I don’t eat a lot of fast food.
Mostly because, well, it’s shit. Delicious shit, in many cases, but last time I checked, pets think antifreeze is delicious: doesn’t mean I’d recommend it as a fucking snack.
I’ll eat fast food (Wendy’s, McDonald’s, what-have-you) if I’m on the road for something because it’s often difficult to do otherwise. This is fairly rare.
I’ll eat “higher-end” fast food if it’s the only choice — Five Guys, Panera, Chipotle — but again, we’re talking a fairly rare event, here. (Actually, I take an annual pilgrimage to Five Guys. Because, c’mon.)
And, finally, I’ll eat Chick-Fil-A.
Why not? Tasty food. Always gets high marks in terms of quality ingredients and relative healthfulness. We’ve one close by, and the people there are incredibly friendly. Beaming smiles and bright eyes and the epitome of politeness. Plus they have a giant cow tottering to and fro, and sometimes that big fuzzy motherfucker will come right up to your table and clear it for you. They have family nights. Kids get their faces painted. A sense of community lingers.
Of course, while their food is delicious, it turns out, their politics are not.
They have a raging hate-boner for same-sex couples.
Well, goddamnit.
Way to go, Chick-Fil-A. Way to be a dick. (I’m sure given their almost sexual fascination with chickens there’s a “cock” joke in there somewhere. I’ll leave it for you, my intrepid readers, to discover.)
It’s one thing to know that, say, a CEO is a dick. That’s no good, but you could maybe justify not caring so much — after all, I haven’t vetted every employee of every corporation that produces every product I consume. I don’t know that Steve Jobs isn’t a fetus-munching Scientologist or the guy who made my frozen burrito isn’t some kind of violent Eskimo-hater. Further, I’ve heard some folks say, “Well, they are Christian,” as if every Christian human has a secret agenda against the LGBT community. But here, the real rub is that Chick-Fil-A is actively opposed to gay marriage and LGBT rights, which is another way of saying they oppose human love, rationality, and human rights.
Which means I have to oppose their delicious chicken sandwiches.
It’s stupid, but my initial thought was, “Well, I can sometimes still eat the sandwiches, right?” Having a new kid, I have no intention of plugging his growing body up with fast food but I thought, “Well, we can take him to Chick-Fil-A. He can see the big cow. He can get his face painted on Tuesdays. Delicious milkshakes!” Except, fuck, fuck, every dollar I spend there means it’s a dollar that can go toward them being dicks.
“Here,” I say. “Here’s five dollars for this delicious meal.”
“Thanks!” chirps the Chick-Fil-A smiley-bot girl. “We’re going to donate twenty-five cents of your order toward making sure gays remain at sub-human legal levels! Would you like waffle fries with that?”
Actually, their chirpy, uber-polite veneer now takes on a Village of the Damned-esque quality, doesn’t it? Like, out back behind the franchise you’ll find a bunch of smiley blonde white girls with promise rings whanging homosexuals in the head with shovels and throwing their bodies into barrel fires. “God loves you!” they cry. “It’s a nice day at Chick-Fil-A!” The big fuzzy cow will totter up and laugh — hurr hurr hurr hurr — before taking a big ol’ cowflop on the bill of rights.
Point being, of course I can’t eat the fucking sandwiches. Not if I want to ever pretend my convictions have substance greater than that of cotton candy in a warm mouth. Is that what I’m going to teach my son someday? “Son, you have to standup and do what’s right. Taking the righteous path isn’t about taking the easy path. Stand by your convictions. Unless, of course, the enemy of those convictions is selling you a delectable chicken sandwich. Because then? Yeah, fuck that noise. You compromise your ideals for a sandwich like that. I’d shoot an Eskimo right in his cold heart just to eat a trio of waffle fries, my boy.”
I mean, shit, if Hitler’s Third Reich had the Chicken Deluxe Sandwich, are we to believe everyone might’ve just looked the other way when it came to the concentration camps?
(“That Hitler sure knows his breaded chicken!”)
I dunno. Point being, if you believe in something, then you have to at least be willing to commit the bare minimum toward that conviction, and here the bare minimum is “not eating their food.” I ate there just a week or two ago, and to my regret, that will have to stop. At least until they learn to play nice with the human race. You chicken-fucking bastards. (That’s why they’re all smiling. They’re banging chickens by the box-load. Don’t buy their bullshit. They love cock.)
Marlan says:
Chick-Fil-A: It’s he self righteousness that makes it taste so good!
