However, I want to clarify that Mr. Cathy does not SIMPLY have an opinion. What he does goes far beyond a mere opinion.
Here is an example of a conversation concerning opinions:
Dan Cathy: I like Diet Coke.
Me: I like Diet Pepsi.
Dan Cathy: Really? That always tastes to me like a flat Pepsi.
Me: I occasionally get a decent Diet Coke, but most of the time it has a funky after taste.
Dan Cathy: Well, all the more Diet Pepsi for you; I won't touch the stuff.
Me: Works for me.... cheers!
Dan Cathy: Cheers! (Glasses clink, and we each happily drink our respective drinks)
But here is how it really goes down.
Me: I like Diet Pepsi.
Dan Cathy: HOW DARE YOU SHAKE YOUR FIST MOCKING COKE! I WILL USE MY WEALTH TO LOBBY THE LEGISLATURE. WE WILL WIPE THAT ARROGANT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE AND MAKE SURE YOU NEVER DRINK A DIET PEPSI AGAIN!
Me: ...........??? ......??? ..... What the $#%^??
See the difference?
Add to that, I keep getting people who insist that my choosing to go to another store to get my Diet Pepsi is a violation of Dan Cathy's rights.
First they tell me I have the right to not go to his store.
Then they get mad when I don't.
It has been a fascinating week.
4 comments:
Confession time. I try not to participate sometimes because it feels like I'm feeding the flames but I just can't help myself. I'm in full support of the continued conversation no matter how tired people are getting over Chik-Fil-A-gate. The more people talk about it the more they have to think about what they're saying. It's sooooooo much easier to be ignorant of injustice let alone come up with an argument that doesn't make you sound like a total a-hole. People are discovering that saying "The Bible's Agin It, God's Agin It, I'm Agin It, Too!" isn't cutting it anymore. They need proof/evidence that gay marriage will bring the Mayan apocalypse.
I admit I am guilty as charged for feeding the occasional troll, it's a guilty pleasure I'll attempt to restrain myself from here on out. Pinky swear!
~Sam M.
I am all for continuing to argue this and talk about it. I think it is important to challenge folk's thinking. Not because it will change theirs, in my experience, most of these folks are stuck in a loop of really flimsy logic. The folks who are changing though are those on the side... the ones not saying anything. Year after year, the fundie numbers drop. The folks on the side are changing.
Dead right.
Someone on the conservative side of the church recently observed to me that the people who were queueing at Chik-Fil-A were doing so not because they wanted to criminalise homosexuality, like Cathy and FRC, but because they thought the nasty liberals were trying to deny him free speech. He thought this showed his own side in a good light.
Leaving aside the stupidity of this belief (the right of free speech doesn't include the right to stop people disagreeing), I find this strangely encouraging. They know it's offensive and vile, but they're programmed to support one side over the other for tribal reasons. Sooner or later, things are going to change.
Well, a guy can hope.
This whole affair (plus, I admit attending Pflag meetings) has brought me to the point of no longer standing on the sideline stating, only if asked, where I stand on this civil rights issue. Most of my friends on FB are still of the evangelical conservative bent. I simply can no longer do it the old way.
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