Chick-fil-A

I am amazed how rapidly a societal norm over the past 3,000 years of Western civilization has become thought of as a symbol of hate.  Case in point: the CEO of Chick-fil-A said in an interview that he supported the traditional definition of marriage.  He was immediately savaged in the press as a hate monger for not supporting gay rights.  Lots of folks that are usually very vocal on such issues chimed in (activists, celebrities, lefts, et al).

Couple of items come to mind.  Logically, being for one thing does not automatically translate to being against something else.  The press hasn’t exactly been forthcoming on which position is the most prominent in the US.  If one gauged the position by laws passed, traditional marriage wins hands down, as every state that has put the item on a state-wide ballot has passed (total of 30 states).

I’ve also noticed the hypocrisy of those folks screaming about how awful Chick-fil-A is for their position.  These people are trying to make Chick-fil-A a social pariah.  The irony is that quite a few of these same people preach tolerance and cultural diversity as long as the subject in question means open up society to their way of thinking.  (An interesting side item – are you really tolerant if you do not tolerate those that won’t tolerate you?)  These folks seem to confuse the tolerance with acceptance; I can and do tolerate many viewpoints in society that I do not accept as my own.

So what is my viewpoint on this subject?  Well, that is a little bit complicated.  The bottom line is that, to me, it doesn’t matter what my personal opinion might be.  Huh?  This issue, like many others, is tied directly to my view of faith and how that faith should direct my world view. 

As a Christian, I read that Jesus himself talked of marriage as one man and one woman.  Other biblical writers conveyed the same sentiment; that man and woman are a compliment to each other and that the pattern of husband/wife is a metaphor for the relationship of Christ to the church.
I have Christian friends that disagree with me and say that God would not hate gay people so much as to deny them the right to marry.  My reply would be that their question ignores the plain meaning of what Jesus himself gave to marriage.  I’ll accept what God plainly says before I try and get into God’s head.

If I didn’t look to my faith first, I might have a different view.  I understand why a gay person might not like traditional marriage; I’m in the arts and have many gay friends.  Nevertheless, I do look first to my faith, so any personal view would be irrelevant.  I would be a fool to think that God got it wrong.

The argument might be raised that my faith should not be used to define public policy.  Well, my faith is part of who I am as an individual, and as an individual, I have the right to participate in public society.  As such, my faith comes along with me.

More on that in my next post ….