In the Tallahassee, and more specifically Florida State University area, the Chik-fil-a debate has been ongoing for the last year with protest of allowing this establishment on campus. While I do think this is a complicated matter, what boils my blood is hearing from people “It’s just chicken” or “It’s delicious so what does it matter.” Read this next part slowly, taking everything in.
Imagine you’re dating the person of your dreams who makes you the happiest person in the world! It could be that super-HOT girl at the gym, your charismatic coworker whose voice makes you melt or your best friend you’ve crushed on for what feels like forever. Maybe you will marry them, maybe you won’t. It doesn’t matter – they make you happy.
Next interrupt that moment with people saying being with him/her is wrong and you’re going to hell. In the best possible situation they will also add-on that acting upon your feelings is a sin equal to all other sins. In the worst case – the words you will hear can make you feel like roadkill that’s been dragged through a landfill.
The types of organizations Chik-fil-a supports believe that being gay is wrong. BUT they take it a step further by telling you, it’s okay because we can rehabilitate you from your sinful desires. Basically let’s “pray the gay away.”
Chik-fil-a does fairly make their money. They’re entitled to spend it where they please but gays are also entitled to be in happy, monogamous relationships that fulfill their lives. People are allowed to boycott visiting a Chik-fil-a but others are allowed to go by their chicken sandwich The main issue is the money Chik-fil-a makes goes toward fueling organizations that want to prevent gays from experiencing a happy life nonthreatening to others or themselves.
I’m simply saying it’s not “just chicken.” It’s being upset at the support of groups that tell people you need to be cured from who you are or you’re going to hell for who you like.
As always, let’s have a dialogue and not give a monologue when debating. That’s when we actually make change.
What are your thoughts on the Chik-fil-a debate?
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I hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to comment or follow me on Twitter @JarrydK.
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Jarryd Boyd, Life + Relationships Coach 
That was an interesting take! I feel like i persobally say, “it’s just chicken” is because theres too much fighting amd controversy going on about one chicken sandwich chain. If people felt so strongly about gay rights, it would make logical sense to write to a congressman or representative, march in prptests or parades, or sign petitions… I mean im all fpr gay rights but would abstaining from cfa make a difference?
I apologize for the typos. I am writing on my phone but i nonetheless fully await your response.
Either way….I don’t understand why they hate gays so much, after all Chick-Fil-A has been feeding cock to men for years now…
And I find it hilarious how they pick and choose what bible verses to follow in the old testament (since homosexuality isn’t admonished in the new testament).
Apparently the anti-gay passages are good to follow but all of those passages that prohibit consumption of pork products are just to be ignored? Since they sell loads of pork-products in many of their menu options.
i have nothing against gays, come to think of it, some of my best friends are gay. regardless of what and who CFA supports, they still have a killer deal on college night…and i will still probably go there to eat. WITH my gay friends.
Firstly, ALL fast food should be done away with for being the most unhealthy food you could possibly eat AND the destroyer of American agriculture. Oh wait, this particular chain is also funding hate groups? Bring it down.
Hey Jarryd. We’ve had a few classes together before. You may remember me.
The debate is basically between 3 groups of people:
1. People who are gay or straight people who support gay rights
2. People who are anti-gay and support Chick–fil-a because of their anti-gay stance.
3. People who don’t care one way or the other and who just want to eat nasty fatty foods from Chick-Fil-A
I’d say that many people belong to category 3. Most people I talk to don’t care one way or the other, all they want is to eat fast-food and not worry about complex issues such as gay rights. We can’t change their minds. Even if we tried to convince them that Chick-fil-A is in the wrong and should essentially be boycotted, they will forget what we said by the next day and we’ll see them eating a big chicken sandwich smothered in mayo at the nearest Chick-fil-a.
The essence of the issue here is that a large corporation is, for some reason, opposed to gay rights. How did this happen? How did the owners personal beliefs become so prominent and influence the corporation in such a way? I’m sure that some of the original owners of some of the largest corporations in America were anti-gay, male chauvinists and/or racists. But we haven’t seen their personal beliefs influence their corporations activities or become some prominent.
Either way, that is the situation. The key people are religious homophobes. As said before, most people won’t care that much about the issues as long as they get their fast-food. What can be done? While there are many people who couldn’t care less, there are still many people who do care and who are willing to boycott the company on moral grounds. I’m a vegetarian so I never eat fast-food, but if there were a store that I liked that promoted anti-gay bigotry then I would boycott it. There are many people like this, and the best thing that can be done is being done…that is spreading the word. Getting as many people as possible to be aware of the situation so that, in the future, when people hear “Chick-Fil-a” they will associate it with “bigotry”. This is the ultimate goal, and if accomplished perhaps Chick-Fil-A will experience significant loss of money and with all of the bad press, change their positions in the future. Money talks, and if someone’s bigotry is getting in the way of making money then they will change their tune real fast.
Note, CFA is involved in the movement which seeks to ban gay marriage. This is, in essence, a corporation whose goals are to rob American Citizens of their equal rights based purely on their sexual orientation. This is what Chick-fil-a does with a lot of their money. They are fighting for this cause and thus they are fighting to rob citizens of equal rights.
This IS discrimination, and it is much worse than workforce discrimination…It is discrimination that has influence on our society as a whole. It is bigotry but it is also bigotry that is influential and well-funded and seeks to destroy civil liberties for American citizens.
