RNLori wrote:Best post in this thread. So many people misunderstand and think he was just stating his personal beliefs. I have had to explain to friends exactly what their Chicken Nugget purchases were supporting for years now.
I am straight, but have my own beliefs that "not giving a sh*t" also applies to the choice others make as to what sex they marry.
I have many gay friends, and we were discussing bringing some Wendy's takeout over to Chick Fil A and letting the couples children play in the play area while we are there. They want to get the kids meals from Chik Fil A, just for the irony of it...
No, but everyone knows that Chick-Fil-A isn't the only company that does that. Ben & Jerry's, Starbucks, Pepsi, Target, etc. have all notoriously donated to pro-gay marriage lobbying groups. There are probably more that give money to pro-gay marriage groups than those that give to pro-traditional marriage groups.
As a Christian, I hear about these groups all the time. I hear friends calling out the latest company and announcing their boycotts. You know what? I shrug my shoulders. If a company has a good product, I'll buy it. I personally don't like Ben & Jerry's that much, and it's way overpriced. So I don't buy it. Starbuck's coffee tastes like they were short on coffee grinds and substituted last summer's grill charcoal instead. So I don't drink it often. If they have good products, I'll give them money for their products. They can do as they please with that money, because they earned it by putting out a good product. That doesn't mean that I support gay marriage. It simply means that I prefer to pay for something worth the money.
As for the blog, I understand the author is not making an argument either way, he's simply talking about the marketing. But, in Dan Cathy's defense, maybe what he decided to do wasn't a marketing ploy. Maybe he actually believes that. And maybe he thinks that taking this stand is more important than money. My goodness, the man cuts his profits by 15% by being closed on Sundays. Is it that hard to believe that maybe he's simply standing up for his beliefs? Agree or not, you at least have to respect someone who risks a sizable amount of income to affirm their beliefs. He knew what these comments would cause, and no doubt he weighed the risks. Deal with that however you want to deal with it. I think Chick-Fil-A is alright, so I may drop in sometime in the near future. But I don't think they're great, so it's unlikely to change the frequency of my visits. I will say however, that Chick-Fil-A has hands down the most polite and kind service of any restaurant that I have ever visited, and I suspect if a gay person walked in, they would be expected to treat them with the same level of courtesy and service. For me, the ultimate mindless reaction is to simply throw money out at someone because they believe the same thing that you do, or vice versa. That doesn't show me that someone thinks for themselves. It shows me they toe the line of their peers and don't view quality as important in their financial decisions and purchases. If I want to give money to a traditional marriage group, I'll be man enough to give it to the group, not trade it in for food and allow a third party to donate a portion of their income it after I've eaten my my meal.
Personally, I think boycotting either way is a somewhat hateful thing to do. I may disagree with gay marriage, but to boycott a business owned by a homosexual is to essentially say to that person, "I don't think you should have money. I don't believe you should have a means to buy food to put on your table. I don't think you should have the means to make house payments. And I believe that based on the fact that you are gay." Boycotting is a statement and an urging for others not to support someone until they change their beliefs. To make a statement like that means you think their life should lack the basic necessities to survive, like you're going to starve them out of their beliefs. Even if you don't necessarily believe that, that's how it comes across. That's why, regardless of someone's sexual orientation, I base my business dealings solely on the product they offer. Now, there are some things I'd boycott over, but those circumstances would be pretty extreme and rare. People need to learn that boycotting beliefs and boycotting people are completely different. If you want to get somewhere in winning people over, the former is preferable to the latter.