We don’t get these guys in California, but I have to say, it isn’t the first time I’ve heard somewhat negative things about them from friends out there.
June 21, 2011 — 12:38 AM
Christopher Gronlund says:
I have yet to hear a rational argument from those who oppose same-sex marriage. Why some people in love are denied the same protection my wife and I have had for almost 2 decades is beyond me. Funny thing: we have gay friends who have been together longer than some people I know who have a big issue with same-sex marriage…people who value the sanctity of marriage so much that they have been married multiple times!
A same-sex couple together for 15+ years = downfall of society.
A “good” zealot who’s been married 2 or 3 times in 15 years = A-OK!
Funny how that works…
June 21, 2011 — 12:49 AM
Anthony Laffan says:
I really wish the world would learn that People Are People. Screw the noise on the differences. Who cares if someone prefers to cuddle up with their own gender? Let him do it his way, and you keep doing it yours.
Sadly, boycotting is one of the only tools we actually have in situations like this. I’m glad to see you’re making a stand.
Just remember, it’s ok to be Takei!
June 21, 2011 — 4:16 AM
Sparky says:
Having only recently acquired convictions I find it hard to hold to them, but damn them and there delicious chicken. For some time now Chick-Fil-A has been my ultimate treat fast food. The closest one is a bit of a drive, so it was all the tastier when I was in that part of town to eat such perfect fries and chicken. But now it seems I cannot. Damn.
June 21, 2011 — 4:22 AM
Rob Schnell says:
Well, Chick-Fil-A has been our only fast food choice since we relocated back to this coast, and we’ve enjoyed a good run… But at this point, we would much rather deny ourselves a meal than give a cent to their backwards philosophy….
June 21, 2011 — 5:52 AM
annaliterally says:
I completely agree about the fast food. Tho, I visit Subway fairly frequently, and often do the penmonkey thing at a Panera because of their salads and all-you-can-drink iced tea bar. I use their lemon wedges to mark how many cups of caffeine I’ve had. When it’s four-lemon day, I cut myself the hell off.
I always thought it was neat that Chick-Fil-A was closed on Sunday. Way to stand by your convictions.
What I don’t get is the “Jesus wants us to love our neighbors, so the gays need to get the hell out of the neighborhood” mentality.
Um, no.
June 21, 2011 — 6:15 AM
Kimberly Pauley says:
Dammit. Sigh. Oh, well, at least they don’t seem to have any franchises over here in the UK.
I don’t generally eat fast food at all (great thing about where we live now is that it’s easy NOT to), but I did like their chicken. Won’t be ever visiting them again now, though.
June 21, 2011 — 6:22 AM
Tony Lane says:
I can confirm that over here in the UK our society has not imploded or turned into a 60m strong army of village people clones since gay marriage were allowed.
IMHO this is just another form of fundamentalist religion. God (if he exists) is much smarter than we are, so who are we to say what he would say is right and wrong in today’s society?
June 21, 2011 — 6:32 AM
terribleminds says:
It’s a shame, really. It’s one thing to know that politically you and them aren’t in alignment — I’m sure I’m not in alignment politically with most of the major corporations out there. But to know that they actively, not passively, support hateful ways-of-existence does a lot to diminish the deliciousness of the chicken.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 6:57 AM
Anna Geletka says:
Sigh. Is it wrong that I wish I’d had the chance to eat there one last time before I learned of this travesty? Yeah, yeah it probably is.
June 21, 2011 — 7:24 AM
Ben K. says:
Every word a jewel-encrusted truth, as always, Chuck. Chic-fil-a (which, as an aside, my ex-wife and I didn’t know how to pronounce for the longest time. “Sheek-fill-ahh? Is it French?”) is just he’ll on gay rights, and actively so, and they don’t deserve your cash, or anyone else’s for that matter. But Lord, they fry up a good chicken, don’t they?
The thing is, though, you make your way down a slippery slope pretty quick. Chic-fil-a are sonsofbitches on gay rights. But Chipotle (which I love) are just as activist on treating immigrants fairly (in a bad way). If your views on immigration are even half as progressive as your views on same-sex equality, then you have to look at boycotting Chipotle, too.
Same thing is true at Wal-Mart (atrocious on worker rights), Target, Taco Bell (farm workers mistreated), and the list sadly goes on and on. Ikea is shitty on worker rights. Do I boycott them? Where will I get my Swedish pressboard furniture if I do?
I’d love to grow all my own food and build everything we need, but here in the Florida suburbs, that’s not much of an option (to be fair, my almost total ineptitude would also be a factor).
