Here’s a modest proposal for liberals who say they support job creation: Stop smearing successful, law-abiding private companies whose values don’t comport with yours. I’m looking at you, New York Times.
Chick-fil-A is an American success story. Founded by Georgian entrepreneur Truett Cathy in 1946, the family-owned chicken-sandwich chain is one of the country’s largest fast-food businesses. It employs some 50,000 workers across the country at 1,500 outlets in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia. The company generates more than $2 billion in revenue and serves millions of happy customers with trademark Southern hospitality.
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So, what’s the problem? Well, Chick-fil-A is run by devout Christians who believe in strong marriages, devoted families, and the highest standards of character for their workers. The restaurant chain’s official corporate mission is to “glorify God” and “enrich the lives of everyone we touch.” The company’s community-service initiatives, funded through its WinShape Foundation, support foster-care, scholarship, summer-camp, and marriage-enrichment programs. On Sunday, all Chick-fil-A stores close so workers can spend the day at worship and rest.
For the Left, these Biblically based corporate principles constitute social-justice high crimes and misdemeanors. Democrats are always ready to invoke religion to support their big-government, taxpayer-funded initiatives (Obamacare, illegal-alien amnesty, increased education spending, and FCC regulatory expansion, for starters). But when an independent company — thriving on its own merits in the marketplace — wears its soul on its sleeve, suddenly it’s a theocratic crisis.
Over the past month, several progressive-activist blogs have waged an ugly war against Chick-fil-A. The company’s alleged atrocity: One of its independent outlets in Pennsylvania donated some sandwiches and brownies to a marriage seminar run by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which happens to oppose same-sex marriage.
In the name of tolerance, the anti-Chick-fil-A hawks sneered at the company’s main product as “Jesus Chicken,” derided its no-Sunday-work policy, and attacked its operators as “anti-gay.” Michael Jones, who describes himself as having “worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School,” launched an online petition drive at www.change.org “demanding” that the company disavow “extreme anti-gay groups.” Facebook users dutifully organized witch hunts against the company on college campuses.
Over the weekend, New York Times reporter Kim Severson gave the Chick-fil-A bashers a coveted Sunday A-section megaphone — repeatedly parroting the “Chick-fil-A is anti-gay” slur and raising fears of “evangelical Christianity’s muscle flexing” with only the thinnest veneer of journalistic objectivity. Severson, you see, is an openly gay advocate of same-sex-marriage equality herself and the former vice president of the identity-politics–mongering National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association.
In a bitter op-ed on gay-marriage laws’ not changing quickly enough, she asserted: “I don’t want the crumbs. I want the whole cake.” Severson has voiced complaints about her social and economic status as an unwed lesbian with a partner and child in several media publications.
None of this was disclosed in Severson’s advocacy-journalism hit job on Chick-fil-A. But therein lies the unofficial motto of the Gray Lady: All the ideological conflicts of interest unfit to print.
Progressive groups are gloating over Chick-fil-A’s public-relations troubles exacerbated by the nation’s politicized paper of record. This is not because they care about winning hearts and minds over gay rights or marriage policy, but because their core objective is to marginalize political opponents and chill Christian philanthropy and activism. The fearsome “muscle flexing” isn’t being done by innocent job-creators selling chicken sandwiches and waffle fries. It’s being done by the hysterical bullies trying to drive them off of college grounds and out of their neighborhoods in the name of “human rights.”
Remember: These were the same tactics the left-wing mob used in California to intimidate supporters of the Proposition 8 traditional-marriage initiative. Individual donors were put on an “Anti-Gay Black List.” Businesses that contributed money to the Prop 8 campaign were besieged by fist-wielding protesters. The artistic director of the California Musical Theatre was forced to resign over his $1,000 donation.
Message: Associate with the wrong political cause and you will pay. So much for national “civility.”
Thank you very much Ms. Malkin and NRO for revealing what one does not necessarily pick up in the press (although I try to be well read).
How odd that anyone pick on a food franchise like this? Does this NY Times 'thing' get so ruffled over Hooters?
Chick-fil-A is indeed an American success story with solid leadership (leadership WITH values) behind it.
