I've seen a lot of crazy things floating around about what Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-a had to say about gay marriage (including one facebook post from someone who seems to have confused Chick-fil-a with the Westboro Baptist Church). Specifically, there have been a lot of claims that they are descriminating against gays or have said hateful things about homosexuals, etc.
I thought it might be useful to come back to what actually happened. As far as I know, the entire current hub-bub is a reaction to this wide-ranging interview in the Baptist Press. Only a small portion at the end of the article touches on marriage so here it is in all it's hateful glory:
It began as a college scholarship and expanded to a foster care program, an international ministry, and a conference and retreat center modeled after the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.
"That morphed into a marriage program in conjunction with national marriage ministries," Cathy added.
Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.
"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.
"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.
"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."
Look, while people who aren't Christians aren't going to feel bound to a biblical definition of marriage, it's no secret that:
- The Bible calls homosexuality a sin and
- The Bible always portrays marriage as between a man and a woman
Believing these things doesn't make you hateful; it just means that you believe this is how things are. I can certainly tell you that while I believe homosexual acts are a sin, I hold no ill will towards those who commit them. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I don't believe any of us are defined by the specific sins they commit.
When I read this interview, I see someone taking a stand for what he believes in. What I don't see is anger or hate. I'm not aware of anyone at Chick-fil-a saying they won't serve or hire homosexuals; just that they believe strong families organized under biblical principals are important. You may disagree with that position, but it doesn't make the people who hold it hateful people.
On a separate note, the interview ends with Cathy talking about how grateful he is to live in a country where he's free to operate on biblical principles. Apparently the left's irony detectors are still broken because the immediately decided to try to prove him wrong on that score.
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