I’ve been ignoring the whole Chick-fil-A thing because there’s only so much stupid a person can absorb before having to whang themselves on the head with a hammer. (And also because I loathe businesses founded upon the idea that illiteracy is charming.)
But yesterday I got a letter from a reader in which she related how she and her daughter had done a “shoebox Christmas box” for the Christian non-profit organization Samaritan’s Purse, the Board Chairman and CEO of which is Franklin Graham.
“Other than a quick look at their website,” she wrote, “I did not really research the organization. Since doing the box I received occasional emails from them. Last week I received one asking me to pray for Chick-fil-A and their crusade against gay marriage. WHAT!?!! I thought we were helping the impoverished with toothpaste, medical care, and stuffed teddy bears!”
She forwarded me a copy of Good Samaritan’s email newsletter to her:
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy with Franklin Graham in 2010.
Stand with Chick-fil-A on August 1 in Support of Traditional Marriage
DEAR FRIEND,
Just a few days ago, Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A, affirmed his stance on the sanctity of traditional marriage. The restaurant chain has been, and continues to be, under a concerted attack from same-sex marriage advocates.
I applaud the courage of Cathy to take a bold stand for the biblical definition of marriage between a man and woman in a culture that has grown openly hostile to the Christian faith and its followers.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has called for a National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on Wednesday, August 1, to demonstrate support for the company. I would like to join with him, and ask that, if you live near one of their restaurants please drop by and let them know how much you appreciate them and their stand.
I have known Dan and his father, Mr. Truett Cathy, for many years, and I respect how their company was founded upon and operates by Christian values.
In the words of the bold, biblical prophet Daniel who refused to bow to the culture of his day: “The people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:32, NASB).
Thank you and God bless you.
Sincerely,
Franklin Graham
It’s like a perfect storm of stupid. I can’t even think about commenting on it.
Well, okay, I guess I can share with you what went through my head as I was reading the above. See my interjections below in lovely, calming blue.
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy with Franklin Graham in 2010. [Oh no! The cretin spawn of Billy Graham!]
Stand with Chick-fil-A on August 1 in Support of Traditional Marriage [Where did I put my hammer?]
DEAR FRIEND, [What's with the caps? Just trying to be friendly, overbearingly aggressive, and fundamentally dumb, I guess. Score.]
Just a few days ago, Dan Cathy [HAR! Cathy! I should grow up.], President of Chick-fil-A, affirmed his stance on the sanctity of traditional marriage. [Right. Because nothing says, "I'm straight and want to marry another straight person" like "Gay people shouldn't be allowed to get married."] The restaurant chain [restaurant? really?] has been, and continues to be, under a concerted attack from same-sex marriage advocates. [It doesn't have to be a hammer. I could use one of the decorative boulders on the patio of our condo.]
I applaud the courage of Cathy to take a bold stand for ["to take a bold stand for"? Hello? Syntax police? Could you come right away?] the biblical definition of marriage between a man and woman [are they still going with the inanity that one woman + one man = the Biblical definition of marriage? Have these people ever read the Bible?] in a culture that has grown openly hostile to the Christian faith and its followers. [It's so true. Just yesterday I saw that in my neighborhood there are two corners without a church. It was like being in communist Russia.]
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee [then again, why go outside, when I could just use our cast-iron frying pan?] has called for a National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day [or I could just slam my head right here on my desk] on Wednesday, August 1, to demonstrate support for the company. I would like to join with him, and ask that, if you live near one of their restaurants please drop by and let them know how much you appreciate them and their stand. ["Yes, I'd like the Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit Sandwich please? Right on! All gay people are all going straight to hell! And can I get a large diet Coke with that, please? Gay people are destroying our country!! And some extra ketchup?"]
I have known Dan and his father, Mr. Truett Cathy [Truett Cathy! It's like a Dickens novel! What's his nickname? Chatty?] for many years, and I respect how their company was founded upon and operates by Christian values. [Yes, nothing says "I love the Lord" like making a fortune mass producing deep-fried chicken sandwiches. It reminds me of that classic story in the Bible about Paul opening up a Der Wienerschnitzel.]
