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The Spectacle Blog
A few responses to my recent column on the Chick-fil-A business are worth sharing with the rest of the class.
If the owner of Denny’s said he believed African Americans were cursed as the son of Ham I would expect my mayor to say something similar. The fact that the same is not expected just shows that the gay activists are right about acceptance in our society.
The president of Chick-fil-A didn’t say anything
other than that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman.
This happens to be a view codified in federal law as well as the
law in over 40 states. Only a minority of states that take a
contrary view have done so democratically, none have yet done so by
popular vote. This view of marriage is also held by anywhere from
40 percent to a majority of the American people, and by both major
party presidential candidates in 2008 (and by the sitting president
of the United States as recently as the beginning of May).
You may believe these laws and views to be antiquated or wrongheaded. I personally believe the legal killing of unborn children is unjust and wrongheaded, and could make abortion analogies as heated as “cursed as the son of Ham” to practices and beliefs that would be almost uniformly condemned. But I recognize that I live in a country where large numbers of people of sound mind and good will disagree. It might be nice to imagine legislating such beliefs out of existence, but persuasion might be a better tool. Chick-fil-A banners ought to keep it mind.
Gay marriage isn’t about tolerance. It’s about equal rights and equal protection under the law.
Two points here: First, not all relationships can
be classified as relationships. Is defining the term or setting any
conditions for marriage therefore a denial of equal rights or equal
protection under the law?
Second, tolerance is a huge part of why gay marriage has advanced politically. Even the arguments about equal rights ultimately have persuaded people out of a sense of fairness and tolerance.
Neither mayor ultimately did anything. Isn’t that just free speech?
It’s true that it was just grandstanding by politicians. And yes, they both have the right to express their disagreement with Chick-fil-A’s president. But they both threatened to use government power to block the restaurant before realizing they had no such authority. Rahm Emanuel was voicing support for a Chicago alderman who was going beyond voicing disagreement. The speaker of the New York City Council isn’t just expressing disagreement.
View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/07/30/chick-fil-a-follies
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Mick Lee| 7.30.12 @ 10:06AM
It all depends on what you mean by “acceptance”. What many gay rights groups are mean is not mere acceptance but approval—or at the very least neutrality which for all practical purposes allows the gay rights agenda to move forward unhindered. I have believed for a long time that the gay marriage campaign on the part of homosexuals isn’t about marriage at all; but rather the removal of any public suggestion that there is something morally questionable about homosexual amatory behavior.
As many a conservatives has been taken aside by the host and told in social occasions: “Of course, you have a perfect right to believe what you want to believe; but it is bad manners to give voice to those views in polite company. That those in favor of gay marriage feel comfortable to issue threats in open public unfortunately easily signals to their opponents that liberal assurances of diversity in the future in fact are promises of repression.
C. Vernon Crisler | 7.30.12 @ 10:25AM
It's clear that homosexual activists want more than acceptance or tolerance. They want their own intolerance to be the law of the land. They do not want to tolerate Christians or anyone else who believes their lifestyle is immoral. Hence, the persecution of Chick-fil-A.
Now, I wonder what would have happened if the owner of Chick-fil-A had been Moslem. Would we hear anything from the self-righteous Rahm (un)Emanuel? Obviously, no. It's much easier to go after people whose religion tells them not to use violence to further their aims. It's what we would expect from cowards.
Kingofthenet| 7.30.12 @ 12:41PM
I think you Christians are Amoral and Hypocrites to boot, Did you learn the HATE from Jesus?
C. Vernon Crisler | 7.30.12 @ 12:49PM
You didn't answer the question. If this was a Moslem, would you still be talking about hate? Or would you keep quiet in fear you might be subject to jihad?
Al Adab| 7.30.12 @ 1:51PM
Shari'a has an answer to homosexual behavior. Do we intend to institute that? Tolerance for deviant behavior does not mean legitimacy for such behavior.
AllAmericanAmerican| 7.30.12 @ 2:39PM
Oh and Vern, you know he ain't gonna answer the question, right? A standard libtardian answer usually goes something like this, ahem.....
"Yeah, well, ummmm, Christians are bad too! So there!"
spike59| 7.31.12 @ 5:46AM
i think you're projecting again, Queenofthenuts...i know that Progressives are REQUIRED to actually hate those with whom they disagree, but it doesn't work that way for normal people
AllAmericanAmerican| 7.30.12 @ 2:29PM
"Now, I wonder what would have happened if the owner of Chick-fil-A had been Moslem. Would we hear anything from the self-righteous Rahm (un)Emanuel?"
