geek down

I understand that the CEO of this chain is a 'traditional marriage' advocate and I can appreciate his rights for freedom of speech.

I also understand that now with Citizen's United being the law of the land, corporations are now people.

Are we REALLY going to use a fast food chain to draw battle lines on a issue that has NOTHING to do with food? If the CEO wants to express his personal opinions and beliefs, then go right ahead. But I can't agree to a company endorsing discrimination simply because a person in a place of power has the opinion that he does..What about the significant opinions of the other workers of the chain? Is the chain anti-gay or just the CEO. I haven't seen the offical mission statement from the company, but if it includes political issues in the statement, then I'm sure the company will be fined for discrimination.

I also can't abide by the comments of certain city mayors that are telling Chick-Fil-A to GTFO of their cities.. Boston mayor Menino has been known to say things that are not in the best interest of the residence of boston and I beleive that his comments on this is in the catagory of 'not good for Boston'.

You can disagree with a person's ideas and beliefs, but that does not give you providence over another's life, business or choices. I can see taking action if Chick-Fil-A wont serve a person just because he or she is not hetero. Thats a different story then the speech being made by the CEO. Menino has been more confrontational on this issue. If people want to eat there and know that their money is going to a cause that they don't or do beleive in, then that's their choice.

What ever happened to free market? I thought that was one of the tenets of this country. Free market.... I keep hearing that over and over. Well, let the market solve this issue. If enough people boycott the chain, then changes will happen..Or if enough people support the chain, the same thing will happen..The Montgomery Bus Boycott comes to mind.

With Palin, huckabee and others coming to the aid of the resturant and hosting rallies for their cause, I feel like once again we are missing the big picture when it comes to these discussions. Discrimination is discrimination, no matter how you want to color it. I've read about the civil rights movement and all the talks that went along with it.. In the end, the rights of blacks were upheld and the dissent would comment on how this is the end of the world as we know it...Well, yeah it is..and its not..I can't find a single federal law that legalized 'interracial marriage' or made it crime. I can't find a single federal law besides the unconstitutional DOMA that is on the books on a federal level.

I don't listen to Rush and I find alot of the things he says to be vulgar, idiotic and incendiary. So do I promote a rally to get him off the air, or just not listen to him? I can't understand the calls made after the Fluke incident asking rush to get off the air. Just because you don't agree with a persons beliefs, does not mean you can use force to prevent them from saying what they want. Many people don't listen to Bill Maher..I never miss his show. This doesn't mean others should force me to stop watching a show I like because their ideology is different then mine..HOWEVER, they need to understand that they have a right to say what they want, and I have a right to do the same.

At the end of the day, I hear the same argument from the opposition..That this is against their religious rights..I disagree.. This is not against anyone's religious rights, its against the basic rights of a group of american citizens. The same battle has been going on since the start of this country, the actors have changed but not the argument; blacks, muslims, irish, german, dutch, italian..communists..and now its gone into the realm of religion v civics. Its unconstitutional for one group to be given rights another group does not possess..

Religion is being used and abused in this case and the dissent is trying to forge this into an anti-religion debate when this argument is baseless and factless. No one is telling churches that they need to marry homosexuals and no one is telling religious organizations what to do..These are private companies that are in business to provide a service for profit. The distinction is small but important. When religion is injected into a debate that is not inherently religious, it provides fodder for both sides and does not move the conversation to a resolution.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote "“Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the 'wall of separation between church and state,' therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.”

What the hell does a fast food resturant have to do with religion or civil rights? It doesn't, its just a red herring to detract from the real debate at hand. Its there to flare tempers and tug at people's core beliefs instead of providing a foundation for productive debate.

pidge70

The Chik-fil-A where I live was in the news last night. People were trying to get others to boycott the restaurant. Caused a bit of a traffic issue as the restaurant is right by a hospital.

