Is it un-American to be a Christian?
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| Official portrait of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Chick-fil-A (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The current hate campaign being waged by homosexual activists against fast food chain Chick-fil-A, because of the firm’s Christian values, may well turn out to be a bridge too far. The effort may prove to be a setback for homosexual activism.
The vile attacks on the firm and its owners, the Cathy family, should make clear, finally, that the “gay rights” movement is not about refining and advancing American freedom, but about rewriting American values and advancing, not freedom, but the homosexual political agenda.
Recently Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a flag raising ceremony in Alexandria, Egypt, noting the re-opening of the American consulate there. Given the current political climate in Egypt, the Secretary of State felt behooved in her remarks to highlight principles of freedom as understood by Americans.
“... to us, real democracy means that every citizen has the right to live, work and worship as they choose, whether they are man or woman, Muslim or Christian, or from any other background.”
Perhaps Clinton should be lecturing Americans instead of Egyptians.
Can it really be that in America today a businessman can be labeled a bigot, boycotted and cut off by suppliers because of the crime of being a Christian?
When Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy made his now famous incendiary admission that “we are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit,” he was not pontificating. He was responding to a question in an interview done in a paper I expect is not read by many homosexuals — the Baptist Press.
Never mind. It was sufficient provocation that Cathy publicly admitted that the Bible defines his understanding of marriage — the unique bond of man and woman — which also happens to be the standard definition in dictionaries on the shelves of every American home and library.
“Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago’s values,” said Chicago Mayor, and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel defended Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno’s threat to deny Chick-fil-A permitting in Chicago because its owner supports traditional marriage and family.
But UCLA law professor and constitutional scholar Eugene Volokh points out in his blog that “denying a private business permits because of such speech by its owner is a blatant First Amendment violation.”
The Constitution? The First Amendment? Religious liberty? Do these apply to Christians?
Volokh goes on to point out that a permit might be denied “if Chick-fil-A actually discriminated in their serving or hiring decisions in Chicago in a way forbidden by Chicago or Illinois law. But the stories give no evidence of such actions ...”
The fact that there is no evidence that Chick-fil-A discriminates in its business practices did not deter Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank from writing that Dan Cathy’s support of traditional marriage “implied that gay people (not to mention divorced people) had no business eating at Chick-fil-A.”
One court decision after another over the last 50 years has, step by step, purged any hint of religion and traditional values from our schools and public spaces.
Has it made this a fairer, better, freer nation? If you think breakdown of family,40 percent out-of-wedlock births, a million abortions a year, $16 trillion in national debt, and government dependence is better and freer, yes.
Of course, society must embrace civility, respect and tolerance. But this doesn’t mean that the sexual proclivities of some should provide license to rewrite our language and the traditions that define our faith and virtue.
Hopefully many will respond to Mike Huckabee’s appeal to patronize Chick-fil-A on Aug. 1 as a display of support for traditional Christian values and as a reminder that our Constitution protects religious freedom.
Have we really gotten to the point where being a Christian is considered un-American?
Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education.
