A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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"Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position (on traditional marriage)."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 operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.
"We intend to stay the course," he said. "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." -- The preceding was the response of Mr. Dan Cathy president and chief operating officer of Chick-Fil-A a company 1,608 restaurants that had sales of more than $4 billion dollars last year. The response was to a question concerning Chick-fil-A's support of the traditional family. We urge you to read the entire article at:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38271
Back in June, on the Ken Coleman radio show, Mr Cathy said this: "“As it relates to society in general, I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.” SOURCE: http://www.ajc.com/business/what-dan-cathy-said-1484986.html
Mr. Cathy's remarks were quickly followed by this: "This week, mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco warned Chick-Fil-A and its CEO Dan Cathy, who’s been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, not to pursue new franchises in their cities. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he shares his fellow mayors’ concerns and would consider trying to block the chain as well.
“Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away,” tweeted San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee on July 26, “& I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.” SOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/with-chick-fil-a-fight-progressive-mayors-get-their-ground-zero-mosque-moment/2012/07/31/gJQAEqTiLX_blog.html
One mayor, typically full of himself, is reported to have said this: “Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago's values” Considering that the city --over which this "bloviator" presides -- IS Chicago, I have to ask if he isn't over-stating the blatantly OBVIOUS?
Even the fact that Chick-Fil-A is not open on Sundays seems to also aggravate the guilt-ridden mayors. "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" seems utterly lost on them and, frankly, nearly all of America, which CLAIMS it is a Christian nation.
Come on, dear reader. Let's be honest! Twenty-first century America resembles more a cesspool than a Christian nation.
Chick-Fil-A opened it's first store in 1946. I remember 1946. My uncle bought a brand new '46 Ford that year. He didn't buy it on a Sunday. Why? Because there was hardly a store or restaurant, of any kind, open on Sundays. In America, Christians decided Sunday would be the Sabbath. If you wanted it, or needed it, you purchased it on Saturday -- or you waited until the stores opened for business on Monday. If it was a medical emergency, you called the pharmacist, or doctor, and met them at the store or office, usually through the back door, got what you needed, and you went home.
Today, Sunday in America is like any other day.
Living in America today, for anyone attempting to live by the tenants of Christianity, is akin to slogging through an overflowing septic tank. It is barely possible -- and then -- only with the assistance of a benevolent God.
America's values system is so muddled there are no longer any clear markers of right and wrong. There are no absolutes, anymore, for Americans, as a whole. Only the few who cling to their religion seem well-rooted and actually seem to know what they are doing and where they are headed.
We have done to the Ten Commandments what so many want to do with the US Constitution by proclaiming that it is a living, breathing, document. Do you really think they would hesitate gutting the constitution if they have not a single iota of respect for the law of man's Creator? REALLY?
If America has a single religion to which the majority of its citizens subscribe, it would have to be our popular or "pop" culture -- and it is rotten to the core.
The filth pouring from our movie houses, our TV's, the Internet, even the games we play, are equal to, or exceed, the horror of anything ever seen in the Roman Colosseum.
There is a never-ending sewer of hedonism emptying into our homes 24-7. The endless flow of profane exhibitions of blood and gore have desensitized Americans and blunted our ability to feel guilt at our own inhumanity to our fellow man. We have become a nation of psychopaths devoid of conscience and lacking feeling or empathy for our neighbors. There is no cure for the psychopath.
Today, packs of wild animals, purportedly human, wander the streets of our once great cities smashing, killing, terrorizing, and reveling in the blood spilled as a result of their animalistic behavior. (Truth be told, animals rarely kill for sport.)
Our nation is hurtling toward self immolation -- and we cannot decipher the cause? Surely, you jest!
Unbelievable!
Seems to me, the mayor was correct in his assessment of his city's values compared to the values of Mr. Cathy. Sadly, the same applies to America as a country. We have long since forsaken the values of the Judeo-Christian faith and gleefully embraced the dark values of self destruction. We ate, drank, and made merry -- and lost our national soul.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mayor, you were absolutely correct. The values of your city, indeed, the values of the country, no longer bear any resemblance to those of Mr. Cathy. And America is worse for it, sir.
We haven't even enough national conscience left to feel shame or remorse for our putrefaction. We're numbed by our own overexposure to pleasure, instant gratification, and the total avoidance of anything that might rein in our pathological pursuit of self satisfaction.
There is no longer room in the equation representing our lives for anything as precious and enduring as the values Mr. Cathy holds dear, the very same values that built this country and made her great. The rot of moral relativism has eaten away the framework of our republic and left her an empty shell of her former self.
Each of us is a co-conspirator in the betrayal of America's founders and forefathers. We have, little by little, transformed their dream into a nightmare. We extracted our core values much like extracting a fuse from a fuse box -- and we wonder why America went dark. Now, as the poet so aptly described it -- we curse the darkness.
Often a lier, caught in his lie, will lash out at the person or persons revealing his falsehood. The same holds true for those who live a lie.
Mr. Cathy's recent remarks shone a beam of light into America's deepest and darkest problem. Had we the good sense to apply that light as a solution to our national distress we would be better for it. Alas, that did not happen.
Not only have we cursed the darkness, we also cursed the light.
J. D. Longstreet
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