Chick-fil-a Support Day and Free Speech
 

Who else went to the Mike Huckabee-sponsored Chick-fil-a Support Day today (Wednesday)? I went with a group from church & we stood in line for 2 hours in the hot sun. The police were there just in case because there were so many cars and people. The drive-thru was packed.

I've never had a meal there before, and the salads, chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, and brownies were wonderful. I was really impressed by the service. They brought ice water in cups out to the crowd that was in line! They waited on the two older women who were with us and took their money, ordered their food, and served it to them. There were tons of employees checking to see how everyone was doing & if they needed anything. Overall, I was really impressed with the company and its employees.

It seemed that not all who went were against gay marriage, but everyone backed free speech. This day was a way to show support for the company's chief executive Don Cathy's right to speak about just what he believed in -- a right protected by the US Constitution (the first amendment).

LOL.

Free speech means that you can say/do what you want within reason and people can respond to what you say/do within reason. The End.

Have you already voted? :)

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=128334

I went today too and it was my first time eating there as well. It was extremely crowded even though it wasn't at a peak meal time, with two drive through lines wrapping around the building twice and a line out the door. The staff was wonderful, helpful and cheery on what was a grueling hot day, taking orders outside in the hot sun and serving people in impressive time. I was definitely impressed with their food and I will be back as much as my waistline will allow.

For me it all came down to free speech too. No matter how I feel about gay marriage, when the Chicago, SF and Boston mayors started blustering about Chick-Fil-a not being welcome in their towns because their political and religious beliefs differed from their own, that's when I decided to get involved. It repulsed me, and I was glad to see that even the ACLU recognized the issue.

Homosexuality and same-sex partnerships are by no means a "condition" but....

Would there be an (insert company) appreciation day and would the ACLU get involved if the (insert company) CEO said that her/his traditional religious views regarding the family support the notion that people with a diagnosed mental or physical condition should not be allowed to be married or have children?

Freedom of speech, indeed.

Serious question: How is this Mike Huckabee-sponsored? I really don't know. I just heard it through the grape vine that it was support Chick-fil-A day but it sounded like a word-of-mouth thing and not a full-blown political move.

I didn't eat there today but I'm not boycotting it. They make a damn good chicken biscuit and that's about as much energy as I can dedicate to giving a shit about a fast-food restaurant.

Yes, I voted. You can read my post in that thread. This was not about boycotting Chick-fil-a. This was about taking a stand about issues that I personally believe in. I doubted that I was the only one on this board who went and chose to support the company. My decision to go was based on entirely different reasons than those considered in the boycott thread. This is why I chose to start a new thread instead of adding to the one about boycotting. :)

Again, like I said for me personally, it wasn't about the message at all. It was about a bunch of political goons telling a company that their company was not welcome in their fair burgs because their religious/political views differed from the powers that be there.

It was about eating at Chick-Fil-A for the first time for the sake of supporting Chick-Fil-A for the first time and therefore explicitly doing the opposite of boycotting. I know. ;)

I don't care about the new thread. I just wanted to know if you voted in the boycott thread.

Given that the ACLU has defended the free speech rights of Neo-Nazis and the KKK, then yeah, I can imagine them getting involved if government officials suggested that a company should stay out of that official's city based on the speech of the company's CEO, regardless of what that speech was.

I am not talking about personally. I asked about group dynamics of whether there would even be an appreciation day and the ACLU involved.

As for personally:
I still believe that almost everyone has a viewpoint that they absolutely cannot and will not tolerate, freedom of speech be damned, and if a person or company expouses such a viewpoint they would have no problem boycotting that company and having the company banned from the vicinity if possible.


Thanks for reminding me about the ACLU.

Yes, free speech indeed. Its just that, speech. The CEO expressed his views.

As far as I have read, the CEO did not ban gay people from working and eating at his restaurants. He just spoke his mind.

Its how I feel about the KKK - I don't like what they say and what they stand for, but as long as they are talking, then they can talk all they want. Now, when they get physical, I'll take action. ;)

First, "Free Speech" as outlined in the First Amendment doesn't apply to this issue at all.

