Chick-Fil-A Day – Lines Out the Door Across the U.S. In Support of First Amendment

Chick-Fil-A - Lining up for Chicken and Constitutional Rights - photo: urbangrounds.com

The politically embattled fast food chain, Chick-Fil-A, saw a massive increase in customers yesterday – the day dubbed by Former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Presidential Candidate, Mike Huckabee called for a Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day via email and social media. Huckabee, according to the blog Gawker, saw 600,000 individuals sign-up for Huckabee’s event on Facebook alone. “A counter-protest called "National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A" was planned for this Friday, but the event's Facebook page appears to have been deleted.” (Gawker). Politicians across the nation, from Boston’s Mayor to the Mayor of Chicago and points in-between suggested that the firm be shunned (and denied access to build in these cities) because the CEO Dan Cathy expressed his view that he supported traditional marriage – to a Baptist press. The fact that the company operates on Christian principle, closing on Sundays, and treating customers as they would like to be treated, apparently did not factor into the CEO’s personal belief structure when it came to denouncing the chain as “anti-gay”. This set up both a religious backlash as well as a first amendment backlash – resulting in greater support for the food chain. The new mantra, which if one is “for traditional marriage” means that one is “anti-Gay” is generalizing to the extreme. One might even point out that Barney Frank, the retiring, openly gay Congressional Representative from the MA 4th District, got into a heated debate with MSBNC’s Chris Matthews, on the Democrat Party’s Platform inclusion of Gay Marriage as an issue:

The drafting committee has said that it will include same-sex marriage in the party platform. Matthews wondered if it would support leaving the issue up to the states or creating a federal law to allow same-sex marriage.
He asked Frank, a member of the committee, if the Democratic Party’s platform would support such a law.
"I literally don't understand what that means," Frank answered. "There is a fundamental confusion here. There has never been a practical law saying that's what marriage is."
He say that Democrats' stance on gay marriage was already clear, especially in the recent vote on the Defense of Marriage Act. Frank went on to argue that even after the Civil Rights Act, there was never a federal law passed to allow interracial marriage.
"There are other precedents," Matthews argued. He said that the Civil Rights Act was a federal law that mandated access to public accommodations.
"It says nothing about marriage, Christopher!" Frank shouted. "You are wrong, you are wrong, Christopher!"

(Huffington Post)

More on the subject from Mediate suggests “Frank made it clear he opposes such a federal law and wants to leave the issue to the states” (Video on site). Frank’s views on the subject are more centrist, which is how one would imagine that the majority of the public might be.

The extreme over-reaction to an individual (who also happens to be a large and growing employer with restaurants across the country – that might lose business, and as a result cut or not create needed jobs, apparently did not enter into the equation, specifically since there have been no charges on record for bias by this company – had there been, that would have at least lent credence to the Politician’s stance. (Making it less politically opportunistic).

The backlash by politicians and the press over the rights of Dan Cathy to hold his religious beliefs and be public about those beliefs in an interview with a religious (Baptist) press service, was seen by those standing in long-lines and in 100 degree heat, as an attack on religious freedom and perhaps more so, freedom of speech. Huckabee’s involvement can be seen from both perspectives, given the fact that he was a Baptist Minister at one point in his multi-faceted career history.
How “successful” was the day for Chick-Fil-A? – Photo’s on Huckabee’s Facebook Page, with comments, suggest it might have been more than the company could handle – just about. From Huckabee’s Fan page at www.facebook.com/mikehuckabee, one finds that the general public ate a lot of chicken in places such as: St. Augustine FL, Boone, NC, North Palm Beach, FL, Pataskala, OH, Hamilton, OH, Albuquerque, NM (where it was.100 degrees with individuals standing in a long line outside of the building), Indianapolis, IN, San Marcos, CA, State College, PA, points in-between – especially interesting were the locations in Washington, DC and The Chick-Fil-A at the University of Minnesota – all with lines out the door. (One can view the photos by visiting the link provided to Mike Huckabee’s Fan Page).

The politicizing of this event, by both major political party’s (on the Democrat Side re: Gay Marriage and on the GOP side – Individual Rights) somehow does not begin to actually do justice to any side of the argument. For starters, both those who support Gay Marriage as well as those, who for Religious or traditional reasons (that being tradition of marriage – secular), both have a right to say, in this nation, what they choose. If either group cares to protest, there is that right to assemble. The “group identity”, which academics and politician’s neatly place one, in a category (Black, White, Gay, Straight, Woman, Asian, ad nauseum) may make those individuals who strongly believe in the Progressive “class system” (that of elites and then the masses), a bit horrified when one “group” (i.e. “right-wing-religious-zealots” (or to the point, those who, for reasons either First Amendment or Religious (both protected by the Constitution), stands up and protests. The act of buying chicken is not anti-anyone - t – the point is Freedom from Politician’s and over-reach by the Government (and possibly freedom from fund-raising off the issue by any politician regardless of Party) It also doubtful those who are firmly hold the belief that to disagree is to “hate”, will ever understand that there are issues that are multi-faceted, and related to personal liberty – including the rights of those who believe in Traditional Marriage, as well as those who believe in Gay Marriage. Both sides of the debate should be able to stand for and support – by protest, in print, or by what-ever means their point of view.