I’m glad to see support for Chick-Fil-A.
The personal views of the management is a free speech issue. What they say in public has nothing to do with how the company is run. I’m sure some of their employees live lifestyles that the management might not approve of. There’s a clear division between personal views and how a business is run.
Why do people want to destroy a highly successful business that employees so many people? People with families to support in a very bad economy.
I like this blog post:
Donating corporate money to a cause is not merely a ‘personal view’, it is an action taken by the corporation. Folks can hold whatever beliefs they want; it’s when they turn those beliefs into actions that others are justified in responding.
And I might add that the boycotters are exercising their free speech too. Chick-Fil-A’s management chooses where to spend its profits, and consumers choose where they spend their money. Nobody is oppressing anyone here, though the people CFA supports with its profits would certainly like to.
Actually, when the company (that is, Chick-Fil-A, NOT its owners personally) donated money to anti-gay organizations and causes, they made it into “how the business is run.” So they only have themselves to blame.
Because that COMPANY supports some abhorrent causes with its money. Customers pay money to Chik-Fil-A. Chik-Fil-A supports Family Research Council with that money, a certified hate group. Family Research Council donates money to fight the legalization of gay marriage, and to fight (among other things) the US protest of the “Kill gays in Uganda” bill (CIVH.Res.1064) and gay reparation therapy (which has recently been disowned by Spitzer, the guy who came up with it.)
So in this case, a boycott IS actually effective. Maybe not in stopping Chik-Fil-A from doing what it likes with its money, but by refusing to add MY money to those causes. It’s very simple.
Man do I feel better. For awhile I was worried my sammich money was going to an uncertified free lance hate group.
I would agree if there were any significant movement to have him jailed and or executed for expressing his beliefs. However, FREE SPEECH DOES NOT NOW, HAS NOT EVER, AND WAS NEVER INTENDED TO MEAN ‘say what you like with complete impunity- nobody can say anything against it or react negatively in any way’, which would in fact be the opposite of free speech: it would mean you could say anything you wished but others could not.
If you’re responding to the Boston mayor’s comments, they were stupid, many pro-gay folks (myself included) said so almost immediately, and even he himself admitted so a week ago.
Anybody anywhere claiming Cathy or anybody else shouldn’t have the right to peacefully express their views is wrong, Constitutionally and ethically, but frankly I haven’t known anybody claiming that. As for free speech, I have the same rights he has and I say anybody who waited in line for an hour to prove some point is a moron and a bigot.
I think you significantly overestimate the impact of gays not eating there. But yes, if the lack of my business meant the place would close, I still wouldn’t eat there. I will go so far as to say that anybody who patronizes any business whose chief executive claims you are undeserving of the same rights as he is and who gives millions of dollars to prevent you from getting those rights and who supports organizations that distribute [absolutely and completely discredited by all objective research but still championed by right wing Christian fanatics] literature claiming that you are more likely to be a child molester or a violent criminal because of your demographic or that gives money to a group (like Exodus) that not only operates on pseudoscience but has been blamed for suicides for members of your demographic, you are a defeatist and a fool.
Oh, holy hand grenades. It’s only a free-speech issue with regards to the city government officials threatening permit refusals. A call for a boycott is a perfectly valid response to the owner’s statements and actions. Free speech goes both ways. Just because you have the right to be a bigot doesn’t mean other people don’t get to judge you.
He chose to use his business as a platform for his views. With that comes people patronizing it if they agree, and also boycotting it if they don’t.
Hell, people can respond to plain old statements, too. Like we’re a-doin’ here. 
Agreed.
That’s why incidents like the bomb threat should be lamented by the pro-gay side. A threat of violence is a kind of oppression, and targeted people always feel their moral ground elevated.
Oh, let’s also mention that Forbes stated that Chik-Fil-A has a “cult” atmosphere (long before the current controversy - cite) and Chick-fil-A has been sued over a dozen times for employment discrimination. So I’m not seeing any reason we should be terrified of losing them as an employer, either.
Absolutely. I’m not a fan of disproportionate response; speech shouldn’t be responded to with anything other than more speech, but speech is itself an action.
Yes, absolutely. I’m sorry it happened. At least nobody was hurt.
What part are you wait, what-ing?
[Joanne Worley]Was that a chicken joke???[/Joanne Worley]
I’m guessing the part where you said it was “pretty neat” to have a day celebrating bigotry.
Yeah I probably thought that too.
I know you all will hate me for it but I support what they’re doing.
I also know that by saying that you will all take it to the furthest nth degree possible and now I will forever be the guy that loves enters biggest slack-jawed yokel voice “hangin niggers and shootin queers! hyuk hyuk hyuk”
When in reality I do not believe this is the “international day of bigotry” and I think that the owner of the restaurant did nothing wrong in saying what he said.
I also do not believe that gay people should be married. I’ve said it before create something that is the exact same thing, just don’t call it marriage.\
This will fall on deaf ears but let’s all please be grown ups about this and not just shower me with reasons I’m a terrible person/calling me names/how you’re all better then me. I have an opinion and no I’m not changing it because of what you all say and (gasp) no I’m not a terrible person.
But flame away.
Yep. If you understand And agree with the point of “everybody say what you want and I enjoy watching the process of voting with your wallet whether I agree with the principles behind the original sentiment or not” I can see the fascination with that; however, if you are saying you think it’s neat because you like to make sure you support businesses that consider themselves defenders of the faith and put money into such anti-gay endeavors, then I am afraid I can’t agree.
My apologies if I have misconstrued anything.
Well, I guess I did not misconstrue that. That makes me a little sad, honestly.
Hey. Leave the Burger King guy outa this!
[Arte Johnson]I vill choke my own jicken, danke![/Arte Johnson]
Inclined to waylay some gay guy and beat him to death. But then, they probably already felt that way.