No. Actually Emanuel invited Farrakhan and his DBs to help patrol the streets of Chicago to control the violence there. Chicago values and all that.
Oldefarte| 7.30.12 @ 11:02AM
This homosexual issue is simply one of liberalism in general. It's THEIR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY, PERIOD! They invaded the Catholic Church etc in order to overthrow, destroy and/or conquer same; and have invaded government to do likewise. The problem if you will is that rational human beings do not fight fire with fire in these instances, but instead rely on reason, logic and good will [which ends up with their positions being run over and destroyed mostly]. It's the old story about bringing a knife to a knife fight etc, and rational individuals need to learn to get down in the ditch and fight bare-knuckled and to the death. Homosexuals were not excluded from the chicken sandwich marketplace or discriminated in any way,shape or form from what was said by this business owner, and their FREE WILL was not thus restricted or damaged. That was not good enough for them however, and they and their liberal associates resorted to illegalisms in retaliation. If mass demonstration-protest is their way of fighting this war, so be it; and moral Christians need to counter protest Wednesday, 8/1/12 by showing up at Chick-fil-A for a sandwich etc and to make their point heard!!!!
Oldefarte| 7.30.12 @ 11:04AM
PS: Furthermore, conservative and rational voters likewise need to show up at their polls on 11/6/12 to show their disgust at what is now occurring with their government!!!!!!!
Al Adab| 7.30.12 @ 11:10AM
"Land of the Free" except when ones' opinion are at varience with the annointed ruling elite.
Kingofthenet| 7.30.12 @ 12:40PM
If the Clan wanted to open a store selling 'White Power' clothing, a perfectly legal enterprise. Would it be OK for the Mayors to oppose that or should they embrace, the Clan 'Job Creators'?
C. Vernon Crisler | 7.30.12 @ 12:43PM
There is no moral equivalence between race and behavior. This is the basic fallacy of all liberal tolerance for homosexuals. Once you equate behavior with race, and thus entitle it to all the protections based on race, there's no end to the types of behavior that can be protected. Do you really want to go down that road?
AllAmericanAmerican| 7.30.12 @ 2:37PM
Libtards always try and go to the extreme in a lame attempt to make a point. "If the clan opened a store....."
Does that mean if I, not a member of the Klan, opened a White Power store it would be OK with you? And to answer the question no, it would not be OK for mayors to oppose that store.
Anyway I'm off to the mall now...where they have stores that cater exclusively to black folks---hair places, clothiers selling oversized, gawdy shirts and denim shorts/capris, and jewlery kiosks with "greeeeelz" and fake-gold bling-bling.
Ciao!
Crassus| 7.30.12 @ 3:54PM
Gotta love it when the egg suckers pull out that old Ku Klux Klan strawman. It's the only thing they have left.
Juli| 7.30.12 @ 11:09PM
"King", answer C. Vernon's question. Others are dying to know the answer. In case you missed the question, I'll repeat it for you.
If this was a Moslem, would you still be talking about hate? Or would you keep quiet in fear you might be subject to jihad?
Waiting..........
spike59| 7.31.12 @ 5:52AM
Would it be OK for the Mayors to oppose that or should they embrace, the Clan 'Job Creators'?
=============================
ahhhh...playing the juvenile Progressive 'zero sum game', i see...so mayors are now required to oppose OR embrace businesses based on the views of the business owners??????
btw, these mayors aren't talking about 'opposing' CFA; they're talking about ILLEGALLY BANNING them from operating their perfectly legal businesses
Teflon93 | 7.30.12 @ 12:55PM
I didn't know the owner of Denny's was a Muslim.
Kingofthenet| 7.30.12 @ 3:33PM
Well This says it all:
http://www.karolinagames.com/h.....cdd83a2fca
Skippy| 7.30.12 @ 6:17PM
Your cartoon Bozo misspelled "their".
Typical Lib Bozo.
spike59| 7.31.12 @ 5:48AM
ahhhh...so your 'reasoning' is largely based on cartoons?
explains a lot about your devotion to ObaMao
Mick Lee| 7.31.12 @ 7:29AM
The Christians you refer to may not have the purest of motives; but that doesn't mean the position they advocate is wrong. A mature person learns to recognize that we do all things with mixed motives. A mature person also recognizes that men are not angels--they are human beings with all the short comings that come with it.
So cut out your own self-righteous crap and face the issue.