College Park, Georgia, is the home of Chick-fil-A’s Corporate Headquarters.
Do you remember when millions of Christians stood with you when the radical left called for a boycott of your fine company? Do you remember when they turned the boycott into a “buycott”? These same Christians are scratching their heads today. They are wondering why the company they love so much now feels the need to satisfy the demands of people who despise many of the common values we hold dear.
—Dr. Michael Brown, in “A Christian Appeal to Chick-fil-A“—
Key point: Militant gay rights activists never will be satisfied. Ironically, in the name of tolerance, they have become the most intolerant people in the world.
A year ago, I wrote an article about the tremendous work of the Chick-fil-A (CFA) restaurants in the Orlando, Florida area, as well as the CFA corporation itself, in the urgent aftermath of the Pulse gay nightclub shooting on Sunday, June 12, 2016. Omar Mateen’s
rampage left 49 dead and another 53 injured, some seriously. When it was all over, a 3-hour standoff had occurred between the gunman and law enforcement officers. It ended when Mateen himself was shot by police and died at the scene. Thus, Mateen’s death would bring the total body count to 50, even though he apparently was not the last of the injured to die.
The shooting was horrific; yet, much to the surprise of many—even though it was a Sunday when CFA restaurants are closed, and even though homosexuals were the victims—CFA restaurants in the area joined other concerned citizens and businesses to offer help for the victims. Chick-fil-A’s response was a tremendous demonstration of concern for the people of Orlando in general and for those directly affected by the Pulse nightclub shooting in particular.
Why were people surprised? Those who genuinely understand Christianity were not. Dan Cathy, son of CFA founder Truett Cathy and CFA’s current CEO, is a Christian and grew up in a Christian family. A big reason the Cathys’ faith is known to so many is that CFA has remained a family-owned business with a closed-on-Sunday schedule for all its restaurants and a purpose statement that speaks directly of glorifying God.1 Also, Truett Cathy made no secret of his faith or his involvement in church. He taught Sunday school for many, many years. Christians, of course, take seriously Jesus’ teachings to love one’s neighbor as oneself and to be a neighbor to those in need.
Christians also take seriously biblical teachings regarding marriage. In June of 2012, Dan Cathy publicly stated his beliefs about the direction America was headed with regard to the institution of marriage. Cathy said,
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- “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.’ I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
- “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 want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that,”
- “We need to be more faithful to depend on a God who does love us and wants to have a relationship with us, and wants to give us the desires of our hearts … We intend to stay the course.”
- “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.”
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CFA’s president made the first of these statements on June 16, 2012, on the radio on “The Ken Coleman Show.” He made the remaining three in a printed interview that was released in the Biblical Recorder the following month. In the interview, Cathy was asked about pushback against “his company’s ‘support of the traditional family.’ He replied: ‘Well, guilty as charged.'”
Feeling the Heat
Ever since he made his stance on marriage public, Dan Cathy and his company have been vilified as haters of gays. But how, tell me, is a belief that marriage is between one man and one woman hateful? How have homosexuals through the centuries been harmed by this definition of marriage? The reality is that all of them were conceived and came into the world as a result of heterosexual encounters—and probably most of these, if not the overwhelming majority, were marital heterosexual encounters. Even more to the point, the beliefs of Mr. Cathy never should have surprised anyone. What he said about marriage is what Christians have believed for over 2,000 years—and what the Old Testament has taught for far longer. The question arises: Who is really being hateful and intolerant here?
At the same time, we can admit that some of Mr. Cathy’s statements were not framed in the most public-relations-friendly manner, and many took offense. The truth is, though, that even if Cathy had said what he said in the most polite way possible, gay activists still would have been offended. To members of the militant homosexual lobby, the most important thing isn’t how you say what you say, or even what you say. It’s what you believe. If you don’t genuinely celebrate with them regarding their lifestyle choices, you are a hater. Christian leader, author, and radio talk show host Michael Brown understands. He wrote, “Until it renounces such actions as evil, Chick-fil-A will wear the bigot brand, and that’s because the ones attacking them are the bigots.”
To members of the militant homosexual lobby, the most important thing isn’t how you say what you say, or even what you say. It’s what you believe. If you don’t genuinely celebrate with them regarding their lifestyle choices, you are a hater.
So, from 2012 when Dan Cathy spoke publicly in support of man-woman marriage to the present day, “LGBT activists and liberal public officials [have] continue[d] to fight the company’s expansion onto city blocks, college campuses, and even airports.” Yet the fast-food chain has grown steadily anyway. Joe Dallas, who ministers to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, observed,
As of July 2019, according to The Washington Post, “Chick-fil-A has moved up the ranks from the seventh-largest restaurant chain in the United States to become the third.” Your profits don’t climb like that without support from the general public, and support from the Christian public has been especially strong.”
CFA was blessed with through-the-roof revenue on Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day in 2012, an event held on August 1 and organized by former Arkansas governor and talk show host Mike Huckabee. Huckabee wanted to give Christians and others an opportunity to thank a company for standing up for marriage and not caving into cultural and political pressure.
Changing Course
Militant gay activists doubled down, pointing to CFA’s charitable giving practices as evidence of animus against gays. In 2011, the WinShape Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Truett Cathy, made donations to Exodus International and the Family Research Council. These contributions upset the activists. Then in 2012, son Dan stated his beliefs about marriage. At that point, CFA became a favorite target of the activists, who have browbeaten it for giving to organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Salvation Army, and the Paul Anderson Youth Home. Keep in mind that these are not ministries that focus primarily on helping people deal with homosexuality or same-sex attraction. Nevertheless, simply for upholding a biblical standard of sexuality, they were deemed anti-LGBT.
In the midst of the furor that arose, a great many Christians were pleased that a prominent businessman had been unashamed of his Christian faith and biblical values and had stood up for marriage when the trend in corporate America was, and remains, to acquiesce to political correctness. Thus, Christians and others who believe in traditional values have gladly supported Chick-fil-A—that is, until November of 2019, when the company announced changes in its charitable giving practices.
CFA’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos made the announcement in a November 18 article in Bisnow, saying,
There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are. There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.
The article goes on to explain,
Starting next year, the Chick-fil-A Foundation plans to give $9M to organizations like Junior Achievement USA to support education, Covenant House International to fight homelessness and community food banks for its hunger initiative in each city where the chain operates. The company intends to dedicate $25K to a local food bank each time it opens a new location.
According to Tassopoulos, “This provides more focus and more clarity….We think [education, hunger and homelessness] are critical issues in communities where we do business in the U.S.”
Quite Clear
Did CFA’s decision, and the announcement associated with it, really provide clarity? Actually, the clear message a large number of Christians heard was not the same one that the company intended to convey. Joe Dallas said this:
If glorifying God is your mission, and you want to be clear about who you are, then withdrawing your support from others who glorify God, simply because they uphold the standards of the God both you and they glorify, seems inconsistent and (forgive me) a little chicken.
Joe Dallas isn’t alone in his assessment. Next time, in just a very few days, we’ll hear from a pro-family leader for whom CFA’s announcement more than disappointing. It was personal.
Stay tuned in!
Part 2 is available here.
Copyright © 2020 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
top image credit: Chick-fil-A Headquarters
image credit: CFA Appreciation Day in Port Charlotte, Florida
Note:
1Chick-fil-A’s corporate purpose statement is as follows: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”
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