It comes down to choices, really (at least in my view). I don’t go to Chic-fil-a anymore. We do still go to Ikea, try to avoid Wal-Mart… Somehow it all adds up in our minds, but the truth, of course, is that living modern life, it’s kind of hard to avoid those places sometimes (though to be clear, I am with you on the Chic-fil-a boycott).
June 21, 2011 — 7:26 AM
Chris says:
Down here in the deep south, we’ve known that Jesus Chicken was bad news for a while. Which is a shame, because man, I love their food. They funneled quite a lot of money into passing a bill that was ostensibly intended to ban teh gays from getting married in Florida… Even though we already had a defense of marriage act that did that.
No, the true goal of that bill (which passed, by the way) was to target those of us living in sin. Thanks to their tireless campaigning, if Kat gets put in the hospital, I have NO say in what goes on, and can’t even get into the room, despite having been with her for 17 years.
Also, they didn’t bother to inform anyone when they moved from normal vegetable oil to peanut oil around here, and a guy died right there in the university food court. They have signs now.
June 21, 2011 — 7:39 AM
Merced Davis says:
I agree chuck. I used to like the family atmosphere also. It is a real shame to see an entire company being hateful.
June 21, 2011 — 7:40 AM
BA Boucher says:
1000% behind this. My wife and I found an article about five months ago that Chick-Fila was donating hundreds of thousands behind anti-gay marriage rallies. We stopped eating there that minute.
I can’t believe this shit is still going on.
June 21, 2011 — 8:07 AM
terribleminds says:
Yeah, they’ve been doing this awhile, I guess. Should’ve been paying better attention.
And certainly, @Ben, it’s always worth looking at the businesses we frequent and patronize to see if there’s good reason to vote with your dollar. Honestly, I should be more diligent. I’m pretty good when it comes to food (at least in terms of farm politics, though I’m far more ignorant on the subject of worker rights), and I know that Target a couple years back got called out by Lady Gaga, if I remember, for being anti-gay or supporting anti-gay legislation.
I don’t know much, re: Chipotle and how they treat workers (if you got an article, feel free to send it), though I do know they were hiring lots of undocumented workers. Though I’d argue that’s the nature of the restaurant industry in total.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 8:14 AM
Travis Cole says:
They hate gay people right? They want them to suffer the most brutal agony possible right? The most mind numbing horrific torture? That’s marriage. Shouldn’t they be pro to spread the misery around?
June 21, 2011 — 8:20 AM
Kate Haggard says:
Chik-Fil-A is a little worse than just anti-gay – they’re a thinly veiled front for Dominionism. Which basically means they’re funneling funds into a fringe group of Christianity that wants to turn the US into a theocracy. It’s scary stuff when you pry deeper into their politics. You can find out more about there here and here
Needless to say, I haven’t eaten there since ’02. Nor do I knowingly patronize any business that operates the same way. And no, my yet-to-exist kids will never see Veggietales.
June 21, 2011 — 8:35 AM
Ravis Harnell says:
Kate’s right – Chik-Fil-A is actively supporting a theocratic agenda. Which, I dunno, in and of itself, saying “shit, that’ll never happen, so let’s eat” can kind-of-sort-of be rationalized, depending upon how much you love Chik-Fil-A. But the whole “gay folks don’t get to be quite as human as the rest of us” thing, they throw enough money, they can help make it happen.
It’s been about a year since my wife and I discovered the company was aggressively opposing gay rights, so it’s been about a year since I’ve had a delicious, delicious Chik-Fil-A sandwich. And that sucks. But at least I can kid myself that I loved them so much, this is a HUGE blow I’m striking for equality, right?
June 21, 2011 — 8:44 AM
Rory P Haggard says:
I’ll second what Kate said and add that the moral calculus involved in opposition to gay marriage is really quite simple if you think about it. Gay marriage would be an explicit acknowledgment that marriage is a partnership of equals. “Traditional” marriage in the minds of those vehemently opposed to gay marriage is about the woman being submissive to her husband as head of the household. They are quite right in claiming that a gay marriage would undermine their view of marriage, but that doesn’t mean that their view of marriage is just or correct.
June 21, 2011 — 8:51 AM
Josh says:
I don’t get it.
God is love, according to the New Testament. Jesus (not to be confused with Jaysus – you know, that blond-haired blue-eyed gun-toting motherfucker) taught his followers to love God and one another, regardless of where another comes from or who another wants to bone. If Christianity as I know it and follow it is all about love, why is love between two people so anathema to God?
