Monday, August 6, 2012

Chick-Fil-A and the Hypocrisy of Parenthood


First, I would like to apologize for not posting a blog last week. A perfect storm of computer problems (a virus killed our netbook hard drive grrr... :( ) along with me and my kids being out of town made it impossible. I will try not to make it a regular thing. Now onto the blog!

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I guess parenthood makes us idiots because as a parent, there is no way not to be a hypocrite. It just goes with the territory. Fathers tell their kids not to smoke as they light up. Tell your kids to eat their vegetables but you cannot stand raw tomatoes (I am guilty of that one, but I do love them in salsa). You want your kids to grow up healthy but you are tired, it has been a long day, and right there is Chick-Fil-A. It is an easy fix cause the kids like the food, they do have great customer service and a very nice kids play area. The food is not so healthy, but there are healthier options that I do see other kids eat, but I am not going to be a hypocrite here and will say that they would rather have the fries.

I have been avoiding Chick-Fil-A recently. Their CEO said they were “guilty as charged” about their stance on marriage saying it is only between a man and a woman. They feel that same-sex marriage that those who "have the audacity to define what marriage is about" were "inviting God's judgment on our nation."

I believe that if two (and only two) adult (18+) people love each other and want to commit their lives to each other then they should be able to get married. It is about equal rights. Now if a company wants to give a portion of their profits to whatever organization, as long as it is legal, that is also their right.

I did not take my kids to Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday August 1st (Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day) and we did not go on Friday August 3rd (Same-Sex Kiss Day) either. First, I do not try to go to crowded situations with my children. They would get incredibly cranky waiting in a two hour line for some chicken. Also, since I do not agree with their stance on marriage, why would I subject myself to that kind of situation? Second, we did not go on Friday not because I was worried about my kids seeing two people of the same gender kiss. They would just see two people kissing. I was worried there would be someone who would not agree with those actions and may do a violent act. I would not want my kids anywhere near that. Luckily, nothing like that happened on Friday, but you never know.

There are many biblical definitions of marriage. There are biblical definitions and rules about a lot of things. I think the best example is the ten commandments. Since the ten commandments only talks about marriage in not coveting thy neighbors wife (a true threat to marriage) I would like to discuss number 6: Thou shalt not kill. We seem to do a lot of killing now a days. The world is a violent place, and even the government sanctions killing from prisoners on death row to wars. If we call ourselves a Christian nation, and Christ commanded us to follow the ten commandments, is our government right to kill?

So, we don't take “thou shalt not kill” very seriously, for whatever reason. We could say we are preventing killing by killing but that is a legal argument that I do not think God would buy. There were also rules in the bible about slavery.

Should we make slavery legal again since it is sanctioned in the bible? If you do not think slavery still happens in this world or even in the United States, you are incredibly naive. I am sure Walmart would love it if we brought slavery back. The workforce, not so much.

Is God's judgment being invited on our world by slavery and killing more than by “wrong love?” I would say yes. Many of the anti-homosexual passages in the bible (especially in the new testament) were discouraging pedophilia and you would have to be a sicko not to agree with that. But when it is two adults, to me, love is love.

There are many that say we need to boycott this restaurant while others who agree with their views are buycotting them (buying their food, especially on August 1st). I am doing neither.  Our Rep. Raul Grijalva said to boycott Arizona about SB1070, but that only really hurts the small business owner here, many who are Hispanic. Large businesses will just lay people off. The CEO's will not get hurt.

One thing that has really bothered me about this whole thing is some people's reaction to bigotry or hatred with just more hatred. A CFO in Tucson recently got fired because he posted a rant he taped while getting a complimentary cup of water from a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru. He was a bully and stupidly posted this on youtube. Then he gets fired. Way to go, you showed them! Not really. Why meet hate with hate? It just makes things worse. I bet Adam Smith will attest to that now because he has since apologized for his rant. If you don't agree with them just don't go their establishment.

Any which way I will be a hypocrite, I don't agree with their stance on marriage, but we will still probably go to Chick-Fil-A sometime. I will try to go on days where they give us a free kids meal if we buy an adult meal. That will cut into their profits and show 'em! Yeah, not so much. Since the kids are going back to school, we would naturally not be eating there not as much but I am not going to say never. No matter what you do as a parent, you will probably be a hypocrite. I would rather have my kids occasionally happy then have to try to explain to them why we cannot go. They will understand, but probably not for ten years. Hopefully by then, they will not understand what the big deal was about the definition of marriage.

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