Posted on 08/13/2012 8:43:32 AM PDT by scottjewell
Hundreds of thousands voted with their presence, and their wallets.
It was as if August 1 was an election day. Except the voters — people of faith, hundreds of thousands of them — didn’t go to polling places. They went to Chick-fil-A. And they weren’t voting with ballots. They were voting with their presence, and their wallets.
By now you’ve seen the photos of the phenomenal crowds, which swamped virtually every one of the 1,600 Chick-fil-A locations nationwide. We saw lines of cars stretching blocks in every direction. To show his support, one man from Oregon drove to the nearest Chick-fil-A, which was over 500 miles away in Roseville, Calif. People from Augusta, Maine, drove in a caravan two hours to Peabody, Mass., and then waited in line for hours. In St. Louis, a flash mob broke out singing, “I’m in love with Chick-fil-A.”
Across the nation, people took time out of their busy lives to make a statement: that they agreed with Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A’s CEO, that God’s definition of marriage should be respected and honored. Some days earlier, Cathy had told an interviewer, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
What happened next is all too familiar to those of us on the front lines of defending traditional marriage. Gay-marriage activists swung into action to punish Cathy and those who might express support for him. Many of the leaders of the movement to redefine marriage long ago gave up trying to persuade. Their strategy since Proposition 8 has been to harass and intimidate those who support traditional marriage — and to send a signal to others that they best keep quiet and abandon the battlefield. The gay blogger community went apoplectic with accusations that Cathy and Chick-fil-A were “anti-gay,” calling his comments “hateful” and “bigoted.” They claimed the company funded “hate groups” that aimed to “harm” gays and lesbians. The mainstream media dutifully reported the charges. Predictably, prominent Democratic politicians piled on. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., declared that Chick-fil-A would be banned from doing business in their cities. The entertainment industry got into the act as the Jim Henson Company announced they were withdrawing their partnership with the fast-food chain, and the media firestorm was on in full force. Leaders of the gay community were no doubt smugly enjoying the takedown of another traditional-marriage supporter.
They didn’t expect what happened next. People of goodwill reacted angrily. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee called for a national Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which was designated for Wednesday, August 1. An early and outspoken defender of Dan Cathy and the company, I spoke on Governor Huckabee’s radio show and encouraged NOM’s supporters to show their support. Many of our folks showed up en masse on Wednesday, July 25 — a week before the official event. We received hundreds of photos of packed Chick-fil-A restaurants: an indication of the magnitude of the response we would see on August 1.
For the most part, the mainstream media ignored the growing reaction against the attempt by gay activists to slime Dan Cathy and hurt his business. News of the backlash was spread mainly by talk-radio hosts and conservatives using social media. Governor Huckabee’s Facebook page announcing the event garnered 20 million views. (The page — and everything else related to the Appreciation Day — mysteriously disappeared from Facebook as the movement was gaining momentum. Twelve hours later, after people had complained and inquired, the page was just as mysteriously restored. Facebook blamed it on an unexplained “mistake.”)
This isn’t the first time that supporters of traditional marriage have expressed themselves. The usual method is for them to cast ballots in state elections to preserve marriage. Over 46 million voters in 32 consecutive states have quietly voted to preserve traditional marriage. In no state election has same-sex marriage ever won.
But the public nature of Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day is different from the privacy of the voting booth. We heard from hundreds of people who were heartened to see the long lines — vivid confirmation that they are not alone, that a strong majority of Americans agree with them that the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman is worth defending. People were grateful to belong to a community where they could openly meet with like-minded citizens and talk about marriage, family, and the truth of God’s design for society.
The genie is out of the bottle, and there’s no way for gay-marriage activists to put it back. NOM has launched a call to Americans to eat at Chick-fil-A not just once, but every Wednesday through the election. It will benefit a noble family-owned business and, moreover, help people to build on the sense of community that so many of them were surprised to experience last week. We’re encouraging people to go to www.thankchickfila.com to register their support, and then to bring their family, friends, and church groups every Wednesday to enjoy some great chicken, and some wonderful camaraderie in the community of faith. Go before or after church services, have your Bible-study group meet at the restaurant, bring your book club, etc. Whatever you do on Wednesdays, do it at Chick-fil-A.
