Image from boycottchickfila.com
In my hometown state of California, the gay marriage debate is a big deal. Otherwise known as Prop 8, the right to same sex marriage has a flurry of loud, proud supporters—though the opposing silent majority has won the debate every time elections come around.
When this whole Chick-fil-A situation arose, I knew it would cause heated argument. For the purpose of getting my point across, I will not state what side I’m on, but instead give my view of the situation as a whole.
From what I understand, it all started when Chick-fil-A president, Dan Cathy, released a statement confirming the company’s anti-gay marriage stance. It’s important to keep in mind that the fast-food chain is Christian-affiliated as they do and always have closed on Sundays.
However, Cathy received immediate backlash after stating his opinion. Then, to show support for Chick-fil-A—in my opinion, all it did was make an even bigger deal out of nothing—former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee claimed Aug. 1 as Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.
As a result, as reported in the LA Times, tons of anti-gay marriage supporters made their way to local Chick-fil-A restaurants in support of this new political “holiday” created no more than a few weeks ago.
On the opposite end, the pro-gay marriage supporters went out to the restaurants to protest.
But step back from all of this for a second.
Chick-fil-A is a fast food chain. They make chicken sandwiches. Are we really using this chain as the face of the gay marriage debate?
Furthermore, to those getting involved in this hot debate, whether it be posting photos on Facebook or arguing with a neighbor, I say think before you act.
I’ve read various blog posts on the issue and have agreed with some of them in that if you take a side on this Chick-fil-A fiasco, I’m hoping you also research every other product you use and fully support the political views of the company presidents.
Image from latimes.com
In a way, this reminds me of the Occupy Wall Street blow-up, and I think it could even go as far as to be compared to the KONY 2012 internet sensation. Viewing these situations from afar, I’ve noticed that people who involve themselves with these issues all seemingly become social activists overnight.
They read an article or watch a video, and then suddenly have fierce opinions on one side or the other. And yet, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of those same people own various products created by the same mega companies they “hate” so much, and have never been to Africa or know anything about the true present state of the people there.
In this same manner, many of these Chick-fil-A activists are singling out this one fast-food chain for one reason: it’s the hot topic right now. They most likely don’t give this much attention to the political views of presidents of other fast-food chains that they are patrons of.
The Chick-fil-A president simply stated his opinion—there’s nothing wrong with that. In a few months, this controversy will blow over and some other political issue will arise to capture the attention of the masses.