In the words of the bold, biblical prophet Daniel who refused to bow to the culture of his day: “The people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:32, NASB). [Yes, if the Bible makes one thing perfectly clear, it's that the ultimate way of showing your love of Jesus is by going to a fast-food restaurant and chowing down on a chicken sandwich while bitching about how gay people are ruining America. It's true what they say: every time a moronic bigot makes the life of a gay person just a little bit worse, an angel gets its wings.]
Thank you and God bless you.
Sincerely,
Franklin Graham [Well, nothing says cracker like Graham.]
And now I’m going to sit on our front patio to enjoy my cup of coffee and ponder the solid, grounding beauty of the decorative boulders out there. Wish me luck.
P.S. According to its 990 IRS form (the latest I could find online), in 2010 Samaritan’s Purse paid Graham Franklin $561,000. That same year the organization received $10 million in government grants.
![John Shore on The Huffington Post](http://johnshore.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/huffpost.jpg?w=120 "John Shore on The Huffington Post\")
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I posted this article on my fb and got a response from one of my consevative Christian friends, “It doesn’t help that the headline puts the words “reject gays” into the mouths of people who did not use those words.” I really did not have a response. Is this an actual quote of Franklin’s or just literary license?
this interesting development leads me to only contributed a scripture verse to the discourse-
The Rich Young Ruler
Mt. 19.16-30 · Mk. 10.17-31
18 ¶ And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Ex. 20.14 · Deut. 5.18 Do not kill, Ex. 20.13 · Deut. 5.17 Do not steal, Ex. 20.15 · Deut. 5.19 Do not bear false witness, Ex. 20.16 · Deut. 5.20 Honor thy father and thy mother. Ex. 20.12 · Deut. 5.16
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
30 who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
For anyone needing this as a reference for other discussions about this or similar issues, here’s a link to a graphic which shows US states where it is still legal to fire people simply for being gay (currently, a majority of US states.) A lot of people assume that it is illegal to fire someone for being gay and therefore assume that protests by LGBT people and our allies must be about something more sinister, like “attacking Christianity.”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xtxmBZYZS84/UBvYuaLHUmI/AAAAAAABixs/LRNBLgl22F0/s1600/Cartografia.png
How can you, Billy? You’ve preached the gospel all your life and you still don’t know we are all children of God and we are all one. Why don’t you draw a circle that takes all of us in? St. Peter would be proud of you, I think.
There are more than a few people wondering (some, in writing, in public forums)if Billy –who is in the late stages of Parkinson’s, and who refused to join Falwell’s Moral Majority ages ago– really made the statements he’s being credited with recently, or whether Franklin signed his name to them. When asked if Billy would be willing to speak to the issue directly recently, Franklin replied, “that will never happen.”
I am sure That the real Rev.Graham(Billy) is deeply ashamed of Franklin.
Nail on the head
I have been in a committed relationship with my partner for 14 years,together we have 4 kids three grandsons 2 jobs and plenty of bills,we work hard, love each other big, take our kids to school everyday, do homework and make dinner just like everyone else. My own sister has gone on to posting about this ridiculous subject, very hurtful and disrespectful to me and my family, why is this even a discussion? If I was black and someone came out from a company saying these kind of things (and this happened ) we would all be outraged, but since it is just the “gays” now its a matter of choice, why does your reliogon matter when it comes to chicken? For goodness sake don’t we have bigger issues to worry about…this just sickens me, and the fact that my own sister whom I love supports someone discriminating against me is more hurtful than I can express in words.
This post just breaks my heart. Thank you for being a strong and courageous person … And a great role model for your kids.
Good posting, Andrew. Marriage is NOT a religious issue. When you want a marriage license you go to the government. when you want a divorce, you go to the government. Marriage is a civil issue and a civil right. If certain denominations refuse to marry those of the same sex, it’s up to them. Keep religion out of it!
I thought Christianity was all about love???
I love the fact that Chick-Fil-A is a [bad word] food chain packed full of preservatives, sodium, fat, calories, and color dyes. Goes right along with the “moral majority” and their [same bad word] views on life.
I don’t know why people make a big deal of the long lines. We know for a fact that at least 30% disapprove of marriage equality. We know for a fact that the “Christian” population is sizable in certain communities. That’s at least 100 million nationwide, and hundreds of thousands in certain parts.