Some have said that the one day was enough, and that pushing for more divinely providential signs would be overkill. Better to simply get down to political work.
Not certain myself on where I should firmly stand on this - but perhaps Brown is onto something in terms of a sense of community and a continued presence.
someone should have thought to conduct voter registration at CFA
That would’ve been ideal - except I don’t think anyone anticipated the vast numbers that would appear nationally on Aug 1.
The Chick Fil A’s in KC still seem very busy. More then before. I hope its a sign that we will not be bullied and win in November.
I would ask that Chick Fil A make election day special by offering a deal to voters who have a “I Voted “ stick on their shirt a free soda or a buy one get one free offer to thank the American public for voting that day and for supporting Chick Fil A. I get the feeling we will need to show the love to Poppa Johns too.
That’s a great idea for election day: Hope you will contact their PR department with it.
Yes and with the damage to the CFA in CA, and I think one in MD this weekend, we need to continue supporting them.
Yep, the genie is out of the bottle. I was thrilled to see the turn out on August 1st. And people standing in such long lines, in cars around the block, and in the heat . . . Americans were proud to do it and stand together against the agenda that the gays are trying to shove down our throats.
I was thinking that same thing. Too bad the Tea Party hadn`t been on top of this.
Brian Brown and NOM have really started to turn the tide I believe. The Chickfila incident Aug 1st will be looked back on as the day the tide began to turn back against LGBT actvists and political correctness in general. Too many even otherwise good intentioned Conservatives/Libertarians have been fooled. They think because they have gay friend or such that they must accept the activist gay position or else they hate their gay friend which is presented in an either or contrast which is ridiculous. What kind of friend expects you to agree with everything they do?
If the activists get what they want there is no doubt that religious freedom and also freedom of association will be forever changed for the worse. It is already happenning were ssm has been implemented and it is now happnning in the military where open homosexuality is now endorsed.
The arguments of the “marriage equality” movement are the exact same arguments used in every leftist cause du jour. They use made up rights to abridge Constitutional rights and to shut down political speech. They don’t seek to debate, they seek to silence and indoctrinate. They are hateful and vandalize churches and attack peaceful conservative protestors and send death threats to any scientist that dares publish anything contrary to the activists goals.
Anyone who isn’t troubled by this clear and present threat to our individual liberties should stop calling themselves libertarians or conservatives because they are not. They are the pavlov dogs of the left seeking to eat scraps from their table.
But we were on top of it. This is an outgrowth of the same sentiment. The beauty of the Tea Party is that we are every where. It was the example of the push back of the Tea Party that made this kind of emboldened conservative/libertarian push possible. It also is a good sign America is fed up with LGBT/leftist political correctness and we will not be intimidated. We are not bigots for believing marriage between a man and women is correct.
You can’t do that in many states. You can’t give someone a financial incentive to vote.
In MA it’s called Welfare.
In MA it’s called Welfare.
Yes, I am wholly in agreement. It is not homophobic to want to draw a line and say “here, and no further”. It is good sense and necessary for the preservation of liberty.
And I do believe Brian Brown and Huckabee had a gem of an idea which paid off far more in dividends than they could have anticipated.
It gave Brown the confirmation he needed on his insistence that there is no real public support for SSM - and has given renewed hope to his movement and to social conservatism.
**But the public nature of Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day is different from the privacy of the voting booth. **
VOTE first.
Then go to CFA with you “I voted” sticker on!
Should increase the participation at both. Can’t go to CFA witout the “I voted” sticker. LOL!
Good idea! Take forms next time and walk the line!
Good point.
Yep, very true! CFA appreciation no good without the voting...Have to put our money where are mouth is both places. :-)
I think I ought to order a big Chick Fil A take-out... and have it delivered to the local poling place!!!
Ha!
I’ve always wondered what it was that made them distance themselves from social issues.
You’re right that they aren’t stupid enough to believe these are losing issues - but I wonder if it’s so much that they are pro-abortion and SSM, or if they think they have to get in with the “new elite class” of young urban republicans and libertarians. Thus do they feel they must distance themselves from the “hoakey, white-bread religious folks” and that is insulting and divisive. I think Romney’s lukewarmness reflects this.
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