Sunday, August 5, 2012

Chick Fil-A and the Meaning of Hate


Several days ago I was driving through Birmingham, Alabama during the lunch hour when I noticed that I had traveled about one mile in a half hour.  By any standard that is a real traffic jam.  Impatient as I naturally am, I began grumbling that "we were never going to get out of here...." etc. etc. 

Then, off in the distance I noticed the reason we were traveling at a snails face.  It was a Chick Fil-A restaurant up ahead with somewhere near the population of Uraguay trying to get in to its parking lot.

Ah, yes - Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day was at hand.

Actually, I think it might have been Chick Fil-A Appreciation week because a few days before we stopped in this establishment in Evansville, Indiana only to find long lines, sparse seating and a lot of gas being burned in the drive-through lane.

This, folks, is what happens when people get to vote with their dollars.  This is what happens when people have freedom.  This is what happens when the source of hate in America is exposed.

As a long-time Libertarian I have long maintained that the government has no right - whether we believe our rights are naturally present or God-given - to regulate the peaceful actions of emancipated adult human beings.  This means the rights of gay people too.

Let me say first that the idea of "Gay Rights" is pure nonsense.  Gay people have no special rights beyond the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  They have the same rights I, as a heterosexual male have.  No more, no less.

As a married, Christian heterosexual male I have my own personal views on the choices and behavior of homosexuals.  Fortunately, my personal views have nothing to do with what I want the government to do about or to do for homosexuals.  I expect gay people to have the same rights under our Constitution as I have and I want them to not impose their lifestyle on me or my family.  I do not have to like, accept, support or agree with anything a gay person does any more than they have to approve of or condone my choices. 

This is where the subject of hate comes in.

The CEO of Chick Fil-A, in a free country, has a right to say anything he wants about his view of gay marriage.  He has liberty and chose to use his liberty to speak in support of traditional marriage.  He did not say he would not sell chicken sandwiches to gay people.  He did not say he would not hire gay people.  He did not say we should - or that he does - hate gay people.

The source of hate in this cases comes from the hysterical wing of the liberal left, along with some irrational people who happen to be gay or support "gay rights" see the Youtube clip entitled, "Chick Fil-A drive thru" for an example).

As usual, liberals tell us that we must be tolerant - even thought we have a right to be intolerant.  Liberals tell us that we should have freedom of speech.  But notice, when someone uses their freedom to speak in such a way that offends liberal theology (and there is a theological element to modern liberalism), they cry out that they have been victims of hate-speech or worse.

The beautiful thing about liberty is that you get to have it and then must either bear the consequences of your choices or reap the benefits of your behavior.

Chick Fil-A will face a drop in the demand for its product from those who find Chick Fil-A to be "anti-gay".  Chick Fil-A will make more profit from people who support traditional marriage, the First Amendment and the right to vote with our wallets.

The liberty-hating mayors of Boston and Chicago have said (in a free country...) that Chick Fil-A will not be allowed to sell chicken in those liberal hotbeds.  So much for freedom and property rights in those cities.

In the meantime I plan on doing what I usually do.  I will leave gay people alone to chart the course of their own lives and will enjoy the spicy chicken sandwich on the whole-wheat bun whenever I feel like it. 

4 comments:

  1. Kentucky Fried Chicken should have thought of such an advertising blitz....

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  2. I love the fact that the so called tolerant freedom figther kind of people is the very one that will show the least amount of tolerance and respect for freedom when someone disagrees with anything they believe in.

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  3. But in most states gays don't have all of "the same rights that [you], a heterosexual male" do, since they can't express their love via marriage. Somehow, your post doesn't seem to acknowledge that fact.

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  4. Russ

    I did not think my post needed to address that inasmuch as it did say that liberty means leaving people alone to do peaceful things. The point of the post is that many say the CEO of Chick Fil-A is showing hate. He merely expressed an opinion. The real hate seems to come from those who do not agree with him. I am glad we live in a country where we do not have to cave in to the will of the minority when it comes to our opinions.

    However, once again, as a Libertarian I take no issue with what others choose to do with other consenting adults. I would hope that if I say that I find homosexuality to be wrong that a gay person would react peacefully and not call me hateful.

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