Chick Fil-A: Anti-gay?

So Chick Fil-A has found itself stuck on the wrong side of the cultural road. So says Miss Piggy, and you don't want to mess with her.
Canada doesn't have Chick Fil-A, just like Canada doesn't have Cracker Barrel, Bob Evan's, Sonic, What-A-Burger, or a host of other delicious fast food eateries. Canada does have gay marriage, and last I looked the sky's still up there. Much as I'd love to see more choice in the Canadian fast food outlet landscape (and grocery store, for that matter), I wouldn't want this at the expense of something as important as same-sex marriage.

The two are mutually exclusive, right?

Check out this letter, from the Mayor of Boston to the President of Chick Fil-A.

While I admire the spirit of this letter, I'm not so sure I agree with the, uh, letter of it. Do we really want to check the beliefs of all company executives against a Pre-Approved Beliefs List before we grant them permission to operate in our city? Think carefully before you answer that.
Customers are free to vote with their wallets. If they think Chick Fil-A's bigoted, they don't have to patronize it. If Christians have a problem with Disney, they can stay away.

Now, Chick Fil-A's president, Dan Cathy, did say one thing that impressed me, under the circumstances. "We never claimed to be a Christian business. There's no such thing as a Christian business. Jesus didn't die for a corporation." These are not his words--he quoted another Christian businessman, Fred Roach--but they're worth reflecting on, for Christians and non-Christians alike.  Cathy, for the record, has mounted a vigorous defence of the "biblical" family unit. He has not said one word directly attacking homosexuals or homosexual marriage.


I'll let Lewis Black rephrase that. "If you're against the war it doesn't mean you're for the other side". Has Cathy or his company donated to pro-family-values outfits that actively campaign against gay marriage? "Guilty as charged", he might say. But are they "anti-gay" outfits...or merely Christian outfits?  Are they the same thing? And if they are, do we shut down any company professing Christianity?

This comes down to a topic I've mused on, and written on, before. Tolerance. It doesn't mean what it used to. There was a time when the word "tolerance" meant I don't like you, you don't like me...and that's okay. Now it means "you have to accept me exactly as I am, and if you don't, you're a homophobe zealot/godless heathen". 


Note that: it cuts both ways. For every right-thinking person trying to drag a fundycostal sort into the 21st century by his or her ears, there's a Christian asking pointedly why she's no longer allowed to believe and live by age-old tenets.


I've fallen into this trap myself, most recently dumping a friend of long standing because of her views, which I felt were anti-gay and she considered simply Christian. I can justify this to myself because I also have gay friends (and family), and I can't in good conscience accept someone who considers them to be inherently 'wrong' as a friend as well...the cognitive dissonance would rip my head apart.  


But would I prohibit that woman from owning and operating a business? How is that different from, say, running a gay man out of town?

I will make one suggestion. Companies should be forced to disclose what charities/political causes they donate to. I don't care which end does this, the corporation or the charity, but it should be done as close to in real time as humanly possible. I want to know what companies are doing with their money before I give them any of mine. Again, this would cut both ways: the Christians would be equally happy knowing which companies are supporting 'sin', wouldn't they?