Recently, a group of Indiana University South Bend students' staged a successful protest against the sale of Chick-Fil-A sandwiches on their campus upon having learned that the chain's President, a fundamentalist Christian who closes all franchises on Sundays so as to respect the Sabbath, donated refreshments to Marriage Rights/Anti-gay group The Ruth Institute. The news spread like wildfire, and as a result, people on both sides of the gay marriage debate have established the controversy surrounding the chicken chain as a greasy, mayonnaise slathered battleground.
In response to the GLBT-fronted boycott of the chain, Anti-gay marriage advocates have launched a "Stop the Hate Against Law Abiding Businesses" campaign. The 'hate' Chick-Fill-A is experiencing right now is nothing compared to the hate Christian fundamentalists have long used to terrorize , dehumanize, and oppress the GLBT community. But since Chick-Fill-A supporters brought the law into this, I'd like to remind everyone of fellow fundamentalist Christian marriage crusaders Focus on the Family darling, Maggie Gallager's feelings on law and homosexuality:
Gay marriage advocates hope to use the law to reshape the culture in exactly the same way that the law was used to reshape the culture of the old south.
The only possible interpretation of that statement is that Focus on the Family disproves of marriage between Black couples, interracial couples and same-sex marriage. There is literally no other way to logically deconstruct the sentiment of the message. Further, how is it even possible to cite the law when these groups are doing everything in their power to establish and maintain laws that oppress the freedom of others?
Headlines on two conservative papers deem the protests against Chick-Fill-A a "militant homosexual campaign" fueled by "Radical Homosexual Intimidation." If peaceful boycotts and written campaigns aimed at spreading the word about this chain's support of the National Organization for Families, Focus on the Family and other homophobic hate mongering organizations is considered 'militant,' I'd hate to hear how these people describe the sit-ins made popular during the Civil Rights movement!
Although I'm a secular humanist, I assure you that homophobia is not a Christian value. Any "Christians" who blindly follow the convoluted misinterpretation of a text that was meant to convey love and acceptance are in dire need of an education intervention. Same- sex marriage is actually never mentioned in the Bible, but if people genuinely buy the "proof" popular fundamentalist arguments against homosexuality and gay marriage are based on, Jesus and his disciple John were lovers. They may have even lovingly feed each other chicken!
As I read more articles and subsequent comments on this topic, I'm being told that I am evil, immoral, going to burn in hell, should be killed, am a cancer, and that I and other homosexual activists "want unqualified acceptance, nothing less. And [they] will destroy anyone who doesn't offer this at the sodomite altar." I know nothing of this altar (because it doesn't exist, even metaphorically), but I do agree that unqualified acceptance is certainly the end goal of the marriage rights innitiave. Unlike the Fundamentalist Christian group that recently published an effective call for the murder of Ugandan homosexuals, no gay rights groups have ever promoted the slaughter of those who devote their lives to legally, spiritually, and literally killing us off. We're not calling for the hanging of fellow humans,, we just want you to get your chicken sandwich somewhere else.
Listen, if you like Chick-fil-A, eat there. I just ask that you "out" yourself, like I and millions of GLBT persons have in the face of opposition, hate, and intolerance. I'll even share some napkins and coping tips with you!
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