It’s about more than just chicken, people.
This Chick-fil-A debate has been around longer than the past month; the company’s policies are no secret.
Chick-fil-A’s chief operating officer and president, Dan Cathy, created the WinShape Foundation in 1984. WinShape is the charitable facet of the restaurant company.
In 2009, WinShape donated almost $2 million to anti-gay groups, including the Marriage and Family Legacy Fund. The MFLF was created with help from Chick-fil-A’s senior vice president, Donald Cathy. MFLF is the “implementation and funding arm” of Marriage CoMission, a coalition of groups to counteract the “downward spiral of marriage and the traditional family in America.”
WinShape also donated to groups that discriminate or express hate toward the gay community, like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the National Christian Foundation. Those groups then also donate funds to anti-gay groups such as Focus on the Family.
What makes a group anti-gay and not just Christian? Focus on the Family once posted on its website that “the homosexual agenda is a beast. [It] wants our kids.”
But these are just groups that a side foundation supplies funds. What about the chicken?!
Chick-fil-A’s website states:
“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our Restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.
Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
I understand that this company was started under Christian beliefs and concepts; we’re all familiar with the pangs of waffle fry hunger on a Sunday, only to be left disappointed and hungry. I also understand that the individual stores are run by managers who don’t necessarily apply the Bible to their customers.
But how can such a large and successful company claim to support every person on this planet while donating millions of dollars to groups that do the exact opposite?
It’s that hypocrisy that bothers me.
If you are going to be a bigot, then be a bigot by all means. Just be honest about it.
This recent kerfuffle started up when Dan Cathy said in a July article in the Baptist Press that Chick-fil-A is “guilty as charged” in supporting only heterosexual marriage and “the biblical definition of the familly unit.”
Now that we’re all on Twitter and Facebook, there was a small uproar against the man and his company.
This outrage was met with a response of support that was somewhat led by former Gov. Mike Huckabee. He declared Aug. 1 “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.” That became code for I’m-a-conservative-who-hates-gay-people.
Sarah Palin posted a photo of her and her husband, Todd, with the caption: “Stopped by Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great business.”
Even Michele Bachmann posted a video to YouTube that gave a brief endorsement of a company that “stands with families.”
Reports say Chick-fil-A stores had record-setting sales on “Appreciation Day.”
Reports also say that 67 percent of Americans are obese or overweight.
Congratulations. Your hatred and ignorance helped make you fat.
Sami Main is a journalism senior at UF. (This is her last column for the summer semester.) You can contact her at opinions@alligator.org.
