Eric Zorn, who is pro-SSM, in the Chicago Tribune:
"...Don’t shop at stores or eat at restaurants where the owners proudly embrace or fund positions with which you disagree. Put your money where someone else’s mouth is. Picket on the sidewalk out front if you like. Just don’t ask The Man to do the dirty work of attempting to marginalize and silence your opponents.
The chastened Chick-fil-A issued a statement when this controversy broke saying “going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
That sounds wise. But to paraphrase the words of Voltaire that are literally carved in stone at Tribune Tower, I’d say this to this owners:
I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to sell chicken sandwiches in order to make money to help you say it."
6 Comments
I support same-sex marriage and also oppose the threats in both Boston and Chicago. If you do not support Chick-Fil-A, you can simply choose not to eat there (as I am choosing). If enough people choose not to eat there, it will go out of business. There is no reason to ban a restaurant simply for stating its views on an (admittedly) controversial issue.
I agree with Katie,
I am a SSM supporter, but i think the actions in Boston and Chicago (and possibly Philadelphia too) are a disgrace.
A government official should not be trying to disrupt the free market, especially not for controversial opinions of their CEO.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion. But, NO ONE has the right to force their opinion on ANYONE else! Chick Fil A merely stated their opinion and never ONCE tried to force it on anyone else. The only one's trying to do that are the LGTB crowd. They are a VERY small, VERY vocal minority (less than 10% of the population, altogether) so what gives them the idea that EVERYONE should boycott this fine organization? I say, if they don't like it, they should just go to KFC and STFU! IMHO. Just sayin...
I appreciate the sentiment of this post, but the cynical side of me believes that the reason the writer takes that position is because he knows that the people of Chicago want the Chick-Fil-A and would be resentful of the homosexual "marriage" movement if the restaurant is not opened.
Chick-Fil-A provides a good product, plus, it will provide jobs and fill in an empty storefront in these bad economic times. You want to stop a business from opening on the basis of a faux civil rights claim? Good luck with that decision come election day.
They are closed on Sunday so their employees can spend time with their familes. How evil.
Well Katie, That is not a good strategy for your side. If the gay population is only 3% plus your avid supporters you might get to 20%. Judging by the votes in each state for banning SSM, we are about 60%. So in the arena of the marketplace your companies are going to take a much bigger hit than ours are if we choose to boycott them. So you might have more trouble with companies that favor your side going out of business not ours.
I am boycotting Home Depot, Starbucks, Gen Mills, JC Penney, Amazon, Muppet toys, and a few more I can't think of right now. As some have pointed out, I can't do them all but I will do what I can and that works for me. Our boycotts are more powerful than yours because your puff polls and trumped up media do not reflect what's really going on.