Christianity Proves Expendable for Chick–fil–A

“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

John 12:42–43

Rick McKee Atlanta Chronicle.png

Maybe the timid, cultural Christians in corporate Chick–fil–A know something regarding Mayor Pete’s presidential campaign that’s escaped the rest of us. This week the corporation jettisoned its last connection with any Christian charities that believe in the Bible lock, stock and marriage.

Both the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes have been weighed in the corporate balance and found wanting.

When asked about this obvious rejection of biblically sound charities, Chick–fil–A did what any secular corporation would do: It lied. A corporate SpokesPharisee told the Christian Post, “Beginning in 2020 the Chick-fil-A Foundation will introduce a more focused giving approach, donating to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of hunger, homelessness and education.”

Or as Matt Walsh put it, “[Chick–fil–A] will stop donating to charities that help with education, homelessness, and hunger, in order to focus more on education, homelessness, and hunger.”

This is the final act in a drama that began in 2012. CEO Dan Cathy told an obscure Baptist newspaper, “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,’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about.”

Grievance archeologists discovered the quote and faux marriage supporters ginned up a faux crisis. Cathy proved to be a conscientious objector in the resulting culture fight. He canceled his public appearances for the rest of the year.

Christians failed to take the hint.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee didn’t examine the chicken entrails either. He organized Chick-fil-A Appreciation day. Hundreds of thousands of Christians, overjoyed that a corporation finally agreed with them on a social issue, stood in line under a hot August sun to show their gratitude.

Pastor Rick Warren said the company set a sales record with seven hours left in the retail day.

While Christians were celebrating, the company was quietly “growing” in its interpretation of the Bible. It severed all connections with any Christian charities in 2012 except for the Salvation Army, FCA and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

Now it’s done with those three, too.

The Salvation Army deserves credit for not quietly slinking away. “We’re saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations — areas in which The Salvation Army, as the largest social services provider in the world, is already fully committed.”

How does insulting every Christian who stood in line during Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, in order to curry favor with Consonant Crusaders, pay off in the long run? Chick-fil-A has grown from a $4.6 billion corporation in The Year of Controversy, to a $10.5 billion corporation today.

In every one of those years sexual orientation totalitarians did their best to damage the corporation. And nothing worked.

Now that Chick-fil-A is the third–largest fast food company, it appears to be treating Christianity like Turkish Premier Erdogan’s Democracy Streetcar, “When you come to your stop, you get off.” How does Chick-fil-A intend to continue growth after showing its Christian base that they’re expendable in favor of an obsessed sexual minority whose activists hate everything associated with Christianity?

Chick-fil-A could start grilling Christians along with chicken and it still wouldn’t land the concession contract at a Buttigieg inauguration. The Gaystapo doesn’t just demand acceptance. It requires positive public affirmation and approval. Is Chick-fil-A ready to go that extra mile?

The Chick-fil-A surrender sends a crushing message to small business and run–of–the–congregation Christians. If a $10 billion corporation doesn’t have the willpower to defend biblical truth, there’s no hope for a mom–and–pop operation that runs afoul of the Tolerance Police.

Individuals had best be content to practice religion in the privacy of their own home, maybe in a closet. As long as it’s “safe religion” and the kids aren’t exposed, lest it be reported and social workers take the children for deprogramming.

COO Tim Tassopoulos tried to justify his craven pandering to BisNow, “…as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are.”

Which is evidently just another money–grubbing corporation that worships Mammon.

One surprising lesson from this abject surrender. Judas Iscariot was a better businessman than Chick-fil-A. He got his 30 pieces of silver up front, before he betrayed Christ.

Hobby Lobby’s Steve Green Could Profit from Kim Davis’ Example

 

Find the Christian building in this picture.

After today this column will be a Kim–Davis–free zone, but first lets look at one more facet of the controversy. Although I admire Davis’ courage, I disagree with her refusal as a government official to follow the law. Civil disobedience is confined to civilians. If Davis’ strong Christian faith prevented her from issuing homosexual marriage licenses then she should have made a very public announcement and resigned her post.