If that isn’t a reason to boycott Chick-Fil-A…I don’t know what is.
Hey! I do remember and thank you for your detailed points!!
Chik-fil-a’s founders started it on their Christian values, thus why all are closed on Sundays and have a “traditional” view of marriage being a man and a woman.
I definitely feel like building awareness of the situation is important. If people are going to form opinions, they need to do it based off all the information and not just personal thoughts or taste bud desires haha.
I agree with you on certain aspects of your argument. We can’t hate/judge a person for eating there just like we can’t hate/judge a person for who they love; thus, people should have the choice to go eat there if they please. Although, having Chick-fil-a on a public college campus would be unethical in my eyes. FSU is suppose to be an non bias place and to build this restaurant with student funds when a great portion of the student body is against their “certain beliefs” is clearly not right. If a person really wants to get a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a they can walk a little off campus to their closest store.
Thanks for the comment, Alexis! I’m very grateful for it! 🙂
I never had a problem with Chik-fil-A being a “christian” business, nor with the private opinions of the owners. I didn’t have to agree with them, but really, all it meant was that I’d not run in the same groups as them.
Seeing as I’m not a rich old white christian, this was never really a problem.
But when you put your company out there to advocate something that is just simple bigotry, well, I think you have to expect that people are going to be pissed. And to then lie about it in your stores and sockpuppet it to spin the PR? Really? is that the sign of a company that is standing up for something it believes in or doing damage control to avoid less profit?
I have no problem with people boycotting starbucks for its stances. But at least Starbuck’s is willing to face the consequences of its actions openly and honestly. Funny, isn’t it, how the christian company is the one doing all the dissembling.
I thought that was a sin
If it would’ve been just a discussion on them being a Christian business believing in marriage being defined as a man and woman then this definitely wouldn’t be the issue it is now. People have to see the problem is them acting on it in a way that negatively hurts another group of people.
I love “face the consequences openly and honestly.”
Please remember the context from which the comment derived- the CEO made the statement while being interiviewed by a Baptist Association- what did you expect him to say? and it is only the opinion from one person, not every employee- they hire any religion, any orientation- and they do not refuse service to anyone.
As long as CFA is not actively discriminating against gays in its establishments I see no reason to boycott them. CFA is a business, one that has a specific set of beliefs wether we agree with them or not doesn’t matter. They can use the money they spend however they like. It is unfortunate that they choose to give their money away to such organizations but we can’t do anything about it. I do not support the views of CFA but as long as they don’t turn me away from the chicken counter for being gay then I’m still gonna go there for chicken nuggets every once and awhile.
Thanks for the comment, Tia! I tried to provide a middle ground post with your posts but I also wanted to elevate the discussion beyond it being “just chicken” vs gay relationships.
I appreciate it. It was nice to read a post that tried to recognize both sides of the debate.
Gays have their beliefs and Christians have theirs, personally I think it’s ridiculous to ridicule either one because neither are likely to change. So long as these organizations aren’t doing anything more than expressing their beliefs (i.e. not killing anyone) I see no reason to boycott them. If you do, that’s fine, but I will not. Therefore, there is no reason to “not allow” Chick-fil-A on campus. Us Noles can choose for ourselves whether we want to spend our money there or not, just don’t deprive us of the choice.
Yeah with this many people its hard to change opinions. Discussion can definitely help build understanding though. I know the main issue with building it on FSU’s campus was that it was student funded from tuition to build. So the debate was if it was right to use student tuition to support a company that’s biased against a segment of the student body.
What “beliefs” are we talking about “Gays” having? I really can’t see this as a two-sided issue (marriage equality, I could give an eff less about CFA). One group is saying “hey, look, we’re humans and adults and citizens of this country and we deserve the same rights as all other adult citizens of this country.” The other group is saying “No, some people are more equal than others, and plus WE get to decide based on one line of ancient text (while ignoring the lines around it) who is and is not entitled to equal rights.” It’s the same line of reasoning that was used to justify slavery and to stop interracial marriages. it’s the same reasoning being used in the Middle East to justify the stoning of women for failure to subject themselves to abuse by their husbands. And if this is the best argument you’ve got, you should’ve accepted defeat gracefully and like adults a long time ago.
The fact is, if gay marriage were legal, NOBODY would be forcing Christians to enter gay marriages, and nobody COULD force any specific church to perform gay marriage ceremonies. For “Christians”* to claim some kind of authority superior to the State or federal government and then to DEMAND that secular government bow to that authority is audacious and really should be ignored. It is not the place of a pastor or other NON-taxpaying individual or entity to DEMAND any action by the government. Believe it’s a sin all you want, but the courthouse and legislature don’t deal in sin prevention in any other instance and shouldn’t be expected to in this instance either.
* by which I mean, “certain individuals who call themselves Christian and followers of Jesus while clearly forgetting all those inconvenient bits about ‘loving thy neighbor,’ ‘turning the other cheek,’ ‘judging not lest ye be judged,’ and ‘rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s’ among other things.” I most certainly don’t mean ALL people with faith in God or Jesus, only those who have decided that (unsurprisingly) “God hates the same things and people I find icky.”
I’m going to be honest and say I’m not really sure what view point you are supporting. Maybe you’re taking more of a middle ground? But nevertheless, I appreciate you voicing your thoughts and welcome any other feedback!