Chick-Fil-A Day and the Victory for Marriage, Life and Freedom on Election Day

By Deacon Keith Fournier
8/5/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The real people of America, the salt of the earth, have had enough

The massive crowd reflected a cross section of America.You sensed you were participating in something historic by simply purchasing a chicken sandwich. I do not doubt everyone wanted their chicken sandwich, especially after such a long wait. However, they were there, like me, for a reason much more important. They were making a collective statement of support for the Restaurants' willingness to stand up for marriage and family.They were standing up for free speech and against political correctness. They were applauding with their purchase the courage of the owners of this restaurant.

People formed a line which ran through the Mall to eat at a Chick-fil-A inside on Chick-fil-A appreciation day

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - I ate lunch from Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, just as I promised I would do in my article entitled "A Catholic Hooray for Chick-fil-A: Stand in Solidarity for Marriage on August 1st". Frankly, I am still amazed by the experience. Driving to the restaurant I encountered traffic congestion unlike anything I have experienced in a long time. I automatically assumed there was road construction.

However, because it was "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" I decided to resist my strong inclination to turn around. My first surprise came when I discovered that the traffic congestion had nothing to do with construction. There was none. As I turned into the shopping area where the closest restaurant was located, I next assumed the traffic was comprised of people going to the nearby Sam's Club and other large stores which often draw crowds. Once again I was wrong.

When I finally got close to the North Battlefield Blvd. Chesapeake Chick-fil-A restaurant it became clear - everyone had the same idea I did! The cars which had caused the congestion were all going to Chick-fil-A. There were no parking spaces left anywhere. In fact, the cars spilled out along the streets and filled spaces in adjacent lots.

I surveyed the inside of the restaurant and quickly decided to use the take out window. It took me a long time to even get into the lane because it wrapped around the building three times and spilled out onto the feeder road. The restaurant had to send out a young male employee to direct traffic away from the crowds of people going in and out.

The massive crowd reflected a cross section of America. They were young, old, middle aged and senior. They were thin, overweight, short, tall, well groomed, sloppy, well dressed, tattooed and of every race and color. There were young Moms with their children in tow, blue collar workers, students and business men and women. Amazingly, everyone was kind, courteous and willing to wait in line. No-one complained and most were smiling.

In fact, you sensed you were participating in something historic by simply purchasing a chicken sandwich. I do not doubt everyone wanted their chicken sandwich, especially after such a long wait. However, they were there, like me, for a reason much more important. They were making a collective statement of support for the Restaurants' willingness to stand up for marriage and family in the face of open hostility, ridicule and threats.

They were standing up for free speech and against political correctness. They were applauding with their purchase the courage shown by the owners of this restaurant. They did not back down in the face of forceful, even hateful, opposition from those who, while claiming to be tolerant have become so intolerant of those who do not agree with them.

Chick-fil-A was founded over thirty years ago by an evangelical protestant Christian named Truett Cathy. His son Dan now runs the family owned and family values based company which now operates 1600 stores. It has become a $4 billion dollar a year enterprise. You can read about this good family and their genuine and living Christian faith here. You might also find their work in philanthropy of interest. Read about it here.

The restaurants do not open on Sunday in order to honor the Lord's Day and allow their employees to do the same. They have resisted efforts to change not only this policy but other pressures to compromise on their core convictions. The founders offer us all an example of moral coherence as Christians. They apply the great principles of their faith to their business practices. They do not fall prey to the separation between faith and life which can so quickly creep into the life of Christians.

Chick-fil-A has been under assault because their President publicly affirmed their company support for true marriage and the family and society founded upon it. Dan Cathy expressed his deeply held religious convictions to the Baptist Press in an interview and literally - all hell broke loose among some new Cultural Revolutionaries.

