Freedom Of Speech?
So when an atheist parent gets upset because his or her child is "forced" to be in the same room while others seek to pray to or discuss God at school, the parents of the "offending" children are subject to legal pressure by the ACLU, et al. Apparently the right to free speech does not apply to someone who wants to pray or talk about God.
And if a fast-food restaurant chain's CEO says he does not support gay marriage, then that's a cue for some gay activist organizations to schedule a "National Same-Sex Kiss Day." The sole purpose being an opportunity for homosexual couples to put on a kissing exhibition at their local Chick-fil-A restaurant, and in effect, rub those "intolerant" noses in it. Apparently Dan Cathy is also not allowed to exercise his Constitutional right to free speech.
I fully support these organizations' rights to express their opinions publicly, but swapping spit in public is not the most mature, nor effective, reaction to the opposing viewpoint. If the parents of a praying child were to react to legal pressure by bringing in a busload of altar boys to the classroom to sing Amazing Grace during science class, I think it would make about as much sense.
It's also interesting to note that although there is no discrimination against gay employees at Chick-fil-A, nor is there any existing directive to discourage gay people from patronizing the stores, the dependable buzzword "hate" has automatically cropped up from the "support equality" side of the imbroglio.
Witness some of the propaganda:
If you wish to view more of these strategically inflammatory aspersions yourself, and the web sites they come from, just search the terms "hate gays chick fil a" and select "images" instead of "web." You'll have plenty to choose from.
What I find most interesting in all this though, is that customers are lining up, sometimes nearly around the block, to show support for Chick-fil-A, despite the efforts of others to drag the business down. As a result, Chick-fil-A is experiencing record profits.
What this means is that despite specific organizations and individuals who live by the sword of fear-mongering slander, the public at large will not relinquish their natural birthrights to think or believe what they wish. I'm willing to bet that a lot of people standing in line at Chick-fil-A may even support gay marriage, or are ambivalent. They just don't want a bunch of cunning harpies with libelous hammers to dictate to the world what is proper to say in public.
This effect has also played out in legislative arenas. According to the New York Times, to date there have been 32 ballot measures that would have legalized or banned gay marriage, and that opponents of gay marriage have won all 32. What is this saying? Do you really think it means that lots of people hate gays? Take your own personal account of all the people you've ever met; the numbers just don't match what the militant gay organizations would have you believe.
One of my wife's best friends has a same-sex partner who laid out the solution so elegantly to us one afternoon, that to this day I still think he has the superior perspective.
To paraphrase, he said that pushing for gay marriage is a pointless waste of time. He believes that instead of taking on an institution like marriage, which is traditionally a ceremony where two people say their vows before humans and God, he said it would be wiser and more appropriate to lobby for civil unions instead. In this way, the same-sex partners would still retain all the rights and privileges from the State that married couples do, but they would be leaving God out of it.
Let's face it. It's not hateful to observe the gigantic irony of pushing for a religious ceremony whose presiding Authority's intention is the propagation of the species. If God is supposedly so intolerant and hateful toward gays, then why would gays even want to take part in a ceremony that is ratified by the same God? It just doesn't make any sense.
And guess what? My wife and I also have another two friends who are a same-sex couple, and they were married in Quebec. I care for both of them a great deal, and the idea of hurting them, or trying to take away their marriage, or anything of the sort, is ridiculous to me. They were happy with their decision, and I was happy for their happiness.
But if I feel like eating at Chick-fil-A, I'm bloody well going to do so, no matter what the thought police do to dissuade me.
And... I'm not going to boycott Amazon.com over their 2.5 million dollar contribution to "Washington United for Marriage." Jeff Bezos is just as entitled to free speech as Dan Cathy.