Posted on 07/30/2012 2:31:52 PM PDT by NYer
After the Mayors of Boston and Chicago and elected officials in other cities vowed to block efforts to open Chick-fil-A restaurants in their cities because the company’s president told reporters that he supported the traditional definition of marriage, thousands of Christians are mobilizing efforts nationwide to support Chick-fil-A – led by Fox News Channel host and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Huckabee has declared August 1 “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.”
“Let’s affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, August 1,” said the former Republican Presidential candidate.
Huckabee said the company has come under attack from militant homosexuals and is being “smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left.”
“The militant homosexual advocates have launched an all out assault on Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A,” he said. “The attempts to hurt or destroy Chick-fil-A are nothing short of economic bullying.”
What do the Rockwall Chick-fil-A franchise owners Tim and Melissa Moseley think about the controversy and how Appreciation Day will affect their location at 2835 Ridge Road in conservative, traditional, family-oriented Rockwall? Unfortunately they are currently on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment.
But Chick-fil-A did issue a corporate statement regarding the protests from Donald Perry, vice president Corporate Public Relations:
Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.
The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.
Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.
Rockwall City Council member and Lake Pointe Church member Michelle Smith supports the effort and publicly questioned whether such attacks by the gay lobby are right on her Facebook page July 25. She referred to an editorial on TheAtlantic.com entitled “In Defense of Eating at Chick-fil-A”: “This is about the right of a private business to operate as it wishes," she said. "Do we really want a country where people won’t do commerce with those who have beliefs different than their own?”
“This country was founded on freedom of religion, not freedom from religion,” she added. “I strongly support the first amendment right to free speech.”
Chick-fil-A is privately owned by the Cathy family. The company president, Dan Cathy, angered gay rights advocates and supporters when he made recent statements that some have alleged are anti-gay.
Cathy told Baptist Press that the company was unapologetically in favor of traditional marriage.
“Guilty as charged,” he said. “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”
In a separate interview on the Ken Coleman Show, Cathy suggested that the nation could face God’s wrath over the redefinition of marriage.
“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,’” hesaid. “I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.”
Boston Mayor Tom Menino was the first to state that the Atlanta-based company would not be welcome in his city.
“You can’t have a business in the City of Boston that discriminates against a population,” he told the Boston Globe. “We’re an open city. We’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also condemned the fast-food chain, vowing his support for Alderman Proco Moreno’s announcement that he would block construction of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in his district.
“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents.”
“If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the First Ward,” he told the newspaper.
Mountain View California, a bedroom community of San Francisco, has temporarily blocked the chicken chain from opening there after a homosexual couple spearheaded an effort to launch a zoning challenge.
Threats to ban Chick-fil-A have drawn fire from editorial pages across the nation.
The Los Angeles Times condemned the decision, calling it far more troubling than Chick-fil-A’s support of traditional marriage.
“Public officials have a responsibility to carry out their ministerial tasks fairly and evenhandedly – and to uphold the principle of free speech – whether or not they like a business executive’s social or political stances,” the Times opined.
The Boston Globe wondered “which part of the First Amendment does Menino not understand? A business owner’s political or religious beliefs should not be a test for the worthiness of his or her application for a business license.”
Donald Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, is backing Huckabee’s efforts saying he hoped it would generate the largest one-day sales in the company’s history.
“I have been incensed at the vitriolic assaults on the Chick-fil-A company,” Wildmon wrote in an email. “It’s a great American story that is being smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, was especially disturbed by the actions of Boston’s mayor.
“This is really outrageous when you see this is the train that follows same sex marriage,” Perkins told Fox News. “This idea of the loss of religious freedom – the freedom of speech — and it’s on perfect display in Boston with the intolerance of this mayor.”
Perkins noted that Americans have overwhelmingly endorsed the traditional definition of marriage – 32 times in 32 states.
“Chick-fil-A is in the mainstream,” he said. “The mayor of Boston is in the minority.”
RobertHorton
Since Jul 30, 2012
The nearest one is in N.J. I’d love to support them, but I’m not driving 40+ miles to do it.
Did you have a point to that post?
Getting ready for Wednesday.
Chick-Fil-A Restaurant Locator. . .
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/Locator
Catering - Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Catering-FAQ
Posting from Chic-fil-A right now!
Chick-Fil-A, excellent purpose statement, and I thank you for being bold for God, I support you 100%. No weapon [seen or unseen] formed against you shall prosper. Praise God and may He pour out His blessings on You and your Families. I call you blessed in the Mighty Name Of JESUS.
Hordes of folks there to support Chick-fil-a.
Only 4 lesbian protesters with signs. News cameras present and news helicopter flying overhead.
Gotta watch the news tonight to see the liberal slant.
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