I am fed up with liberal bashing of Christianity, companies, colleges, or organizations that try to align their missions and focus on Christian living.
I think employees REALLY like this, knowing that most of the time their organization and leadership is going to try to adhere to a very high standard. Isn't that to be admired?
It would take an ape not to realize that the reason the USA is different is a Christian heritage of values, standards, and living.
The 18% of Americans who hold true to Christian faith and esteem the Bible 'preserve' this land for everyone else.
Is that not obvious?
All the more reason for me to eat at Chick-fil-A more often. In fact, I'll plan our small group, office informal there for next Wednesday's lunch.
I will make a point to eat at Chik-fil-A for lunch today to show my support for their business practices. I encourage other right-thinking folks to do the same. Beside the fact that their political and religious beliefs coincide with mine, they serve tasty chicken!
While I disagree with their viewpoint, I don't see this as that different from the Home Depot boycott. The only thing I find objectionable is the fact that the NYT is so biased, although that's nothing new.
That said, I encourage everyone to do our own reverse boycott of Chic-fil-A and eat there as much as possible. I know I will.
And because of this, my wife decided that we would eat at Chik-fil-A at least twice a week. Food actually rocks too.
I didn't just marry her for the way she fills out a bathing suit. It's things like this (and her love of the "three stooges") that tell me I'm married to a national treasure.
You'll note that much of the left these days is demanding "disclosure" to the government and public of all contributions to nonprofits so they can hold speakers "accountable." By which they mean, punish those who dare to support, even tangentially, any cause that dissents from their own agenda. Witness the attacks on the Koch brothers and their fellow right-leaning philanthropists.
The modern campaign for "disclosure" is little more than an effort to get the government to build an "Enemies List" for the left.
And now I know exactly what I'll be having for lunch today. Perhaps I'll bring back some Chick-fil-a for coworkers in the name of Southern hospitality as well.
In contrast, consider Barbasol. I will only purchase Barbasol shaving products. Why? Perio, Inc., the owner of Barbasol, is a privately held company located in Dublin, Ohio that believes that ". . . we are merely temporary stewards and that the resources of the company belong to God."
Who told the owners of Perio, Inc. that they are merely God's stewards? And do you buy into that?
On the other hand, who told Chick-fil-A's owners that homosexuality is a sin? And do you buy into that?
I'm with Pedro, I don't think there are any Chick-fil-As around the NY metro area. In fact for years I wondered why a place would name itself Chick-fil-UH.
Now, I will make sure to find one the next time I'm down by DC. And I hope they serve Heinz yellow mustard, which is impossible to find here in this Mecca of gourmet and exotic foods. It is by far the best of the yellow mustards.
Chick-fil-A is great good food and service. Our church uses them a lot. My only problem with Chick-fil-A is that there are not enough of them, from home the nearest one is 15 miles away and from work the nearest one is 10 miles away.
Actually, St. Paul and Moses, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, made it very clear that homosexuality is a sin. In this day and age to have a private company quietly going about its business stand up to the militaristic bullies in the gay lobby is really something.
Did Chick-Fil-A say they were anti-gay or are people assuming that just because they made a donation to a marriage seminar? Typical left-wing stupidity. You don't agree with us, we will destroy you. What happened to their tolerance? There is none. They are hateful, intolerant, sniveling brats who throw tantrums whenever they don't like something. I will now visit Chick-Fil-A more than ever. And I will post Michelle's article on MY Facebook and all of my Christian, right-wing friends will follow suit.
Well, there's one vote for St. Paul and Moses (although I believe Moses also indicated that stoning was an appropriate punishment for adultery and pork is not to be eaten -- wondering how those got overridden but not the homosexuality part).
I seem to get very gentle, broad direction from God. A lot of people seem to get some very specific line-item advice from The Man. I must not have broadband or 4G or something.
Same old same old from the hate filled, intolerant left - freedom of speech and thought, just so long as your speech and thought conforms to their beliefs.
And these morons wonder why they have no credibility anymore, why the MSM has lost viewers/subscribers and why some 66% of Americans were 'angry' at the left leaning bias of the media.
Oh, but they're enlightened - funny, when you substitute ideology for intellect it hardly make you intelligent, much less enlightened.
