Yep – when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro … Here we are, shaking our heads in amazed disbelief that now a fast-food chain purveying tasty chicken entrees, distinguished among other fast-food outlets only for a corporate policy of being closed on Sunday and a rather witty advertising series featuring illiterate cows urging us to eat chicken … is the hill to be defended in the culture war. That would be the newly-vicious cultural war between the forces of tolerant political correctness and those conservative and libertarian defenders of free-market principles as well as the freedom of belief and expression. Most of us of that persuasion are actually rather stunned at how suddenly Chick-Fil-A is now the demon that must be defeated! And defeated by any means, fair, foul, shrill or underhanded as is required by the mission, naturally. Is there some PC target of the week decided upon? Last time I looked around it was the Koch Brothers who were the Goldstein o’the Week. One can hardly keep up without a scorecard.
It seems that the offense against the gods of Political Correctness that has been committed by Chick-Fil-A is that the owners of the company in an interview have elucidated their belief that marriage is one of those traditional things: between a man and woman, families for the production and support of, which they personally (and in their own donations) support wholeheartedly. That kind of thing apparently sends the Shrieking Harpies of Political Correctness into overdrive. Such opinions appear in their view to be the same thing as urging that gays be bundled up and thrown alive into furnaces, or have walls toppled onto them … something fatal and unpleasant, anyway. So Chick-Fila-A is to be scorned, harassed, and driven from the public marketplace, through consumer boycott, urged on by the comments of has-been and soon-to-be has-been celebs, and a couple of deluded local pols pandering to their voter-base or fishing for payoffs in some form or other. (Cash or goodwill – can’t see from this distance what it would be. Evil-minded as I am, I can probably guess with a fair degree of accuracy.)
This new targeting of Chick-Fil-A, as another blogger/writer of my acquaintance has outlined, is liable to backfire in a big, big and ultimately counterproductive way, as far as the partisans of same-sex marriage are concerned. For a sitting politician, using the power of local government to block establishment of a business because of the personal beliefs of the CEO or owner, or their pattern of charitable giving is a violation of Constitutional principles any way you slice it, and the chief offenders in that respect are already walking back from public statements to that effect. The degree of fury over this is curious, though. How the heck did the love that could not speak its name become the love that won’t shut up about it? Are there really that many gays out there relative to the general population, wanting to take that hike down the aisle and collect kitchen appliances and silverware from their nearest and dearest and settle down to suburban conformity? Or is it just that the adherents carrying on so loudly ad infinitum about same-sex marriage (who may not necessarily actually be gay and wanting to get married) have latched onto it as the trendy cause du jour with which to epater the bourgeoisie, and to prove that they themselves are really hip and tolerant people.
It would be pretty funny if Chick-fil-A had the best couple of months they ever had – from people deliberately going out to their local Chick-Fil-A to get a spicy chicken wrap and some waffle fries. What with a fairly devout religious element in the US, and a fair number who may tolerate an ostentatiously gay life-style lived by their fellow citizens, but draw the line at being forced by social pressure to express approval of it, not to mention contrarians who are just tired of being hectored by the politically correct, I suspect the boycott will fizzle out.
Besides, the food is great, cooked fresh to order, and the service from the employees is excellent. I can attest to the fact that the single Chick-fil-A outlet in North-eastern San Antonio was sparkling clean, and on last Saturday night it was jammed to the rafters. I had never seen quite so many people in a fast-food place at one time, and the drive-through lanes were practically grid-locked, there were so many cars pulling through. We’ll probably go again, the next time we have a fast-food jones.
(cross-posted at www.ncobrief.com)
“Are there really that many gays out there relative to the general population, wanting to take that hike down the aisle and collect kitchen appliances and silverware from their nearest and dearest and settle down to suburban conformity? Or is it just that the adherents carrying on so loudly ad infinitum about of same-sex marriage (who may not necessarily actually be gay and wanting to get married) have latched onto it as the trendy cause du jour with which to epater the bourgeoisie, and to prove that they themselves are really hip and tolerant people.”
This. Well written.
Well, I lived with a gay couple who have now managed to stay together for 50 years – longer than any of my evangelical friends have stuck to it. But my sympathy was strained when I began to see arguments dissolve into hysteris: Sullivan began reasonable but then moved to saying that gay couples could be models of people staying together despite infidelity and now he has moved into really bizarre – and hate-filled – rhetoric. The gay African-American manager of our student center refused to give a room so the Mormons could meet – his argument was that they defeated the propositin in California. (I guess that he never saw any polls that gave the Black vote there.) Then there’s the slippery slope – given the other positions taken lately, the place where gay marriages are mandated to be recognized (and perhaps performed) in a church doesn’t seem as far away as it once might. Anyway, we were going to get dinner there, too. What’s next, Hobby Lobby? (Theee seem to me admirable choices that businesses make – and anyway, it’s their choice.)
