Chicken Chow Down

Who ever thought that a delicious chicken sandwich and waffle fries would cause such a stir?

The Cathy Family, including S. Truett, the founder of Chick-Fil-A, and his son Dan, the current president, have never made their Christian views a secret. Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sunday to allow their employees to worship and their kids' meals come with religious coloring books. The company has a history of philanthropy towards "Focus on the Family" type groups and other Christian (anti-LGBT) groups, from donating food to donating money.

However, recently Dan Cathy has made the transition from silent bigot to active homophobe when he voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage in an interview:

Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.

"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."

Now comes the firefight. Many people voiced their incredulity to Chick-Fil-A's vocal stance and have voiced their disapproval. The mayors of several large cities, including Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco,  have stated that they will not allow Chick-Fil-A's to be build in their cities to further spread their message of hate. The Jim Henson Company has stated that their Muppets will no longer be fans of waffle fries and that the profits they have gotten from Chick-Fil-A will be donated to GLAAD.

On the flipside, there are arguments that Dan Cathy was simply exercising his first amendment right to free speech and that he has to right to believe any way he wants. There is also a "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" planned by Mike Huckabee, in which conservatives nationwide showed up under the guise of protecting their first amendment rights. By eating a chicken sandwich. Really?

I love a first amendment. Really, I do. But when your first amendment right is being used to take away the rights of others, don't you think that's a little bit hypocritical? Let's stop and think about it for a minute.

Everyone has the right to their opinion and religious belief, but when your religious belief starts manipulating government policy, then we have a problem. Not allowing gays to get married is WRONG, plain and simple. I'm not talking about a religious or moral standing, I'm talking about civil rights. Prejudice against homosexuals is wrong, just as prejudice against women and African-Americans was deemed wrong in our shockingly recent history. Stop kidding yourself about standing up for first amendment rights. Hi, you're a bigot.

My best friend and I ate at Popeyes on Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. Not only did they have red beans and rice and biscuits that tasted like they were sent directly from heaven, I didn't have to worry about my money going to groups that will attempt to pray the gay out of someone.

It's really too bad that Chick-Fil-A just tastes so damn good. I have to settle for making copycat recipes from pinterest and watching this video. Somehow drag queens just make everything okay.