Chicken, Gay Marriage and Landslides

Last week millions of Americans, some of whom had never been to a Chick-fil-A before, discovered their political preferences had merged with a great chicken sandwich. And the lemonade is second to none as well.

But the chicken sandwich was only a side order to the controversy that sparked over remarks Dan Cathy, owner of the famous franchises that are always closed on Sunday, made about traditional marriage. Said Cathy, if America expands the definition of traditional marriage to include gay marriage we are "inviting God's wrath." His remarks were made on an Atlanta radio station, but they quickly spread nationwide.

Dan Cathy, Founder of Chick-fil-A

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit," he explained. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that ... we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."

Time will tell whether he is right or not (he is), but God tends to be patient with His children. When I returned from my LDS mission to England in the late sixties, people were saying back then if God didn't soon destroy the city of San Francisco, He would have to apologize to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. We all smiled back then because the gay community was viewed as a small and inconsequential minority. Then was then and now is now.

That's why a tweet on Twitter caught my eye the other day. It was re-tweeted by someone in my follower camp. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee tweeted: "Closest Chick-fil-A to San Francisco is 40 miles away and I strongly recommend they not try to come any closer." A mayor. . . of a major U.S. city. . . in the twenty-first century in America. . . sounding like. . . a sheriff. . . in the wild wild West. . . of yesteryear. . . amazing! And they call such folks "progressives."

Supporters of traditional Christian values about traditional marriage between a man and a woman took to the Chick-fil-A franchises across the nation in record numbers to vote with their pocketbooks in an overwhelming show of support for Cathy's remarks. These must have been the angry people then-candidate Barack Obama dismissed disparagingly in 2008, who were clinging to their guns and their Bibles. That was followed a few days later by a "kiss-in" at Chick-fil-A restaurants by the gays who were defiant and filled with indignation. They still have not been informed, I guess, that marriage any way they define it is NOT a civil right.

We can be grateful supporters and protesters over gay marriage are not yet killing each other with six-shooters in duels at dawn. Yet.

Mayors of Chicago and Boston, playing to their liberal bases respectively, even suggested Chick-fil-As were not to be welcomed there and threatened to deny building permits if they tried. While God's wrath and its demonstration hangs in suspension for the moment, the defiant wrath of pro-gay marriage advocates is now vividly on full display. For the first time they have a sitting POTUS who supports their position, and just last week support of gay marriage was written into this year's Democratic Platform of core beliefs.

No one seems to care anymore about the rule of law in this country. The attacks on Chick-fil-A are un-American, and pure and simple bigotry. The SCOTUS has NOT declared gay marriage is a civil right in America, and until they do people in good conscience who oppose it are free to oppose it with their public speech if that's how they feel. And even if gay marriage is someday written into law, people can still say whatever they want. This is still America and free speech is protected.

Advocates for gay marriage certainly are free to exert and impose their minority views on the rest of us, but the minute the majority opinion starts to express themselves with chicken sandwich purchases, there is outrage. There is no bias case that can be made legally against anyone who says they stand in opposition to gay marriage. Dan Cathy stands squarely with millions of other Americans believe in the sanctity of one-man one-woman marriage based upon religious tenets.

Some secular humanists even oppose homosexual marriage on simpler grounds because they believe nature, nurture and procreation go together. They see marriage between a man and a woman on purely pragmatic grounds as a stabilizing force for good in society, regardless of religious dictum.

So it comes to this: If you brand someone as a hater or a bigot because he or she opposes the expansion of the definition of traditional marriage, such a stand should be labeled for what it is - unfair and narrow-minded.

The flip side is also true: If someone sincerely believes our society would be better off with what they label "marriage equality" and it is the only fair and just thing to do, that belief should be respected. In America we get to say what we think.

Mayor Ed Lee, San Francisco

So Mayor Lee of San Francisco says he "strongly recommends" that Chick-fil-A stays out of his fair city? Really? Is he sending a message as an elected official that something untoward might happen if his "recommendation" is violated? Really? Is he sending a message that threats will be upheld in his wild, wild town in the West? Hang Dan Cathy at dawn from the nearest tree and let him swing in the wind? Really?

Is that what we've come to? That a mayor elected by homosexuals whose political views he is determined to uphold regardless of the unsettled law in this arena of marriage definitions has the right to punish those with whom he disagrees politically? Really?

I also noticed last week the black preachers in America are now coming out in opposition to President Barack Obama's support of gay marriage. The vast majority of those preachers have now drawn the line in the sand against their great black leader because he has gone too far in their view. Is the good mayor now going to publicly oppose those black preachers who proclaim homosexuality to be a sin in God's eyes? Will he warn them to stay out of San Francisco and muzzle their pulpits as well? If he's consistent in his reasoning that's exactly what he should do. Don't hold your breath.

The public grandstanding against Chick-fil-A by politicians in these three U.S. cities, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston, is coming from far left wingnuts. The masks are off, the gloves are on, and the punches are being thrown, but America isn't buying it.

In record numbers Americans swamped Chick-fil-As with orders for chicken sandwiches. In Salt Lake City, the line at the food court in the new City Creek Center wound all the way around the court and out the door as people waited over an hour to buy lunch in support of Dan Cathy. The liberal agenda is a failing proposition on all levels, and it will backfire at the voting booth in November.

It's a game of chicken with landslide written all over it.