” a rather witty advertising series featuring illiterate cows urging us to eat chicken … ”
The chickens are fighting back by resorting to fowl play. Typical cold-blooded response of bird-brained descendents of the dinosaurs.
‘have latched onto it as the trendy cause du jour with which to epater the bourgeoisie, and to prove that they themselves are really hip and tolerant people.’
I suspect this is more true than not – much posing for your friends.
I think it’s also becoming a way to marginalize traditional religious beliefs. I used to be extremely sympathetic to gay causes, but a vocal subset of them have staked out turf on the post-modern Left; so sorry, my sympathies are diminishing rapidly.
(Chicago already has a Chick-fil-A just off the Magnificent Mile. I would love to try them, but it would require a time-consuming cab ride to & from my office.)
What I thought was funny was Rahm Emmanual of Chicago saying that Chick-Fil-A “doesn’t represent Chicago Values” – but left unsaid, Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko et al apparently do.
If I were chick-fil-a (or indeed anyone) I would think not having Rahm’s Chicago values could only be a compliment.
I have this sneaking suspicion that this is all a brilliant marketing move by Chick a fil.
No, that couldn’t be.
The post Prop 8 campaign was really nasty in southern California. Gays may wear out the tolerance they enjoy now. I could care less about gay marriage but the nasty stuff is really annoying.
Sorry, I’m off for a chicken sandwich, or whatever they serve there. I’ve never been in one but that will change soon.
Enjoy, Mike – they have wraps and salads, too. The sandwiches were delicious, made fresh, and piping hot. The bread could be better, though, but apparently for a little extra you can get a whole-wheat roll.
You and Percy and Ginny might very well be right, about the nasty stuff wearing out everyone’s toleration. That’s what Sarah Hoyt was writing about, in the discussion I linked to, which now has more than five hundred comments to it. (Haven’t seen that long a comment thread since I was still reading Little Green Footballs, back before Charles went totally bonkers.)
Putting people who take their religious beliefs very seriously on the spot by forcing them to essentially go against them will not turn out well. I think the people pushing this stuff will be absolutely amazed at how stubborn those of faith can be. I suspect that a lot of religiously faithful as well as the stubborn contrarians are going to Chick-Fil-A becase it IS one thing they can do. You can’t roll back Hollywood, or fight City Hall … but you CAN go over to Chick-fil-A and spend $6 on a chicken sandwich and fries.
How many times will everybody fall for this endless series of meaningless distractions?
This election is about the economy, jobs, energy independence, and restoring some semblence of American leadership in the world.
Quit wasting time on trivia.
“It would be pretty funny if Chick-fil-A had the best couple of months they ever had – from people deliberately going out to their local Chick-Fil-A get a spicy chicken wrap and some waffle fries.”
That is an excellent idea Sgt. Mom. You may be interested in knowing they just opened one a few months ago a couple miles from your alma mater on Tampa and Nordhoff. My daughter and her friends go there often. I will now too.
Brendan O’Neill in the UK Telegraph has been ahead of the curve on this kind of thing for years….
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100172747/scotland-isnt-a-beacon-of-freedom-its-support-for-gay-marriage-is-just-another-excuse-to-pry-into-private-lives/
A lot of it seems to be about the bonding that comes with feeling righteous.
Living here in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35+ years, I early on predicted that gays would have been better off in the long run if they had not taken such a high visibility political path. I may yet be proven correct.
One question that goes unanswered by gay “rights” advocates is why, across ages and across cultures, have homosexuals been looked down upon with disdain?
Most cultures have reached some sort of accomodation with their gay population, but seldom do they share the wholesome pride of place of their masculine brethern.
“Quit wasting time on trivia.”
Some of us can walk and chew gum.
The whole gay marriage thing is a result of the AIDS epidemic. I am convinced. I practiced in and near Laguna Beach and there was a holocaust there for a few years. I lost some good friends. Of course, they were into the “gay lifestyle” big time. I had to tell one engineer that he had AIDS. He couldn’t believe it. He said he had been in a committed relationship for ten years ! It was impossible. What could I say ?
The marriage idea was an attempt to modify male sexual behavior and it is a fantasy. Lesbians are different and I have no problem with any of them. It is the anger and viciousness that I am offended by.
They may well wear out their welcome.
“Are there really that many gays out there relative to the general population, wanting to take that hike down the aisle and collect kitchen appliances and silverware from their nearest and dearest and settle down to suburban conformity?”
Back in 2003, I used some Canadian data to suggest that the answer is not many. (I haven’t tried to update my guesstimate, though I suppose that I should. Maybe after the election.)
And in the same post, I argued that the below-replacement birth rates in almost every advanced nation was a slightly bigger problem than gay marriage.
(I think that Michael Kennedy is right, though I would say “indirect result”.)
One thing that has not been covered so far. They cater.
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Catering
This is *important*