I just don’t fucking get it.
June 21, 2011 — 8:55 AM
Katie says:
I have never eaten at Chik-Fil-A…
June 21, 2011 — 9:04 AM
KJ says:
Chuck, Since you’re talking about chickens…
http://bfgb.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/elmer-by-gerry-alanguilan/
have you seen this?
Thanks for the info about Chik-fil-A. I’ve always been a bit suspicious of that big creepy cow anyway.
June 21, 2011 — 9:07 AM
Ben K. says:
(signed in with a different email, sorry)
The back-story (more or less) on Chipotle:
http://on.msnbc.com/iEd5wF
Short version: come work for us because you’re cheap and hard working! Oh, wait, are those ICE guys coming in the front door? They don’t look like they want a burrito bowl. Hey, you — the cook, the guy chopping chicken, the guy making the rice, the dude cleaning the toilet: get the hell out.
June 21, 2011 — 9:13 AM
Darlene Underdahl says:
As some woman once said, “The threat to my marriage is my husband’s secretary, not the gay couple down the street.”
Nice picture of a chicken…
They pick on gays (or blacks or blondes or Jews) because many people need an “other” to hate while forming their own tribe. My two cents.
I gave CONFESSIONS a good review on Amazon this morning; it should show up soon.
June 21, 2011 — 9:22 AM
Joanna says:
Josh:
Can of worms here, I’m sure, but you’ve just outlined a common straw-man argument. As with any relationship, love doesn’t always equal approval.
Not trying to start a discussion for or against anything (when I do, it’ll be on my own space); just saying your argument could use some work.
June 21, 2011 — 9:23 AM
Cyndi says:
We learned about Chic-fil-a’s anti-gay activism a few months ago and like you, sadly stopped frequenting their establishments.
As for Chipotle, I don’t care if their workers are ‘undocumented.’ That’s a political game. Does the company pay them fair (for food service) wages like everyone else? Treat them the same? It’s the government who makes Chipotle fire perfectly capable, dependable employees. Show me where those hard-working immigrants are being abused or taken advantage of and I’ll join a boycott.
For now, I think I’m craving a chicken burrito bowl…
June 21, 2011 — 9:28 AM
Sarah Ahiers says:
OOh i’m glad we don’t have them in MN so i don’t have to make the decision between deliciousness and basic human rights.
Of course i gave up all fast food 4 months ago so it would be a moot point for me.
June 21, 2011 — 9:42 AM
Adam says:
As long as we’re being self-righteous, here’s another list of establishments you should all be prepared to ignore for the rest of your lives:
http://pinkpanthers.tumblr.com/post/618605551/boycott-these-anti-gay-companies-do-not-give-them-your
I’m sure there are plenty of others you don’t know about, seeing as how corporate CEOs and boards of directors tend conservative.
Finally, undocumented (“illegal”) workers are easy to abuse – that’s why they are undocumented.
Why would Chipotle document unfair treatment of the employees they claim don’t exist?
My point being, it’s easy to get indignant and self-righteous, but it’s also easy to look like a hypocrite if one can so easily turn a blind eye to other tasteless acts.
June 21, 2011 — 9:51 AM
terribleminds says:
@Adam: Nothing hypocritical about not boycotting Chipotle. Without evidence — “Yes, we at Chipotle like to abuse our workers” — I have a hard time getting on board the rage train there. Again, the entire restaurant industry is built on the backs of undocumented workers. Like Bourdain says, the best French restaurants in NYC have kitchens filled with illegal workers. People’s investment in voting with their dollar goes as far as they feel it needs to go.
@Matt, Joanna: I’m sorry, are you talking to someone in particular or addressing a specific comment? Doing so instead of speaking in generalities will help your case.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 12:14 PM
Darlene Underdahl says:
@Rory: You made a good point about Dominionist types believing the wife should be subservient. But SP (you know who I mean) is NOT subservient; her husband is (he carries her purse and a large bag while she totes a small notebook – there are pictures). These folks are FLAMING hypocrites.
June 21, 2011 — 9:51 AM
Betsy Dornbusch says:
They also fry everything in peanut oil, which can be dangerous for allergies. I never eat there. But I’m glad to know they’re assholes so I can actively slam them. Thanks!
