Posted on 11/27/2019 6:09:32 PM PST by Impala64ssa
Chick-fil-A faced backlash earlier in November for ceasing donations to some Christian charities critiqued by LGBTQ groups.The organization has come under fire again for a 2017 donation to the SPLC.The SPLC is a publicly anti-Christian organization that tracks “hate groups” in the United States.
Chick-fil-A came under fire Wednesday for a 2017 donation made to the Southern Poverty Law Center under the organization’s name, but Chick-Fil-A said the donation was made by a volunteer member.
The popular chicken sandwich chain sparked a backlash when it was revealed Nov. 18 it would no longer be donating to some charities Chick-fil-A formerly donated to, but instead would focus on education, homelessness, and hunger. (RELATED: Chick-Fil-A To Stop Donations To Charities Criticized By LGBTQ Activists, Focus On Education, Homelessness, Hunger)
Conservative groups expressed outrage at the decision, noting that Chick-fil-A would no longer donate to the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes — Christian charities that LGBTQ groups had criticized Chick-fil-A for supporting.
The organization announced Nov. 18 that the Chick-fil-A Foundation is instituting a “more focused giving approach to provide additional clarity and impact with the causes it supports” by donating to education, homelessness, and hunger, according to a Chick-fil-A press release. As part of this initiative, the organization committed $9 million in 2020 to Junior Achievement USA and Covenant House International.
A Townhall.com opinion piece postedWednesday outed the organization for what writer Ryan Bomberger called “cowardice and capitulation,” noting that Chick-fil-A donated $2,500 to the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017.
The SPLC is a publicly anti-Christian organization that keeps a “hate map” that tracks “hate groups” in the United States.
“Christian Identity is a unique anti-Semitic and racist theology that rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s,” the SPLC stated on its website. “‘Christian’ in name only, the movement’s relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists has generally been hostile due to the latter’s belief that the return of Jews to Israel is essential to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.”
Chick-fil-A told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement that the donations in question were disclosed in the 2017 Chick-fil-A Foundation 990 that lists giving in the 2017 calendar year. Donations during that year included the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Salvation Army, Paul Anderson Youth Home, and over 300 other organizations.
“The SPLC donation was made by a volunteer member of the Chick-fil-A Foundation Advisory Board,” a Chick-fil-A spokesperson told the DCNF. The spokesperson did not specify who the volunteer was and has not yet responded to a request for comment on the matter.
“Each volunteer advisor, in 2017, was offered the opportunity to recommend a grant recipient,” the spokesperson said. “The grants were given to a range of organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Atlanta Mission, the Holocaust Survivor Support Fund, Georgia Historical Society and brain health research at Emory University.”
The spokesperson said Chick-fil-A’s founder Truett Cathy built the business on Biblical principles “that still guide the business today.” (RELATED: Democratic Candidates Speak Out On Christian Faith’s Compatibility With LGBTQ Issues)
“He famously said: ‘Probably the greatest gift that God has given any one of us is the power that we have to change people’s lives by what we do,'” the spokesperson said. “The best run company is the company that is forever thinking about others.'”
“It is in this spirit that all donations are made,” the spokesperson added.
In 2012, gunman Floyd Corkins started firing on members of the Family Research Council in their headquarters armed with a loaded semi-automatic pistol, 100 rounds of ammunition, and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches, the Family Research Council said in a press release.
“I wanted to kill the people in the building and then smear a Chick-fil-A sandwich in their face … to kill as many people as I could,” the gunman said, the FRC told the DCNF. Corkins later said he picked FRC using the SPLC’s “hate map” to identify the FRC as a target, as the SPLC lists the FRC as an “extremist group.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins criticized Chick-fil-A for its donation to the anti-Christian group in a statement.
“Not only has Chick-fil-A abandoned donations to Christian groups including the Salvation Army, it has donated to one of the most extreme anti-Christian groups in America.”
“Anyone who opposes the SPLC, including many Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and traditional conservatives, is slandered and slapped with the ‘extremist’ label or even worse, their ‘hate group’ designation,” Perkins said.
Perkins said Chick-fil-A made no inquiry about the well-being of an FRC employee injured during Corkin’s attack, and instead “made a donation to the SPLC which was linked in federal court to this act of domestic terrorism.”
“Chick-fil-A has seriously lost their way,” Perkins said. “It’s time for Christians to find a fast food alternative to Chick-fil-A.”
The SPLC did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Those light bulbs suck, I had one burn up on me once. I got rid of those things
Corporate still runs the foundation, that is the problem
Sorry, Chick Fila, but you’re a day late and a dollar short.
This is a clear case of Chick-Fil-A looking at this months earnings and giving a collective “D’oh!!!” Kinda like the NFL a week after the kneelers started their crap.
Popeye’s chicken sandwich is definitely better than CFA’s. Although Popeye’s regular meals are, in my opinion, overpriced, the sandwich, at under $4, is pretty reasonable.
Yep, the only way to disrespect me more than selling out to the leftists is to pander to me after seeing what it’s done to your earnings. I’ll see you next year for a sandwich maybe, if you’re still around.
Perhaps they did. Whatever happened, they screwed the pooch.
Damage control.
Chick Fil A can donate to the descendants of Josef Stalin. I’m still eating there!
Not good enough. They need to return entirely to their Christian roots concerning donations. Or just stop giving donations altogether, return the money to their shareholders, and let them make their own individual donations.
CFA has gotten themselves in a heap of trouble.
CFA is the Taylor Swift of fast foods. Once you have exhausted middle America money you turn your back on them and go to other pastures.
This isn’t a time to be reasonable, it’s poop throwing time!...
If they REALLY allow volunteers to dish out money in their company’s name, they have a lot more to worry about than just the loss of half of their business, now that they’ve turned hard-left.
Nope, sorry, I DO NOT BUY IT - no way. They’re flat-out lying.
Until they restore contributions to the Salvation Army I won’t set foot in their restaurants.
The left gets their way with these jelly spined corporation by being a major pain to them. To get them back on our side we need to be an even bigger pain to them.
I have done three comparisons now between CFA’s spicy chicken sandwich, and Popeye’s new spicy chicken sandwich, in two states.
CFA’s was a relatively thin chicken piece, with a “flat” crust, and a pickle and mayo.
Popeyes was a thicker slab of chicken, seemed like 2x at the thickest end, with a real regular fried chicken crust, and pickles and a spicy sauce.
Each time the Popeye’s sandwich was better, and at one of them in Texas, the Popeye’s was easily 2X better than the CFA just up the road, really tasty, deliciouso...
I was surprised at how much better Popeye’s was, for the same price.
So if they continue with softening their stance in supporting great orgs like the Salvation Army and FCA, then their dominance will decline, IMHO.
I really don’t care what they say from this point forward. I will not darken their doors again.
As far as I am concerned, if it was a penny it was too much. But at the end of the day, it is their money. They can do with it as they please. I just won’t be a part of it.
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