Maybe it comes as a result of having an ex-Marine as my church history professor in seminary, but the one thing I took away from his class was this....
Protect the right to express all beliefs because therein are your own protected.
So, I'm trying to wrap my head around this whole Chicken scene, and a few thoughts come to mind.
1. I am really tired of mock-tolerance. Really, it is selective tolerance....which is not tolerance at all. I am also really tired of the LGBT agenda putting their "plight" - so called - on the same level of discrimination and bigotry as 1960's civil rights issues. Those who laud themselves as having grasped the bigger picture, accepting more diversity of beliefs and lifestyles, who post the "COEXIST" bumper stickers on their cars, have grasped nothing. The truth is each religious system holds itself up as mutually exclusive. There are not several ways up the mountain. Even the most open religious thinkers ultimately believe that the reason every road leads to peace is because...well, you were really on THEIR road to begin with, even though you called it something different. So if there is only one way, which one is it?
2. People who own up to their own beliefs about their religious practices or lack thereof, without apology, are the bravest of us all. And they have every right to act on those beliefs. Freely. Without poking and prodding from non-believers. The head honchos of CFA have every right to believe what they want and spend their profits accordingly. They are free to express those beliefs. They follow, from my understanding, all federal equal opportunity employment laws. So what's the big deal? If you don't like or support what they like or support....shop elsewhere. Simple as that. But don't get on the bandwagon that they shouldn't have those beliefs. The Constitution that protects their expression of those beliefs is the same one that protects yours. You even have the right to a peaceful assembly to protest, if you feel so inclined. Those are rights that can coexist. If they can't, you can't have either one of them.
3. There are actually BIGGER fish to fry (chicken?) in the whole question of where do I spend my money? Have I vetted brands and businesses I frequent to make sure their products do not violate child labor laws in underdeveloped countries? Do they give kick-backs to any human-trafficking organizations? Are they fair-trade brands? CFA has committed no atrocities in relation to any of these questions. So what if they are pro-traditional family? They are also for fair trade, equal work opportunities, clean businesses, polite staff, and dawgonit, good food. I believe there are churches in our country that are attempting to build more inroads toward fostering loving relationships with those of non-traditional lifestyles. But such lambasting from the left makes it hard to do so. We want to love you. We want to see Christ work in your life. Cut us some slack.
4. In answer to the question that ended point 1, if there is only one way, which one is it? In a survey of various world religions, each has an end goal of eternal or personal peace. Each has a mentor that led the way or set down the ground rules. Each has a system of traditions and rituals that are intended to bring the participant closer to the goal. But the difference between Christianity and all of these is this....There is an acknowledgment of the failure of organized religion to produce those end goals. Instead, all hope is placed upon one perfect person who fulfilled what we could not, only the Son of God himself. And by His substitutionary death upon the cross, finalizing what all the previous sacrifices had failed to produce, he paid our debt, the debt of our sin. All other religions rationalize away or attempt to make atonement for sins by one's own actions. Security is not assured. But those who accept the propitiating payment supplied by Christ will have it applied to their account. There is no other way. There is no other Name under heaven given to men whereby they might be saved.
And if you choose not to believe that, then at least protect my right to believe and express it, because I will be protecting yours.
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