What’s admirable about Davis is her refusal to compromise her faith. This unknown, unassuming woman was thrust into the harsh glare of an unbelieving media and hostile culture and she didn’t back down.

In my book “A Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times: (Now With Added Humor!)” I devoted a chapter to conservative pacifists in the culture war. These are people who could be strong examples for everyday believers, like Kim Davis, but when weighed in the balance of negative publicity, prove wanting.

First was Chick–fil–A President Dan Cathy. A mere two days after Christian Americans set a sales record for him, Cathy canceled all public appearances, because homosexual heresy detectors found an interview in the Baptist Press that didn’t toe the line on faux marriage.

Cathy was joined by Rev. Louie Giglio who was scheduled to give the benediction at the 2^nd Obama inauguration, until same–sex archeologists unearthed a sermon he gave 20 years ago supporting the Bible’s prohibition on homosexual conduct. Rather than reaffirm the Truth, Giglio retreated from the public eye. Kim Davis had six days in jail, while Giglio couldn’t endure a six–hour ceremony.

The newest name on the list is Hobby Lobby President Steve Green.

Green is the Evangelical force behind the Museum of the Bible located so close to the National Mall you could sail an offering plate and hit a lobbyist.

The museum’s original concept inspired confidence in believers and despair at the Washington Post: “The mission statement on its initial nonprofit filing documents was clear: to “bring to life the living word of God … to inspire confidence in the absolute authority” of the Bible’s words.” That caused critics to feverishly examine building plans to discover if there was a woodpile for burning heretics or plans to sell snakes in the gift shop.

Now the secular world is feeling much better: “Today, the message has undergone a drastic revision…the museum ‘will be dedicated to a scholarly approach to the history, narrative and impact of the Bible…. “We exist to invite all people to engage with the Bible[.] We invite Biblical exploration through museum exhibits and scholarly pursuits.’ Green says he now supports a museum approach that is nonsectarian and non-proselytizing.”

Meaning Green has “grown” as a museum founder. He even uses the term “evolution” to describe how his position shifted. “It’s more of a high-level discussion of, ‘Here’s this book, what is its history and impact, and what is its story?”

Big deal. You could ask the same questions in a museum built around the Koran or Moby Dick.

Instead of a museum that forthrightly proclaims the truth of the Bible, we’re going to have a slightly apologetic, don’t–offend–the–seculars institution. Paul addressed past and current concerns of the secular world in 1 Corinthians 1:22–23: “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks [Gentiles] search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.”

People with hardened hearts aren’t ever going to approve of a Bible museum that believes in the authority of the Bible.

Out of 79 million evangelicals in the US, Green couldn’t find one to curate the collection. Instead he hired David Trobisch, a man who doesn’t believe Luke wrote the book of Acts, formerly edited the secular humanist magazine Free Inquiry and is a member of a church that permits homosexual clergy.

Green has placed funding in a 501(c)(3) organization and Trobisch says, “Steve Green does not take any active role in the day-to-day business.” Great. Eventually the museum, like the Ford Foundation and the Reagan Library, will be run by lefty world citizens who are vaguely embarrassed about the origin of their paycheck but working to put the establishment on the “right side of history.”

Trobisch’s believes, “The idea that there’s one Bible and a canon that everyone agreed on is just wrong.” He invites museum visitors to choose an audio guide to the collection from one of “five religious belief systems,” which I assume means either Christian, Orthodox, Jewish, Moslem or Joel Osteen.

Green fought the Obama administration all the way to the Supreme Court over an Obamacare mandate to cover abortion for Hobby Lobby employees. Too bad he couldn’t take a cue from Kim Davis and fight the culture equally hard.

Duck Dynasty Doesn’t Duck & Cover

These redneck duck assassins may have the number one reality show on cable TV, but the Robertson family has proven to be completely ignorant of what elite cultural arbiters demand of backwoods celebrities when they violate trendy cultural taboos.

Instead of abjectly apologizing and disowning the Bible and his beliefs when criticized by the militant homosexual lobby, Phil Robertson is unapologetic, unbowed and unafraid, which is not following the approved script.

