Chicago and Boston Mayors Attack Chick-Fil-A

Rahm Emanuel and Thomas Menino, mayors of Chicago and Boston, made headlines recently when they tried to ban the Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain from their cities because “it doesn’t meet community values.”

Chicago Alderman Proco Moreno announced he would block the fast food chain from opening a new restaurant in his ward.

Chick-Fil-A’s crime? Pushing fuzzy soft-core pornography like Hooters? More risqué fare like some of the strip bars along Eight Mile or the “Windsor Ballet?”

No, the CEO spoke in favor of traditional marriage between a man and a woman, which is a virtue to most Americans but anathema to liberals.

Traditional Marriage under Attack

A growing number of Americans support gay marriage, but a significant number still follow the Bible’s definition and always will, no matter what the government, some churches and society at large says.

Reasonable people can agree to disagree on this issue. Emanuel, Menino and Moreno are being very unreasonable, however, by stiff-arming Chick-Fil-A by trying to suppress its CEO’s freedom of religion. Dan Cathy has spoken his opinion, not done anything to discriminate in his restaurants.

Liberal Hypocrisy                          

Rahm Emanuel is hardly a paragon of virtue himself. Known for his foul mouth, he used heavy-handed arm-twisting as President Obama’s chief of staff and then ran successfully for Chicago mayor amid controversy about his residency.

Emanuel, who is Jewish, also recently allied himself with the Nation of Islam and its founder Louis Farrakhan to solve Chicago’s crime problems with neighborhood watch teams while ignoring Farahkan’s history of anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and other racist comments.

Chick-Fil-A is Getting Free Advertising

The mayors’ crusade against Chick-Fil-A may well backfire. Several callers to talk radio said they would increase their business with Chick-Fil-A as a result.

One talk show host suggested people eat at Chick-Fil-A and bring the bags to the next White Sox game to show their support for the chain.

Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day

Wednesday, August 1 is designated as Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, organized by former Arkansas governor and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. It’s supported by pro-family notables Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, and respected evangelist and pastor to Presidents Billy Graham.

Expect long lines if you go Wednesday, since 40,000 people responded to Huckabee’s Facebook invitation in the first 24 hours and over 430,000 have said they're going with another 46,000 saying they might.

All Americans should go in support of freedom of speech and religion regardless of their opinion on gay marriage.

First Amendment Rights

A company being denied a license to conduct legitimate business because of the political views of their CEO is nanny government to the extreme. It’s muddle-headed thinking on the part of aldermen and mayors to discourage restaurants in a city with high unemployment.

It would be the same as a conservative mayor trying to ban Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream from grocery stores because of the liberal politics of the founders. Most people just want to buy good food and don’t care about the views of the owners.

Some liberal lower court might uphold Chicago or Boston but this is a clear violation of free speech and religious liberty which would never fly if appealed to the Supreme Court. The mayors even admit they can’t block Chick-Fil-A, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to intimidate them.

Chick-Fil-A is not refusing service to gays or discriminating against them in employment; the CEO has merely affirmed his support of traditional marriage.

Coercion, Persuasion and Free Speech

Extreme coercion was used by the Taliban to prevent girls from going to school in Afghanistan and is used by Islamists (not moderate Muslims) to prevent people from changing their religion and disgracing their family (honor killings).

Subtle coercion happens in America, such as the recent Obama administration requirement for the Catholic Church to against its beliefs, including the abortion-causing morning-after pill. This rulemaking is an offspring of the 2000+ page Obamacare legislation, which was recently declared constitutional but ill-advised by a 5-4 vote of the U.S. Supreme Court. No wonder Nancy Pelosi said we have to pass Obamacare to find out what’s in it. This religious liberty issue is working its way up through the court system and will probably eventually be ruled on by the Supreme Court.

Intimidation such as the latest attempted silencing of free speech and freedom of religion by two big-city mayors is also subtle coercion.

Dan Cathy was not even trying to persuade anyone else to adopt his point of view, merely stating his opinion in favor of traditional marriage. “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

Closed on Sunday       

Chick-Fil-A causes us all to think by being closed on Sunday. The founder’s Christian beliefs cause him to honor God in this way so his employees can go to church or spend the day with their families. No doubt the chain would make more profit if it served its chicken sandwiches on Sunday. Many Christians like to go out to eat after church and would go to Chick-Fil-A if it was open.

But Dan Cathy’s convictions of following the Creator’s pattern of resting on the seventh day cause him to forgo profits. This is food for thought for our go-go-go society as Chick-Fil-A marches to a different drummer.

Some of us have the opposite mentality and work very hard to avoid work, but there’s a balance between work, rest and play that makes for healthy living.

Companies with an Agenda

Most companies just want to sell their product and don’t want to offend anyone. Chick-Fil-A and numerous others fit in this category.

A few have an agenda and are worth avoiding if you disagree with their views. Levi Strauss, with its long-standing support of the gay agenda, and Abercrombie and Fitch, with its aggressive promotion of pre-teen sexuality, come to mind.

Conclusion

At any rate, the marketplace will sort out winners and losers. We don’t need the government picking them for us, whether it’s New York Mayor Bloomberg banning large sodas or now the mayors of Chicago and Boston crusading against Chick-Fil-A.

They have bigger fish to fry and should stick to solving those problems.

We all need to learn how to live together peacefully with those who disagree with us, not intimidate them into being quiet when their opinions aren’t hurting anything more than our feelings.

Rahm Emanuel, of all people, should be able to handle it. He should clean up his own mouth and backyard before he meddles in other people’s yards.