June 21, 2011 — 9:54 AM
John the Great says:
I normally can’t eat Chik-Fil-A cause of the grease but it’s so disappointing to learn of those types of things especially since I’m betting that there’s more than a few people who work for their corporation that must be THE HATED GAYS. :/
June 21, 2011 — 11:15 AM
Matt Usey says:
Wow, for a post on intolerance, this one has sure generated plenty of it, especially in the comments. If you don’t agree with their philosophy, then sure, boycott them. But to slam them for hatred while spewing your own defeats your purpose.
June 21, 2011 — 12:04 PM
Joanna says:
What Matt Usey said. Sheesh.
June 21, 2011 — 12:10 PM
The Chef says:
@Matt Usey: Wait, being angry and disapproving of hatred is intolerance? Were people standing up for civil rights being “intolerant” because they didn’t like the “philosophy” of racists?
June 21, 2011 — 12:20 PM
Simon Rogers says:
Just don’t tell me the Colonel is homophobic.
Oh, and Tony Lane is wrong. Gay marriage has changed the British. We’ve all gone gay, and there are people lobbying to marry amphibians.
June 21, 2011 — 12:23 PM
Spomenka says:
Yeah, we’ve boycotted [“don’t order from them, don’t eat them, don’t let our companies buy from them, discourage friends from ordering”] a particular national pizza company (while drooling over their commercials and fast-food pizza innovations) for years for similar reasons. But then we get caught up in the, “Well, who owns THEM?” dilemma and end up luddites on a subsistence farm somewhere in Antarctica. Thus, we shout out such things as, “I’m fighting for CocaCola in the water wars.” Nevermind our happy tenure under the Google overlords…
June 21, 2011 — 12:24 PM
CC says:
I work in immigration and every dollar I can manage to give to immigrants – regardless of their legal status – is a point of pride for me. Half of these workers are only ‘undocumented’ because right now, getting a green card takes TEN YEARS. A lot of these people simply don’t have that kind of time. I work with potential asylees – people who come to this country because there’s good evidence that they’ll be murdered if they stay in their own country – and if it’s between breaking a law and staying/keeping their families in a dangerous environment, I really really don’t blame them for breaking the law.
That said, I’m in the south and I’ve become more dependent on amazon.com for things I don’t need immediately. I may be straight, but damned if I’m going to give my money to places like Chik-fil-A, Hobby Lobby (where I used to get my yarn, I’m a knitter) and/or Target that discriminate against people because of who they happen to love.
June 21, 2011 — 12:28 PM
Amanda says:
I have what I think is a good question…isn’t it illegal to fire someone or not hire them specifically because they are homosexual? So hypothetically speaking…a corporation as large as Chik-fil-a should in theory have at least ONE homosexual employee right? I mean just by chance someone who’s gay or lesbian had to have at least applied…sounds like someone is begging for a lawsuit to me…lol That is illegal isn’t it? Or did I make that up because I think it should be illegal…?
June 21, 2011 — 12:36 PM
Brian Buckley says:
Boycotting for ethical reasons is a very tricky thing. I personally refuse to eat any fast food chicken at all (with a few exceptions) because of the animal abuse at factory farms. Personally, I would consider the animal abuse worse than the gay-marriage opposition, although that’s also bad, of course.
From my point of view, it’s odd to hear you single out as evil one tiny subset of a huge area I consider morally objectionable – as if McDonald’s chicken has no ethical baggage. But on the other hand, I’m sure lots of other products I buy without a second thought would make others gasp.
I have close friends who work at Chik-Fil-A (and are not homophobic), and from them, I hear about the good side of the company – for instance, they treat their employees very well. How does that balance against the anti-gay-marriage thing? I don’t know how to answer that either.
All tricky things. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s not quite as simple as “Chik-Fil-A BAD.”
June 21, 2011 — 1:20 PM
terribleminds says:
@Brian —
I think the point is, pick your battles and vote with your dollar. You can’t save the world but you can find those issues that are most important to you and do the bare minimum to support ’em. You either reach a point where you do what you can about the issues you care most about or you end up doing nothing at all.
I’m not saying Chick-Fil-A BAD, I’m saying, Chick-Fil-A supports bad shit and that means I personally won’t be supporting them in that. You can. Others can. I’m not demanding everybody rally behind me, rah-rah-rah. I’m just making a point about the barest minimum of one’s conviction is all.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 1:27 PM
Chris says:
@CC: Target is actually no longer an issue. They blinked when Lady Gaga called them out, and even ended up selling an exclusive Born This Way single while donating profits.
@Amanda: Presently, sexual orientation / identity is only protected from discrimination in 22 states. ENDA has not passed on a national level.