The point is not how many people are in line. The point is, Christian Right twisted this into a freedom of religion issue, and a big part of the lgbt community allowed it to happen, instead of making it clear that despite disagreeing with their views, they respect the Christian right to express and believe it. By stepping into this trap, is it any wonder that the result is undesirable?
What percentage of those in line would support bullying? That’s what Fellowship of Christian Athletes support when they isolate and ostracize gay Christian athletes.
What percentage of those in line would support putting gays in jail or to death? That’s what Family Research Council supports for gays in Uganda, and for all we know, the rest of the world including America.
What percentage of those in line would support torturing gay teens and adults to change their identity? That’s what Exodus International does with “reparative” therapy.
Marriage equality is NOT about faith. Making it about faith is a bad mistake and one that GBLT community needs to learn. It’s time to live and let live. No matter how much you disagree with the Bible, let it go. I dislike Dan Savage in one way, even though I like him in other ways, precisely because he is obsessed with making fun of Christians without realizing that he is offending many gay Christians.
Without respect, there is no love, as you said so well in your latest blog, John. Brilliant.
Christians rallying around Hatred. Come Lord Jesus!
John, you make me laugh. And I’m glad for that final line– about how much Franklin Graham makes. Gah! That’s about what the director of the Red Cross made, before it was a national scandal.
You might want to direct your readers to Steve Knight’s piece about Billy Graham. Knight suggests that Franklin may well be using Billy’s name of late, to make supportive comments about Chik Fil A, or to support the legislation in North Carolina. Billy, being in the last stages of Parkinsons and well into his 90′s might well have been used.
http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/08/01/billy-graham-not-anti-gay-bigot
Can you think of anything worse to say about Franklin than that?
I await Billy being wheeled out onto the porch to make a statement, if this is in fact untrue.
Comparing Christians to Gay people is ridiculous. Being religious is a choice, being gay is not. When you choose to open a business in the United States, you are then governed by it’s laws supporting civil rights. If they were supporting organizations against women’s rights or Senior citizens, I can’t believe there would be the same defense of these businesses.
Some Grahams use floury language.
This has been so upsetting to watch all of this chick fil a business unfold this week. I have come to feel that I live in a very hostile community. North Carolina, the south, this country to some degree, is a place full of people with ideas that are aimed at either withholding or taking away the rights of the LGBTQ community, of women and of non-christians. Too many of these people wrap their hate up in a Jesus suit and tell us that the bible makes it ok. Well I cannot accept that. I don’t care what book says it’s ok, if your religious beliefs hurt another human being, then those beliefs are wrong. (And I’m sure someone will come up with an example of a belief that “hurts” murderers or some group that’s deserving; great! Good Job!)
more of my thoughts here … bit.ly/MdVF2ICOPY
Yes. This.
Oh, thank you so much@@ I needed this!!!!!
heart wrenching…it’s so sad that even those of us in affirming denominations and in “mostly” affirming congregations are still asked to “tone it down”… of course, it’s usually done in a much more subtle manner but the “if you really want to lead in this congregation, you can’t be SO gay” message is pretty clear.
The turnout for bigot chicken yesterday was shockingly breathtaking. I feel like whiplash going from the high of walking in the San Diego Pride Parade to the low of news choppers and live interviews in long lines at the chik-filet-o-gorge. I sat slack-jawed and stunned in disbelief at the hate unfolding on my TV screen during the local news. Someone was asked why they came, and they replied “To support the bible!” Yikes. I feel terror stirring in my subconscious. What happened to the lovely California tolerance? I feel like I’m back in the Redneck Riviera ™ of Panama City, FL. My ex used to refuse to hold my hand in a darkened movie theater for fear someone in a pickup truck would run us down in the parking lot. And she was a burly guard in the state prison system! I once did a dramatic scripture reading during Good Friday at our little LGBT church. Now I feel like I’m living “My God, why have you forsaken me?” A year ago, I was creating video media for the lenten sermon series on the passion of Christ, and as I would sit and listen to the message, I would think to the pastor, “If you could only understand, your sermons are describing my life.” Then a choir member sent around an email about how we should all support Chik-fil-a because they are being oppressed by gay rights activists. I responded with an email saying that I was a member of that minority, and asked for her understanding that there might be legitimate anger against them for their support of anti-gay causes and groups. She never responded directly to me, and it’s funny how I am no longer employed by them, even though I had to promise the pastor that I would remain celibate as a condition of working there. Now I am taking heart in living openly and with courage. A neighbor stopped by the other day and revealed she was an Episcopal pastor. I told her my housemate and I were partners, and she said, “Oh, I’m so happy for you!” That was nice. We hold hands and kiss in public, and I am not going to let the bigots dictate behavior to me in my new home any more. As for the chicken, I remain a vegetarian. More Boca patties, please.