For example: When Chick–fil–A President Dan Cathy commented, “We are very much supportive of the family – the Biblical definition of the family unit…and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about,” a firestorm ensued as hysterical homosexuals cried “hate.”

Chick–fil–A customers then set a single–day sales record for the restaurant to show their support, but it made no impression on Cathy as he immediately went into bunker mode and canceled all remaining public appearances for the year. (Details here and here.)

A few months later the Rev. Louie Giglio was invited to give the benediction at Obama’s second inauguration. Obama supporters were suspicious since he was an evangelical Christian, heterosexual and male. Any one of which would be cause for concern, but all three set off alarm bells throughout the secular left.

Sure enough, lavender lobby researchers found a sermon from the mid–90’s where Giglio said, “We must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but many in the homosexual community…That movement is not a benevolent movement, it is a movement to seize by any means necessary the feeling and the mood of the day, to the point where the homosexual lifestyle becomes accepted as a norm in our society and is given full standing as any other lifestyle, as it relates to the family.”

Giglio’s statement was prophetic, orthodox and true. But truth does not grant immunity against attacks from the left. Courage — as Robertson proved — is a defense but evidently not one available to Giglio. Instead the reverend apologized and withdrew from the event saying, “Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years. Instead, my aim is meant to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.” Whatever that’s supposed to mean. (Complete details here.)

By not following the docile, slightly–ashamed–of–his–outdated–views template, Robertson has broken the mold. He is not apologizing for repeating what the Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament.

Before we delve any deeper, I would like to point out the blow–up should never have happened. One of my specialties is crisis prevention — an option A&E evidently doesn’t offer its stars.

Phil Robertson had no business giving an in–depth interview to GQ magazine and the A&E network representative who was present should have known better. The superficial metrosexuals that comprise GQ’s subscriber base couldn’t distinguish a duck call from a whoopee cushion.

The only hunting they do is in fashion stores. What’s more, reporters for GQ and its ilk define mainstream media arrogance and cultural elitism. They hold the people who love Duck Dynasty in utter contempt.

The only conceivable method of getting GQ readers to watch the show would be if the cast of Downton Abby joined for an episode or the Robertsons pledged to go vegan. So why give a potentially dangerous interview to a publication that will do little if anything to increase the show’s ratings?

It makes more sense to limit interviews to reporters who can prove they have a Walmart credit card.

I’m not on the PR roster for Duck Commander, but here is a free list of publications to avoid in the future: Maxim, Playboy, Details, Out, The Advocate, Pink Magazine, Harpers, Cosmo and the GLEE employee newsletter. Rule of thumb: If the magazine has ads for Glad Wrap you’re probably safe, but if the ads are for GLAAD say no.

Another problem with the interview is that Phil is evidently a graduate of the Rep. Todd Akin Academy of Anatomical Description. His language was crude and overly explicit and I doubt he would use the same terms discussing the issue at his family’s dinner table, so why regale a nationwide audience with the same language?

Once the rectum was out of the bag, A&E had to weigh in with its 2 cents. The obvious move would have been to express dismay with Phil’s language — an amorphous term that could mean either particular words or particular sentiments — and explain that Duck Dynasty is a ‘reality show’ and although what Phil said does not express the A&E corporate position, they will not censor his views.

That way the network pours KY on troubled waters, keeps the most popular reality show in history on the air and none of the A&E staff members have to remove those quaint blue and yellow equal signs from their Prius’ bumpers.

But A&E corporate misjudged the Robertson family. The meek may inherit the earth, but they don’t build dynasties. Not only did Phil not apologize, backtrack or ask to be grand marshal of the next ‘pride parade’ on the calendar, the rest of the family said no Phil, no film.

Which is a fine kettle of fish indeed, but so far the damage was confined to A&E. Then the great minds at Cracker Barrel corporate decided they wanted to alienate their customer base, too. The chain of hillbilly restaurants announced it was removing “selected products which we were concerned might offend some of our guests” from all company gift shops. In effect any item with Phil’s photo on it was seized.

This is the commercial equivalent of volunteering to be collateral damage in a drone strike.