June 21, 2011 — 1:30 PM
Brian Buckley says:
“You either reach a point where you do what you can about the issues you care most about or you end up doing nothing at all.”
Agreed.
June 21, 2011 — 1:33 PM
BA Boucher says:
When Prop 8 came around in California, my wife and I printed out the major supporters of the bill and began boycotting their services. I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy anything made or served by such low class ethics.
Here’s another topic in the same vein.
One of my favorite books when I was younger, as a lot of other kids, was Ender’s Game. Fantastic book, full of kids my age saving the world. Hooked like heroin I was.
Turns out Orson Scott Card is an anti gay marriage proponent, speaking in defense of Prop 8.
Now my childhood is ruined? I donated my very worn and loved copy to the library. I miss that book but I can’t stomach looking at it spine anymore.
June 21, 2011 — 1:58 PM
Garner Davis says:
Thanks a bunch! So much for blissful ignorance, allowing me to continue to enjoy this company’s delicious — and relatively healthy — chicken sandwich (the only fast food I eat these days, too). I’ll need to investigate, of course, but if what you say is true, last week’s three-sandwich extravaganza will have to be my last. It’ll be back to Boar’s Head turkey for me. Thanks again.
June 21, 2011 — 2:34 PM
L says:
I’m trying to tell myself that they secretly use human meat so I’ll stop dreaming about those fucking delicious sandwiches.
June 21, 2011 — 2:44 PM
Aaron Dembski-Bowden says:
I’d love to have been in on their foundation board meetings.
“So, we hate gays. Now let’s think of a really cool name for the company.”
You seriously have a place called “Chick-Fil-A?” Is it… Chick Filler, but pronounced Chick Fillet? Is that the joke? Is there a joke? Is it just a name so shit that it stretches credence?
Enlighten me, man. I need this.
June 21, 2011 — 3:21 PM
Matt Usey says:
@terribleminds @TheChef Thanks for the reply. I’m not talking about “being angry and disapproving of hatred.” And I have no idea if their anti-gay marriage platform is motivated by hatred. If there is hatred, people should be angered. However, I’ve never heard them call gays bastards or a*holes or chicken f*ckers (which does make me giggle a bit) like the post and comments here refer to them. That sounds pretty hateful to me.
Anti-gay marriage people aren’t automatically hateful racist bastards (though I’m sure some are). Saying that closes off the discussion. Toning it down makes for a less colorful rant but a more reasonable conversation.
June 21, 2011 — 3:23 PM
terribleminds says:
@Matt:
When one tries to deny someone human rights, that someone is an asshole. And a chicken fucker. Just because I’m calling them names doesn’t do anything except that — call them names. What I’m doing isn’t, say, denying LGBT folks the right to exist as equal humans to me and my wife and all us other folks out yonder.
They may not do so out of hate, but it is an act of hatred just the same.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 4:49 PM
BA Boucher says:
@Matt Usey. I could not disagree with you more. While I do believe that not every person who voted for segregation didn’t wear a clan hood, they were still a party to one of the great injustices of this country.
This is a second class citizen issue and it is plain evil supporting identifying one group as separate. Segregated.
Trust me, as a man who is missing 80% of his family from Poland just cause they were different.
June 21, 2011 — 3:30 PM
brax says:
pssst. their secret is marinating the chicken in pickle juice.
June 21, 2011 — 4:42 PM
Rory P Haggard says:
@Matt Usey-
Spare us the Tone Argument. As the saying goes:
And don’t pretend that intent is a magic bullet that can forgive hateful actions because that wasn’t what was meant. If you are a person seeking to deny rights to a specific class of human beings for, you are committing a hateful act. I don’t care if you mean it out of love or concern for someone’s immortal soul or whatever. If you refuse to treat someone as an equal, you are committing a hateful act.
Calling someone out on their hatefulness in a “colorful rant” does not “[close] off the discussion.” The discussion was probably closed off before it began. Posts like this one are clearly not intended to change the minds of the hatemongers, but rather to call to action those who might not be aware of the problem. Don’t confuse the issue here.
June 21, 2011 — 5:31 PM
Matt Usey says:
Your point is that opposing gay marriage is a hateful act. My point is that saying, “You’re an a*hole if you don’t agree with me” isn’t productive. Those types of arguments just make people want to punch each other in the face.
June 21, 2011 — 6:16 PM
terribleminds says:
@Matt:
Opposing gay marriage is opposing love, and opposing love is pretty damn hateful.
Thus, it earns scorn.
— c.
June 21, 2011 — 7:14 PM