The company received major backlash from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and its allies over his stance against gay marriage AND over the fact that his company funds anti-gay hate groups, groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center had deemed hate groups who use their hatred and extremist right wing views to push back any advances that the LGBT community has made over the last 40 years. However, in response to that backlash, former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee called on Americans to support Chik-Fil-A by going to Chik-Fil-A restaurants for 'Chik-Fil-A Appreciation Day', which gave the company their biggest one day sales in the company's history. A couple of days later, gay rights activists did a "kiss-in" at Chik-Fil-A restaurants all over the country, much to my dismay. What had the LGBT community hoped to accomplish by having this "kiss-in"? Did they hope to quiet the controversy down? Who knows. But all they did was fan the flames even more so into a raging inferno. I'm sorry to say, but the LGBT community lost the battle this time. BUT we haven't lost the war, not by a long shot.
Dan Cathy on the other hand, has gotten some facts wrong. Sunday is NOT, I repeat, NOT the Sabbath Day. If you read Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-3, you will note that the 7th day of the week is actually Saturday, not Sunday (while it does not explicitly say that Saturday is the Sabbath and not Sunday, anyone AND everyone who is a Christian should know this by now. Thanks to a former Pastor of mine who told me about this. Otherwise, I would have still be going on believing that Sunday was the Sabbath Day, not Saturday). Ergo, Dan Cathy should have his business closed on Saturday, as that is the day of rest. Heck, if he really wanted to go one step further, he should be closed on both Saturday's AND Sunday's.
The part about this entire controversy that bothers me the most is this particular phrase, "GAY MARRIAGE". I don't even like that phrase. Why must the LGBT community and its allies call it gay marriage instead of going with what it really should be about and that is, "MARRIAGE EQUALITY". If the LGBT community and its allies would get their heads out of the sand and realize that using the phrase "gay marriage" will not win the LGBT community any broad support when it comes to obtaining the legal right to marry the person that they love. If the LGBT community and its allies go at it from a "marriage equality" standpoint, then we could actually make some head way with this very divisive issue. Until such a time that the LGBT community and its allies clean out the cobwebs that clog their brains, we will not make up any ground we may have lost on this issue.
However, many judges on the federal level continue to declare much of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional due to the 14th Amendment. With many federal judges doing so, it weakens the extreme right wings position on defending marriage as between a man and a woman only. Will we eventually win this entire debate when this issue heads to the United State Supreme Court? At this point, I really do not know. It would depend entirely on what the make up of the Supreme Court will be when the issue finally lands on their docket, if it ever does.
As an openly gay Christian male, I really want to implore the entire LGBT community to shift its strategy from a "gay marriage" stance to a "marriage equality" stance. I also implore LGBT Christians everywhere to join me in making that shift happen. If we do that and redirect this divisive issue into another direction, we just may, JUST MAY accomplish what we're seeking to accomplish. But in order to do that, we must be pro-active in electing pro-gay candidates to our local, state and federal offices starting with re-electing President Barack Obama, and pushing to regain control of the United States House of Representatives and further bolster the Democrats' hold in the United States Senate. I know that not every gay man, lesbian woman is going to agree with me on this, but it is the only way we can really push and push hard to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish.
Jesus Christ did not champion the rich, the powerful and the healthy. He championed those who are not rich, not powerful and not healthy. That is what His message has always been about. Championing the underdogs of this world, not the favorites. God's Word is a Love Letter from God to His Children and it was divinely inspired by God through the many people and prophets He used to have His Holy Word written. To those out there that would wholeheartedly disagree with this entire blog and the message that I hope will bear fruit and have rocks in their hands and their arms raised ready to stone me, I say, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." No one, I repeat NO ONE is without sin. We were all born into sin and we have ALL fallen short of the Glory of God. But let us remember that it was Jesus Christ who shed His blood for ALL, not just the select few. Once He shed His blood and that first drop of blood hit Calvary Hill, all sin was washed way. That is why we must all pray daily that God will forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.......the perfect example being Dan Cathy, who is the COO of Chik-Fil-A.
I hope each and everyone of you will follow my lead.
Father, thank You that You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ to Earth so that we are saved from our sin and from eternal damnation. Without His ultimate sacrifice and His loving Display Of Affection for all of us on the Cross, none of us would be here today. Thank You that I am saved by the Shed Blood of Jesus Christ. AMEN!