very powerful. i’m gonna go link to this one off my fan page.
KarenatFOH, if memory still serves, I can very nearly guarantee the fundy background from which I was catapulted would generally have NO freaking clue about your compelling story. Keeping their collective heads buried in their homemade doctrinaire books and brochures, they don’t see the impact of their sweeping judgments on real live human beings.
But what they continually fail to realize is that the Divine is found less within the texts and manuals of their faith, but rather in the person standing in front of us.
Every time I hear stories of LGBTQ people living their lives, couples being just who they are– it gives me so much HOPE that this is becoming a non-issue a little bit every day. I hope that didn’t sound dismissive– it’s meant to sound like relief. Hearing your story helped me.
Wow…
I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve watched in utter amazement at just how FURIOUS my LGBT and supportive ally friends have become over this whole fiasco – it’s played out on my FB feed all day.
There’s been a *lot* of people being ‘called out’ today on going to this thing, and still saying ‘Oh we can still be friends, can’t we? It’s just a difference of opinion’ and getting totally ripped to shreds – in public view – by people who have had enough of ‘Christians’ trying to have it both ways.
‘I am not, nor will I EVER be your ‘Gay friend’ that you can use to justify your bigotry! NEVER!’ That was a FB post by a good friend of mine, addressed to someone he had known for 30 years – who had been proudly boasting about how much Chick-Fil-A she had bought today. I was especially stunned because he is always so considerate of others’ feelings he wouldn’t ever humiliate someone in full view of his FB friends (and he has a lot of FB friends)… until today.
I think for all the crowing by the Religious Reich, there are a bunch of people who are going to bed tonight realizing that their ‘gay friends’ have all collectively told them to GTFO and had the door slammed behind them… and they’re no doubt wondering what the hell just happened.
Seems to me that if they’re wondering then they never really had any gay friends at all. (But I do hear and appreciate what you’re saying.)
John, I totally hear ya. I think a lot of these ‘Christians’ have just been doing a version of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ – they don’t say anything about how they really feel, and there’s sort of an informal truce… but that isn’t the case anymore.
I’m glad he was able to say what he did to his friend. Anger is often, the only activating agent we have at our disposal that works.
It really is not okay to persecute others. You cannot try to take someone’s rights away and then expect them to remain your friend, any more than you can punch someone in the nose and expect them to remain your friend. Would you consider it “just a difference of opinion” if someone was trying to declare YOUR marriage invalid? If they declared that you being a second-class citizen under the laws of this nation was part of their “religious values”?
I don’t think a lot of these people understand just how much they’ve caused their gay acquaintances to bite their tongues over the years. I know that, even now, but especially in years past, there were a lot of things that I just didn’t object to that bothered me about attitudes some of my friends had, usually regarding gender stereotypes or offensive assumptions about either gay realities or straight privilege.
But I was also aware that if I only was “friends” with people who got things 100% right, especially in the small town I was in, I simply wouldn’t have had any straight friends.
And there is a point where you agree to disagree – but part of that agreement is that you won’t keep saying things that force me to choose between agreeing or shutting up. Agreeing to disagree also means agreeing to drop the subject in each other’s presence, not for you to be able to keep going on about it while I stew in silence.
Going on facebook and announcing how wonderful it is to actively participate in oppressing me and joining others in putting me in my place would definitely cross that line.
What I’m hoping is that the day is coming soon when the surprise isn’t that their “gay friends” are offended and angry, but that their straight friends are just as incensed.
“What I’m hoping is that the day is coming soon when the surprise isn’t that their ‘gay friends’ are offended and angry, but that their straight friends are just as incensed.”