Second, you know who would probably love to freely express their love for their partners, shouting from the rooftops their commitment to each other through legal marriage, freely and in a manner protected from government interference?

Gay people.

As you alluded to earlier, freedom of speech does not mean that you can say whatever you want to without criticism (or boycotts of your business). It means that, absent something like endangering people (like shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater), the government cannot censor your speech or punish you for your speech.

People in a city signing a petition or letter to the company CEO saying we don't like your position and we don't want to see you come to our town = those people exercising their own free speech rights.

But the mayor of the city saying the same thing in his capacity as mayor (rather than his capacity as just another citizen) does get a bit too close to government censorship of speech.

And nobody is closing down any CFA stores, or issuing bans - the mayors also utilized speech to condemn the CEO's bigotry.

The mayor is, of course, a state actor - but until an agency or actor takes action against CFA based on speech, no rights have been violated. Weird that the Religious Right would choose to posture on this event by decrying the posturing of others. Absurdity abounds.

Until views are expressed that offend those in power. It is okay to offend power minorities.

Then I am sure you would patronize a company with a CEO who is in the KKK or is a KKK sympathizer. ;)


"They can do whatever they want! I just don't want to see it! Don't do it where I can see it!! Which is everywhere outside of your house."

I have to add this constant use of "freedom of speech" to my list of inapplicable yet overused phrases and words. Right up there with "politically correct" and "race card."

Stop making me want to straight marry you. It's disgusting. Also Chick-fil-A will corporate person free speech me and try to get my marriage rights blocked.

In response to thetaj's question on how this event was Mike Huckabee-supported, Huckabee started this whole thing as a response to the boycott issue. Supposedly more than 20 million people looked at his Facebook page and people began to show support for the event even before it occured. Huckabee is quoted as saying that "the success of Chick-fil-A is a great American story that is being smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left." (newsmax)

Huckabee then suggested the Appreciation Day to support Don Cathy and the company.

^ Gotcha. I read too literally into "sponsored" and was curious if he actually pumped money into this. Thanks :)

This is so shitty brilliant I can barely deal ... any reasonable reading of any of most of those words (especially "hate" and "bigotry") renders it completely false, yet we're loading up buses to buy fast food chicken from inordinately wealthy people. Poor, poor straight white rich guys.

Menino, in a letter on City of Boston letterhead addressed to Dan Cathy, said that he was angry they were looking for a location in Boston, there was no place for Chik-Fil-A on Boston's "Freedom Trail," that it would be an insult for them to be across from City Hall, and that Chik-Fil-A should back out of plans to locate there. No, it's not going as far as specifically saying he will block them from locating there, but I can see how many thought it was over the line for the mayor and comes uncomfortably close to such a suggestion on his part.

Also the Christian Coalition and similar groups have issued boycotts literally hundreds of times - remember the Southern Baptist Convention and Catholic League separately choosing to boycott Disney, for various things (including protected speech in the form of art/movies, and the gall to grant gays rights)?

Where was "Free Speech Day" there?

:) Here you go!

I think it was pretty dumb (par for the course for Menino), but the statement seemed very particularly crafted to dodge any specific threats of agency action - I'll be first in line to drive the ACLU to file against him should [the City of Boston] actually take any action. I can't imagine that will happen though, there's zero way to justify that.

//edited for clarity

I personally do not consider gay people a minority in the same context as Blacks and Hispanics. But, I'm sure you will come through with some social-ethnic-cultural diatribe, so I'm going to sit back and let you do your thing. ;)


I would not patronize an open and known KKK sympathizer. Trust me, I live in an area of Texas that is full of them.

But, that is not to say if the KKK want to march down the street and say whatever they want, I'll step back and let them say it.

Suffice it to say, if the CEO came out in support of gay marriage then I'm sure there would be those who would applaud him for what he is saying, and no one would care about the true definition of free speech. But because he said he does not support gay marriage, then people are having issues over the actual definition of free speech.

