Dissecting Intolerance

“We are much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family owned business, a family-led business. We are married to our first wives and we give thanks to God for that.” These words were printed in the Baptist Press on July 14th, reportedly said by Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy.

These are the most volatile, intolerant words probably ever spoken though there is not one word showing intolerance.

 Let’s take a look at a few more quotes that evolved since the BP report. Rosanne Barr had this to say, “Anyone who eats at S**t-fil-A deserves to get cancer.”

In a drive-thru video posted on YouTube, one anonymous man berated a Chick-fil-A employee by saying, “I don’t know how you work here. This is a horrible corporation with horrible values.” The cashier responded with a very intolerant, “It’s my pleasure to serve you.”

MSNBC correspondent Jonathan Capehart urged protesters to burglarize the food chain. Now, that’s tolerant and mature. The Daily Show’s John Stewart used words I can’t repeat in this column to show his tolerance toward the company. MSNBC’s reporter Thomas Roberts referred to gay rights supporters who eat at Chick-fil-A as “chicken-eating Judases”.  He was being tolerant of people who share his own views on gay rights. 

In a Torrance Chick-fil-A someone vandalized it posting a picture of a cow and a sign that said, “Tastes like hate.”

Vice President of Marketing, Steve Robinson issued a statement after all the brouhaha saying, Chick-fil-A appreciates all of its customers and “is glad to serve them at any time.” Yep, that sounds pretty hateful.

Then there were the complaints that Chick-fil-A uses a small portion of its profits to support Christian organizations. How intolerant can they be!? Using their own money to support causes they believe in.

Gay activist Luke Montgomery of Los Angeles, said that Jesus Christ never said anything about gay people, and Cathy should open the Bible before he opens his mouth.” He went on to say, “We have separation of church and state. It’s great if they want to have their religion, but it should not interfere with our civil rights.”  Huh? Chick-fil-A is neither a church nor a government entity, and Cathy never mentioned the name of Jesus Christ.

Just for the record, there are places where Jesus addresses the issue by directing us to the Law of Moses. And the Apostle Paul explains things quite clearly in Romans 1. 

But the point here is who has shown the most tolerance? One man shared how God has worked in his own personal life.  That’s all he did.  Never once did he show any distain for anyone else.  He was merely talking about how God had worked in his life. Because of that he has been labeled has a homophobe, among other things, by people who are threatened by his life style. These traditional-family haters remind me of something else I read in the Bible, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the writers group.