For the record… some of us are.
Yep, I’m straight, have many friends who just happen to be gay (though this isn’t how I define them) and I’m definitely incensed at anybody I know who is proudly in support of CFA.
I think BOTH Christians and the GLBT community have a tendancy to demonize the other side. That leads nowhere. (That includes you calling people stupid, John…) I stand for gay marriage, but I don’t think that makes it ok to bash other human beings who disagree. Here are my two cents on the topic: http://onethirstyfish.blogspot.com/2012/08/chick-fil-appreciation-day.html
People are stupid! I am often stupid. This weird, hyper-sensitive approach to the world that Christians often apply is an unrealistic and frankly damaging standard.
If mainstream Christians had to fight for their right to be treated justly under the law, I’d give credence to Ruth’s argument. But they’re not. Instead they’re mistakenly called the moral majority.
If they did have to pursue justice, it would be called religious persecution. But when religious groups collectively lobby in persecution of all those they deem outside their worldview, it’s called standing up for biblical principles.
Yeah I drank that koolaid back in the day. It was tooth-achingly sweet with the slight aftertaste of arsenic.
exactly this.
Jill’s been rocking this blog since she showed up on it. I could take about 10 you guys, and start some kind of weird Blogging Comment Battalion, and … take over the Internet.
god, I always get like this during a full moon…
Wow. Thank you, kind sir. Underneath all my posted angst, the heart of me is made of mushy brown sugar and cinnamon oatmeal, so that praise made my inner mush a bit wobbly. You’ve made my day, all before 9am!
You know, maybe if the collective faith-based communities would just turn some attention to what their reasoning, their stake is in marginalizing and denigrating groups of people ‘not like them’—whatever that means to them, a bigger, more mature dialog might emerge. I get the overarching fear of sin. But I can no longer in good conscience fear (ie: judge, loathe, etc.) ‘the sinner’. Because guess what… ???
We were born to become a lot of different things in life, but Hypocrite was not one of them.
You must be new here, Ruth–by which I mean to say you pretty clearly don’t know much of my work at all. But … you know: feel free to chastise me and THEN use my blog to drive traffic to yours. No problem.
*snerk.*
I’m just sad for her being so poor that Chick-fil-A was a treat. For real. Chick-fil-A is mall food. It’s not a treat, it’s kind of nasty even as fast food goes.
I worked at the mall for 6 years. The chicken chain was one of the better options offered, but not nearly as good as the local gyro place next door, owned and operated by people from Turkey, and likely and very quietly Muslim. They knew us regulars and often had our orders going before we even walked up the counter…well at least the fries, which were perfection via spud.
If you define spiritual and physical poison as food, I totally agree
huh?
Hey John. I love the post, I linked to it on facebook. If I can just say something real quick in defense of Ruth: She’s not new, in fact I’ve been following her blog ever since YOU linked to it a few months ago when she wrote a great review of Unfair. And I didn’t think her above comment was really out of line.
Sorry, I don’t mean to start anything, I just think there are plenty of assholes on the internet and I hate to see someone being called out who clearly isn’t one!
fair enough. thank you. (though it was obnoxious to reduce this whole post to my calling anyone “stupid”–and then tsk-tsking me as if that is, in fact, all I’d done.)
I reread Ruth’s post to make sure I also was giving it fair treatment. But I still affirm John’s use of the word stupid. People say and do stupid things all the time. You should see me drive. (kidding)
The stupid that’s of the Homer Simpson variety is cute and silly, but marginalizing, infantilizing, and polarizing a categorized group of people because of a chosen and narrow view of morality is not the kind of stupid I can quietly abide. In fact I feel that bashing cruel and inhumane prejudices is exactly what needs to be done. They need to continually be pummeled with logic and truth so light (finally!) can shine through the cracks and once and for all shatter into a gazillion pieces never to be put back together.
How important was it to ‘demonize’ the treatment of blacks during the civil rights movement of the ‘60’s? It may seem like I’m splitting hairs and perhaps being hard on the blogger (not my intention), but I am being hard on the comment.
Once equal rights are firmly established and then people start getting snarky at one another, then and only then will I agree with Ruth’s statement. And frankly I look forward to that day.
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