It's just so interesting to me that such a large and vocal group of people are so interested in protecting the COO of Chick-fil-A against a perceived violation of his civil rights, while he's actively trying to oppose those of others.

But it's totally cool. Liberals are bigots, yo. More buzzwords. And some shit.

Freedom for some, tiny American flags for others.


What.

A Facebook post today, from someone who did go to Chick-Fil-A.

A day to celebrate free speech and tolerance--not quashing any and everyone whose opinions don't align with yours. Tolerance doesn't include calling names, disparaging or otherwise negating the importance of being able express an opinion even if it is different than yours or not the most popular at the moment. The intolerance of some supposedly open-minded people on fb is mind-boggling.

Irony anybody?

I don't think it will happen either; they surely know there's no way to justify it. But I can see how many (including the ACLU) thought it was uncomfortably close to the line.

And just in case I haven't been clear about it, the statements from mayors like Menino are the only conceivable ways that freedom of speech comes close to being at issue here. The idea that boycotts or criticisms somehow violate freedom of speech is ludicrous. (But not as ludicrous as Huckabee's "hate speech" allegation.)

Look at you.

It is not the same context. Anyone who has ever read my posts would know that I do not place all power dynamics within the same context. Yet and still, homosexuals are still a power minority group because heterosexuals are a power majority.

DUH. Was my simplistic response too much for your brain?


Right so stop pretending that you only care if they get physical. Your action would be in the form of boycott or protest--if you deemed necessary.

I don't either. Blacks and Hispanics are allowed to get married in every state. Unless they are also gay.

Agreed - I think there's a "taste" element (or maybe even risk tolerance), and there's definitely a range of reasonable reactions to it (all of which think it's varying degrees of bad/silly).

White homosexual men and white lesbians have always been able to use white privilege which includes socioeconomic status, education, hiring, wages, and salary. In certain environments, one's sexual orientation and sexuality can be "hidden" whereas race, ethnicity, and gender are darn near impossible to hide.

Do you see how dumb it is to attempt to rank oppressions? Inequalities do not have to be the exact same in order for them to coexist and for all of them to be legitimate.

Yup.

I assume you are a White female. Being White and female in this country affords you a certain 'carte blanc' that I don't have, and will never have since I am a Black female. The strong and deeply rooted divisions in this country are divided along color lines, and a close second gender lines, not sexual orientation.

Just from a daily experience, if I go into a store, any store, I am watched and followed, and at the same time ignored when I do ask for assistance.

Dollar for dollar, Black females are almost the lowest paid on the job, and the most often passed over for promotions.

We tend to be the least respected too. For example, if a White girl is known to have many sexual partners, then she is seen as a 'free-spirit', open and caring. If a Black girl has the same lifestyle, then she is seen as a 'hoochie-mama', just out to have babies so she can get on Welfare.

So, for me, when it comes to being a minority, I see it along color lines, and not sexual orientation. Because, even if you are White and gay in this country, there are avenues and opportunities open to you just for being White that I don't have because I'm Black. Or, what Andre Turner said in that other thread.

This is lunacy and Oppression Olympics. Sorry friend, only one set of Olympics I'm interested in being party to.

No, a white girl who sleeps around is called a slut.. She's just out to have babies to get on 'Teen Mom.'

On the other hand, ANY guy that sleeps around is called a hero.

:rolleyes:

Sure, but it still does not change the dynamics I mentioned. ;)

Look at you again.

What you typed does not matter for the current discussion.

But see, the dynamics you mentioned are also irrelevant to the conversation. Unless the COO of Chick-fil-A is also against Black and Hispanic marriage.

Maybe for the thread, but not for you since you questioned it. I was responding to your 'What' that you directed at what I said.

What I typed was directed at agzg since she questioned it. No, it does not matter for the current discussion.

Sigmadiva is just being random. I typed "power minorities" and sigmadiva felt the need to do a social-ethnic-cultural diatribe (ironic, I know). She must have thought that "power minorities" only references racial and ethnic minorities.