But what prompted the pile on? Was the San Francisco Cracker Barrel the subject of repeated attacks by cupcake–hurling alternate lifestyle advocates? Or maybe the Times Square Cracker Barrel feared a sit–in by demonstrators chanting, “Nobody Wants to Ate Your Hate!”

But that can’t be it. Cracker Barrel doesn’t have a single location in California or in New York City. The vast majority of Cracker Barrels are located south of the Mason Dixon line, a section of the country where Duck Dynasty is most popular. So Cracker corporate decided to offend the majority of its customers to keep from offending the odd homosexual who might wander into a restaurant while on his way to Key West.

The next day Cracker corp. apologized for being caught offending while trying not to offend. Then over the weekend A&E crumbled and grabbed the nearest available fig leaf. It reinstated Phil Robertson after issuing a classic in corporate pander–speak that implied the family’s acknowledgement of the coarse language used meant they were in complete agreement with the spineless appeasers at the network.

The novel outcome of the controversy provided an interesting contrast. When presented with a choice between God and mammon, the Robertsons opted for God. A&E on the other hand chose mammon over GLAAD.

The best part is during a time when Christians celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace a family of orthodox believers took on a secular culture that celebrates sin and won, because the family was strong and united. Lets hope other high profile Christians take note.

Conservative Pacifists in the Culture War

What the Occupy DC movement failed to accomplish last November, Americans for Prosperity did quite nicely on their own last Friday. You may recall last winter when the AFP held its “Defending the American Dream” summit in downtown DC, those rollicking, goodtime Occupiers tried to storm the convention center so they could harass attendees and disrupt the conference.

That Occupy effort failed. Now that the freebies have run out, there were no Occupiers at this year’s conference. But that didn’t prevent AFP organizers from disrupting their own event.

The showcase for Friday’s session was the “Hands Off My Health Care” rally with featured speaker Cong. Paul Ryan. Shuttle buses were scheduled to take conference attendees to Capitol Hill.

I was part of a large group that waited outside the hotel for almost an hour. During that time tour buses, double–decker buses, jitneys, large vans and even Metro buses all rolled tantalizingly by, but no shuttle. Staffers informed us there was a problem— obviously — but not to worry, the rally was being delayed until we could arrive.

When shuttles finally materialized, we quickly boarded and slowly made our way to Union Station. Inside the parking garage we were told the bus would be returning to the hotel, because the rally was over.

So I have no insight on the current intensity of opposition to Obamacare, the size of the rally crowd or chances for repeal.

Fortunately the day was not a complete loss. During one panel guerrilla videographer James O’Keefe was asked what he thought was the greatest problem confronting conservatives. His answer was both pithy and pertinent: “Conservatives lack (a vulgar word for courage).”

Chick–fil–A President Dan Cathy proves O’Keefe’s point. A mere two days after conservative Americans made it a point to eat at his restaurants on appreciation day, Cathy canceled his scheduled speech in Prince William County. And he canceled every other public appearance scheduled for 2012.

That’s a fine how–do–you–do to all the customers who waited in line and helped set a one–day sales record so that Cathy and his company would know they are not alone in their struggle to uphold Biblical tradition in the face of a hostile culture.

Instead of publicly thanking them and continuing to conduct his business and professional life in a confident and visible manner, Cathy flees inside the bunker.

There are times in life, commerce and politics when you just have to buckle up and ride it out. And who would have thought that alleged squish Mitt Romney would provide a sterling example of just that.

Romney released two years worth of tax returns to braying Democrats and media (although I repeat myself) and said that was it.

Naturally, the failure to completely drop his drawers whipped the opposition into a frenzy. Democrat apparatchiks speculate on what’s Romney’s hiding. The media echoes the speculation. Sen. Harry Reid (D–Demented) escalates by claiming Romney hasn’t paid taxes for ten years.

Even the Weekly Standard and respected conservative columnists have surrendered and said it would be better if Romney released all his tax returns and ended the controversy.

But that would just be the beginning of the controversy and Romney knows it.

Frankly, Romney’s steely refusal to give in to the mob speaks well of his character and makes me a little more optimistic regarding his administration.

