Wise Reflections on the Chick-fil-A Controversy

                Many Christians are aware that Dan Cathy, the president and chief operating office of the fast food company Chic-fil-A has spoken out against same-sex marriage, on biblical grounds.  Last week municipal leaders in Chicago and Boston responded that they would seek to block the establishment of Chick-fil-A franchises in their cities.  Many of them have backed off their comments, in light of First Amendment concerns, but I wanted to use this space to quote three replies to the controversy I found especially helpful.

 

“If you want to fine Catholic hospitals for following Catholic teaching, or prevent Jewish parents from circumcising their sons, or ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, then don’t tell religious people that you respect our freedoms.  Say what you really think: that the exercise of our religion threatens all that’s good and decent, and that you’re going to use the levers of power to bend us to your will.  There, didn’t that feel better?  Now we can get on with the fight.”  Ross Douthat, “Defining Religious Liberty Down,” www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29.

 

“Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the ‘values’ that must be held by citizens of Chicago. . . . [But] [p]eople who are not Christian or religious at all take for granted that marriage is the union of one man and a woman for the sake of family and, of its nature, for life. . . . Jesus affirmed this understanding of marriage when he spoke of ‘two becoming one flesh’ (Matthew 19:4-6).  Was Jesus a bigot?  Could Jesus be accepted as a Chicagoan?  Would Jesus be more ‘enlightened’ if he had the privilege of living in our society?  One is welcome to believe that, of course, but it should not become the official state religion, at least not one in a land that still fancies itself free.”  Archbishop Francis George, “Reflections on Chicago ‘Values,’” www.archchicago.org.

 

“What we are seeing today is a massive cultural shift that permits leaders to label Christians as intolerant and bigoted simply for expressing their views about how society should function.  But strangely enough, the same social ostracism and cultural condescension are not extended to Muslims and faithful adherents of other religions.  No, the prejudice appears to be directed toward Christians who dare to speak publicly about the deeply-held religious convictions.  That’s why, at the end of the day, this conversations isn’t really about marriage, gay rights, or restaurant permits.  It’s not about the cultural divide between north and south, liberal and conservative.  It’s about Jesus.  It’s about the radical sexual ethic He set forth in His teaching—a moral zealousness that hits our current culture’s sexual permissiveness head-on.  And it’s about His forgiveness offered to all sexual sinners, so long as we agree with Jesus about our sin and embrace Him instead.”  Trevin Wax, “Why the Chick-fil-A Boycott is Really about Jesus,” www.thegospelcoalition.org.