Among the most vocal opponents was Carlos Maza of "Equality Matters", a homosexual equivalency activist group. He told the Washington Post that Dan Cathy's position in defense of marriage, along with the contributions made by his family's foundation to pro-life and pro-family groups, "solidifies Chick-fil-A as being closely aligned with some of the most vicious anti-gay voices in the country." That is nonsense. To defend marriage does not equate to being "anti-gay".

The effort unleashed against Chick fil-A was an example of viewpoint discrimination parading as a concern for ...

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1 - 10 of 70 Comments

Judy Claar
10 months ago
DLL: I think the only thing we can do, is pray for Mike, and those like him. And believe me, there are more than I care to admit. He and others like him will think that we waste our time in prayer...but we know not the wonders wrought by them. (I hope I did not quote anyone!) The last 60 years have been troublesome within and without our Church on all levels. I believe that the Second Vatican Council was and is a Good thing. Pope Benedict is continuing work that was started. I believe, that there was and is, too much Secularism that grew like weeds. And with that, unhealthy love of self. Then came a hidden crime. This in my mind, are a few of the reasons we are where we are today. We must pray for the Conversion of sinners, including ourselves. Only God knows the Heart, and what bruises there are upon it and to what degree. Blessings...
Juneau Alaska
10 months ago
DLL, I was not aware that I had a requirement to address every point someone puts in front of me; this is the first mention you've made about this. I respond to issues when I think I know the fundamentals of the point trying to be made. Many people here, including you, write--for lack of a better term-- in a broad faith-based style of language that is like a foreign language to me. It's as simple as that. I do apologize if I failed to fulfil any courtesies or obligations expected by you. I was pleased with our lasted exchange and had no more to say. Cheers! ~Mike, friendly atheist.
DLL
10 months ago
Judy: Mike doesn't address my challenge. He may just be a first sentence reader. Does he think evil is a greater force than love? He must as evil is evident in his scientific laboratory of the observation of human affairs. Love and mercy are perhaps harder to prove. Christ is proof positive. I believe that is what you and I believe. Again as I write often. God is Love,love never dies. In Christ we know this as Christ is proof positive. The greatest form of love we learn is as we receive Christ,body,blood,soul and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. We must give back what we receive and that is a love that is Christlike. Mike a former Catholic has rejected this. He is a proud atheist. Why would anyone be a proud atheist? What is the point and in the end he cares about that,not I. He writes to this website proud to be an atheist. Why? Only God knows. There is more proof for him as God is patient and kind.
Judy Claar
10 months ago
Juneau Alaska: Hi Mike! Thank you for interpreting my jumbled words to the null hypothesis. That indeed was what I was talking about. I will agree to disagree, on your not calling this an impasse, because I really do not know that you are seeking the Truth? by always presenting a paradigm?

For instance, your saying that DLL's first sentence was good. Yes, he certainly did lay himself out. and open for that one...Good Soul that he is...Doubting Thomas' that we all are on occasion, especially in the desert; or on long dark nights...

That aside, let us not confuse our readers. One can Not compare Thor, or Baal, or Yawyeh or God in the same sentence. They simply are not =; of the same equation. And this, my friend, is where we reach the impasse.