On the other hand Cathy’s ignominious retreat sends two harmful messages. The first is mom–and–pop conservatives are wasting their time when they try to resist the decline and decay of secular commercial culture. They will get little, if any positive reinforcement from the businesses they try to support and they will be either ignored or attacked by media and cultural elites.

The second message tells homosexual activists, other libertines and the left that they are winning the culture war. All that is necessary for final victory is to continue the pressure until the resistance of Middle America collapses once and for all.

Conservative leaders need to start leading. Conservatives in the House of Representatives should to stop ducking confrontation with an administration that ignores the law. Conservative business leaders are either going to have to start fighting back or acknowledge the fact they’ve made a career of exploiting the decline of American culture. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Tom Coburn (R–OK) and Rush can’t do it all.

Without leadership the majority of everyday American conservatives are going to leave the field to the leftists with disastrous consequences for the future. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1^st Corinthians 14:8 “…If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”

Chick–fil–A: Fast food, faster hate

Did you have a filet on chicken day?

My sympathy goes out to the president of the Chamber of Commerce where I live. Here Rob Clapper was simply trying to line up an interesting speaker and suddenly he’s in the midst of a controversy.

Who would have thought when he scheduled Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest as the November speaker that Forrest’s views on white supremacy would become the focal point of the event?

“We had begun to coordinate it long before his remarks, but his remarks are irrelevant because this chamber does not engage in or have a part in social issues, “ Clapper said.

“Regardless of what his personal beliefs are and what he’s stated about social issues, that doesn’t play a part in what he’s coming here to speak about. Many of our members…have expressed a strong desire to hear the business practices and strategies that the KKK deploys in building a nationwide organization with over one million members,” Clapper concluded.

Oh, wait — inviting a genuine bigot who promoted violence and intimidation would have been a genuine controversy. Instead what we have here is a faux controversy ginned up by the same fanatics supporting faux marriage.

When Clapper invited Chick–fil–A President Dan Cathy to speak to the chamber it should have been an interesting event with an excellent speaker. Instead Clapper is now fielding questions from hysterical grievance–mongers who make it a point to attack any public figure that does not support their unprecedented redefinition of marriage.

Well, you may say, that’s what Cathy gets for spewing his “hate” during a news conference at the National Press Club. Except that’s not what happened. Cathy was interviewed by the Baptist Press. So a Baptist news service was interviewing a prominent Baptist about his faith. Homosexual extremists had to conduct an extensive search to find something that would offend them.

What’s more, during the interview Cathy didn’t “attack homosexuals” and he didn’t “oppose homosexual marriage.” Here’s what he said after being asked if he and the company support the traditional family, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit…We intend to stay the course, 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.”

In an earlier interview with the Biblical Recorder, a weekly newspaper published by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Cathy said, “We are very much supportive of the family – the Biblical definition of the family unit…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,’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about.”

It’s not like Cathy was asked to cater a homosexual wedding, although I’m sure there will soon be an avalanche of carefully documented requests by wedding parties eager to exchange their free–range, living–will crab cake tapas for a wheelbarrow full of Chick–fil–A nuggets.

Cathy was simply making a positive statement regarding what he believed. It was hardly a declaration of war on homosexual “matrimony” and I doubt many would consider the Biblical Recorder a national platform rivaling the Washington Post.

Still, Cathy does not appear to have read the part of the Constitution stipulating the separation of God and mammon. In today’s Brave Liberal World you are grudgingly allowed to practice Christianity in the privacy of your own home, as long as everyone is a willing participant and you practice “safe religion.” Of course there is zero tolerance for Christians if they start proselytizing at rest stops and in public parks.

On the other hand, if Chick–fil–A wanted to sponsor a float in a homosexual “pride” parade — where participants often dress as sexual organs and the behavior by some participants is so vile you would cover the eyes of children — Cathy might land a profile in the New York Times.

Social conservatives are in a culture war with an opponent that will accept no compromise. By the time you read this “Chick–fil–A Appreciation Day” will be over. I hope millions of Americans supported a company that is not cowed by the liberal media and homosexual extremists.

Even more, I hope that at the next chamber board meeting they not only reaffirm their invitation to Dan Cathy, but they do it between bites of a Chick–fil–A deluxe spicy chicken sandwich.