JoeRockStar

The whole thing is absolutely absurd. For starters, asking the Christian owner of a food chain (that isn't even open on Sundays) his opinion on gay marriage and then getting outraged at his answer is the very definition of idiocy. Second, Obama held the same position on gay marriage 6 months ago, where is their outrage toward him? Then you have morons like Rahm Emanuel welcoming the very anti-Semitic Lewis Farrakhan to Chicago with open arms yet telling Chik-Fil-A they don't represent Chicago's values. The idiot mayor of Boston wants to prevent Chik-Fil-A from opening but gifted the Islamic Society of Boston with $1.2M worth of land and we all know Islam's stance toward gays. The double standard is nauseating, the whole thing is a complete joke and it was absolutely WONDERFUL to see the tremendous outpouring of customers at my local Chik-Fil-A yesterday. Hooray for free speech!

Conrad

I was under the impression this was the land of the free.

Oh, that's right.

You're only allowed freedom of speech if you think the right way.

Does anyone else see how dangerous this is?

Who the hell do people like Rahm Emanuel think they are?

In_The_Wind

I was wondering if they ask or check folks whom may fall into whatever category that is deemed "Different" this week if they happen to be in one of the different areas before they take their money. I dont agree with corportions that force their opinions on others such as this company or when the southern baptist felt that proctor and gamble was satanistic or disney I normally just avoid them myself so long chik fila spicy sandwich I guess I ll have to go get a wendys hot and spicy chicken sandwich

JoeRockStar

Chik-Fil-A does NOT discriminate against customers or employees so what's the issue? The owner simply stated HIS PERSONAL opinion.

JoeRockStar

OPEC is Muslim controlled and they openly hate gays. Are we going to stop buying gas too?

Mavash.

I just thought it was funny. My husband is a cop and they actually had to do traffic control there because it was so crowded.

I wasn't surprised by any of this. My Chik-fil-A is ALWAYS taking stances or fundraising showing support for one cause or another. They support the police WELL and therefore I will continue to support them. I say yay to them!!

In_The_Wind

exactly yet he can judge others based on his personal beliefs then turn it into a media frenzy which is basically a marketing ploy Myself i really dont care what he is or isnt its like when they ask say Tony Danza about the economy what does it matter

Almostrecovered

putting aside from politicians try to stop CFA's from being built (which is wrong imp), this is actually the free market at work


CFA's owners has the right to donate their money to whatever charity they wish and speak their minds on a political issue. (dumb choice for a business but whatever)

But people also have the right to make consumer decisions based on that information. Henson's Co. had the right to discontinue their partnership with CFA based on that info as well.

People also have the right to protest, they can picket in public areas, write stuff on the internet, call for boycotts, write articles, use their money to donate to GLAAD, etc etc
conversely, people who support the same ideas can also do the same or similar stuff and buy more CFA if they wish

what they can't do is picket in a CFA or their offices, that's private property and it's not a work labor issue either.


so in essence, this is the constitution at work and it's a good thing imo (again aside from the stupid political BS you see from the dopey politicians). Is it silly that it was brought to headlines due to a chicken fast food owner's opinion and the subsequent decision of a puppeteer? To an extent I suppose, but what's the difference how it happened? This debate has been raging for years and if it wasn't CFA it would been something else that would ignited the flames of passionate discourse.

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GTdad

I'm pro-gay marriage (or even better, would like to see the government get out of the marriage business altogether), and I agree with this 100%.

In_The_Wind

I buy us made petro

Cubby

It would be exhausting to try to find out political opinions of all the places I do business with and avoiding those I disagree with. I don't care what the owner of Chick Fil-A thinks about gay marriage. That's his opinion and he's entitled to it. I thought this was a free country, but it's clearly not.

I'm increasingly starting to believe that we're getting closer to the day where traditional values and beliefs will become illegal!

JoeRockStar

He said he supports "traditional marriage", how exactly is that judging? Who turned it into a media frenzy? Um...the liberal media did, it makes for a great hate story.

Meanwhile fat@ss Roseann Barr can say to the world that anyone eating Chik-Fil-A should get cancer and she gets a free pass. Disgusting double standard.

JoeRockStar

I agree completely, I could not possibly care less whether gays marry or not. Hey, they're entitled to be just as miserable as the rest of us!