, JC Penney, Starbucks, Hallmark, Ford, McDonalds, American Girl dolls and many more) for issues directly related to LGBT rights and SSM. This isn't a new way to respond to business practices large groups of Americans disapprove of - only this time its a conservative business feeling the heat and its getting a lot of press. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.