When you are ready to concede the difference between mythologies, and a God that is Real, in Reality I can continue. Right now, I only see the Truth blocked by an impasse. I will continue to read your posts of course, and wish you Gods speed on your journey.
OT=written generation upon generation, that foretold the coming of Christ, (which fact and history acknowledge, that Jesus indeed Lived and Breathed and Walked upon this earth), Now we see fruition of what was said in His time; and one thing that he said, most importantly was, that a day, was like 1000 years to His Father. Of Course it was! So puny we are! Have you seen the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Another impasse: To not accept the factual evidence of Lourdes I am certain Is foolish. It is all documented by Science and has nothing to do with the Church, and to my reading, yes, it does have a Faith based denominator, but there are also those who were of this mind:
"Lord I believe, but Help my Unbelief", and some were also healed. Sooo, until you search, and read True Factual documents and/or books on Lourdes, how may I help you?
Noon Blessings....
Juneau Alaska
10 months ago
DLL: I think that what you've stated in your first sentence is outstanding. You have allowed yourself to consider a thought experiment about what it would take for you to reconsider a personally held belief. To me, allowing oneself to just consider ideas contrary to one's currently held positions is the mark of an individual who values honesty. I mention this because I've met Christians (usually "fundamentalist" or quasi-Christian sects) who will not entertain thought experiments--in principle. So thank you for sharing that. Judy Claar, what you are speaking of is called a null hypothesis and I agree. The only way to counter a null hypothesis is with positive evidence. Positive evidence is not forthcoming for the existence of the supernatural and it is also impossible to provide postive evidence for the non-existence of the supernatural. But I wouldn't call this an impasse. One position still makes claims without evidence while the other only retains the bare minimum of the null hypothesis position. Regarding miracles, I have never encountered a miracle that survives Occam's Razor. All religious miracles, by definition, and without exception, require a faith component. An evidence-based miracle is an oxymoron. Thank you both, I must say, for the kind sentiments, I know you mean well and again, I appreciate the Mods allowing this discussion to continue. Cheers! -Mike
DLL
10 months ago
Mike,if you can prove that love in the world is non existent than you will prove to me possibly,your belief that there is and could never be any God. By the way who is Yahweh or Thor and all those Greek ones you believe can not exist, as far as those guys are concerned I agree they are myth. I believe that Christ is the Incarnation of God who lived and died a real death on a cross and rose on the 3rd day,so that we can be saved of sins. God is alive and God cares and loves,as is proved by Jesus our savior from sin. Sin is the problem as we must all work out our salvation. Christ shows us the way,as He is the way,truth and the life,the only way to God. Christ commands us to all love one another as he has loved us. The world and it's governments embrace and love futility to govern people's of the world,because of the economy that naturally is designed to suppress the public for the sake of having those in power dominating those who must yield to their power. This is proof possibly that hatred is the dominant power that drives each person,as hate and fear gets adrenaline moving in our bodies so that we feel these negative emotions as powerful ones. Maybe hatred is a greater and a force of power that is greater than love. Where love is like overindulging in chocolate,something like that. Maybe worse love is a way to get sex and be a dominating force in the bedroom.nothing more nothing less than having others perform favorably to our whims.What do you think? Mike is evil the dominate part of human nature that effectively negates love as any legitimate power at all? Is it all really simply survival of the strong over the weak? If so than it would be every man for himself,so that man is in his own self a personal God,all others including the one true God,must be myth. Possibly other people are just toys to amuse us,as to be selfish is the most satisfying emotional motivation and power we have in our personal arsenal of tools or weapons that make us happy to be either sort of good or if we desire completely evil. Relative thinking would have each person to be their own person doing their own thing as that would be their way? Is that happiness,freedom possibly,justice for all wrapped up in what one would call desire? Is that the life force most active in each and every one of us? You like that idea? Are we on the same page? I guess you and I are still different ,huh!
Juneau Alaska
10 months ago
