Chicken Sandwiches and The Beef

Tasty chicken sandwiches 

 

Chick-Fil-A in Alexandria is a pleasant fast food stop for a chicken sandwich.  We sometimes stop in at the one on MacArthur Drive after visiting our vet, Dr. Warren Joubert.

The restaurant atmosphere is lively and pleasant.  I like the fact that they have free wi-fi.  They offer chicken sandwiches on whole wheat bread, which I like.  The staff brings condiments around and they are pathologically friendly.

Now here's the beef

Please keep your politics out of my chicken sandwich.

Recently, Chick-Fil-A president, Dan Cathy, has been vocal about his ultra right wing perspectives regarding marriage and family. 

"When the head of a major fast food chain underscores his support for traditional marriage, lefty heads explode. Dan Cathy, son of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, told the Baptist Press July 16, that the conservative restaurant chain is, in fact, still conservative.
In response to a question pertaining to the franchise’s support of the traditional family, Cathy replied “guilty as charged.” The president and chief operating officer continued, “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 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."

First of all, I do not consider these views "conservative."  Being conservative denotes being cautious and respectful of resources.  These are not attributes that I associate with Mr. Cathy's opinions.

Asparagus field

Secondly, we are all part of a family.  Your family, my family, our family.

We are all part of one human family.  How we define, create or nurture our family relationships may be different, but we all arise from and are part of a family.
Those who wish to engage in "non-traditional" family arrangements do not spring up from a plowed field like asparagus.

(And personally, I am uncertain about the use on "non-traditional" family as a good term to use here, but I will use it for the moment.)
To step forward and advocate that your definition of a family is inherently superior to other peoples families and family origins is to misunderstand what family is.  I find Mr. Cathy offensively self-righteous.

I respect Mr. Cathy's right to run his business along his own ethical guidelines rooted in biblical ideology, just as I would respect a restaurant owner who wished to run his emporium by guidelines of the Koran.
But please, Mr. Cathy, make and sell chicken sandwiches and stay out of politics.