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CNS News...
Of
Free
Speech and Chick-Fil-A
By Ed
Feulner
August 2,
2012
Dan Cathy
could have saved his company, Chick-Fil-A, a lot of trouble. All he had
to do
was keep his views about family to himself.
Instead, he
answered a question honestly. In a recent media interview, the
company’s
president and COO said what he believes and why he believes it. But his
politically incorrect views are intolerable, judging from the anger of
many on
the left, including several big-city officials who are dead-set against
his
views.
In the
interview, Cathy said he is “very much supportive of the family, the
biblical
definition of the family unit.” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel took
exception:
“What the COO has said as it relates to gay marriage and gay couples is
not
what I believe. But more importantly, it’s not what the people of the
city of
Chicago believe.”
Now,
spirited debates about controversial topics are an American tradition.
But it
didn’t stop there. The politicians began threatening to block
Chick-Fil-A’s
plans to expand in their cities.
In a letter
to Chick-Fil-A, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote: “I was angry to
learn, on the
heels of your prejudiced statements, about your search for a site to
locate in
Boston. There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail,
and no
place for your company alongside it.”
Joe Moreno,
a Chicago alderman, told Chick-Fil-A to forget about its plans to build
a
second store in the Windy City: “I’m not gonna sit on the sidelines and
allow
them to come in when I know in my heart that they believe in
discriminating
against gay people.”
In
Philadelphia, meanwhile, city councilman James Kenney told Dan Cathy to
“take a
hike and take your intolerance with you.” He also said he plans to
introduce a
resolution condemning Chick-Fil-A at the next council meeting.
At this
point, we’ve moved well beyond debate. It’s a free-speech issue now.
These
officials did not merely express an opposite point of view. They
threatened to
use their political power to punish a man, and those who work for him,
for
saying something they disagree with. The message this sent is
crystal-clear --
and chilling: Conform to the “accepted” view, or else.
Emmanuel
and company spoke in breathless tones about how offensive Cathy’s
beliefs are.
Yet what could be more offensive than what they’re trying to do? What
could be
more, yes, discriminatory than using the power of the state to punish
private
viewpoints under the guise of standing up against “discrimination”?
“You can’t
have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a
population,”
Menino said. But the company does no such thing. Chick-Fil-A hires
employees
and serves customers without regard to sexual orientation. The head of
the
company simply expressed his privately held view on the issue of family.
And it’s
not just talk.
The Cathy
family has been a model of corporate responsibility, helping tackle
social
problems and strengthen civil society. For years, they’ve taken
concrete steps
to strengthen families through the programs of its WinShape Foundation.
Founded
in 1984 by S. Truett Cathy, WinShape supports college scholarships,
foster care
and international ministries. It works hard to strengthen marriage,
offering
counseling and help for couples in crisis, saving marriages that had
been on
the brink of divorce...
Read the
rest of the article at CNS News
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