JoAnn, nope, I am not a person of faith. I would say that when it comes to accepting claims (such as evolution for instance) I simply say I have reasonable expectations based on prior evidence. In other words, I don't have to have faith that evolution is a fact, I can check it myself. I don't, as it were, "believe in things", I accept, reject or withhold judgement until the evidence comes in. If the evidence never comes in, that's ok. I can accept that. What I won't do is fill in the blanks with bad evidence no matter how much that may make me comfortable. Please understand, I am not denying that ancient writings (well they aren't that ancient) can have literary and societal value. Just this year the COE celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, a marvelous translation that to this day permeates our English language with many memorable sayings and words. It's almost impossible to understand Western Civilization without knowing something about scripture. I suppose I just do what Thomas Jefferson did and cut out all the supernatural bits. And I certainly throw away the really nasty stuff that has no place in our modern society! So JoAnn, as I finish reading your post, your latest challenge is Pascal's Wager. One problem with Pascal's Wager is this: who knows if you decided to worship the right god? There are something like 9,200 documented deities throughout the anthropological record to-date. Pascal says you may as well presume there is a god just to be on the safe side, right? So if I worship Odin, I might anger Yahweh. If I worship Yawheh, I might be upsetting Pele. If I worship Joseph Smith, I might upset Allah. Lastly, the main problem I have with Pascal's Wager is this: it presumes that if there is a god, this god won't be able to tell that one of his worshippers basically decided to spin the roulette wheel for no other reason than to "be safe." Well, if there is a god that wouldn't be offended at that, who's to say there isn't a god who will tell me, "you know Mike, I really DID leave poor evidence for you to find me, my bad. Good for you, you stayed true to your conscience and did your best." I don't know what Christians would lose if they were even "able" to have a moment to know they were wrong upon death. Perhaps some would have wished they spent money elsewhere or slept in on Sundays! Who knows? This is the only life I think I'll ever have, each moment is beyond precious. I waste far too much time as it is, somehow, worshipping gods simply to cover my butt isn't time well spent in my book and I'm not sure I'd respect a god that chose to be worshipped that way! -Cheers! Mike
Judy Claar
10 months ago
Juneau Alaska: Mike, It is interesting to me, that you waved off DLL, and spoke directly to Rob and Jo Ann. DLL's crickets and simple addition, thus his story, you simply did not wish to address for one reason or the other. Hum?
When you speak of negating for actual proof of God, you are speaking of Your side of the equation; there is also the Other side of the equation, =My side, which negates Your side; Whereby one can neither prove or disprove God. Therefore, one side negates the other and we are at an impasse. However Mike, there is proof at Lourdes, that is factual and documented; and Fatima. Real evidence exists...if you care to research it. If you do not wish to, well, we have negated one another, and we are at at impasse. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and Hope you have an "ah-ha" moment, sooner rather than later.
Cherish Today...Blessings
JoAnn
10 months ago
Mike: Do you have faith in our history books? If you do, why? If not,why? There are history books that verify the existence of Jesus. The Bible, yes. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about actual historians that lived at the time of Jesus. Who tell the story of His ministry, His crucifixion and His resurrection. People who saw Him after His resurrection, and witnessed to it and were killed because of it. They were mistaken you say, or lying. People will die for the truth but I have never heard of anyone dying for a lie. If you read those books, would you believe them? Mike, I am not trying to convert you, nor is anyone else on this board. Because WE can't do it. FAITH is a gift. It's a gift from God. We can only tell you what we believe and why. All we can do is sew the seed. It is the Holy Spirit that waters the seed. If you were meant to be a Christian, God will see that you become a Christian. It would help if you kept your heart open to all possibilities. (By possibilities, I don't just mean open to faith.) But sooner or later, we are going to leave this Earth. If we Christians die and find out that there is no God or Heaven, what have we lost? But if non-believers die and find out that there surely is a God, AND a hell, tell me Mike, what have they lost? God bless.
Juneau Alaska
10 months ago
DLL, yes. You and I are different. Rob, permit me to help. From a theological point of view, there cannot be conclusive proof that Yahweh exists because that would negate any need for faith. And, it is written, Yahweh cannot be pleased without faith. So the deck is stacked. But Rob, I'm not asking for proof, just evidence. Perhaps with enough evidence I can build a scaffolding of premisses to deduce a logical argument for a proof. Apparently you are able to see evidence "all around". Can you give one example of this evidence for Yahweh please? Put yourself in my position. I hear someone saying there is skads of evidence everywhere yet when pressed, the person provides not a single example. Can you appreciate my frustration? If you don't have evidence, that's fine, just say so then. JoAnn, essentially the same thing I said to Rob. I do appreciate the Mods allowing this off-topic discussion to continue. Cheers! -Mike

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