One of the more blatant displays of progressive thuggery is playing itself out in Boston and Chicago. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino threatened to keep fast food franchise Chick-fil-A from opening any restaurants in that city because he doesn’t want any business operating there “that discriminates against a population.” In Chicago, Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno announced that he will pursue the same course in his district for the same reason. “If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the 1st Ward,” Moreno told the Chicago Tribune. Such “tolerance” is based on an effort to deliberately mischaracterize as anti-homosexual what Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy said about traditional marriage. That mischaracterization has been aided and abetted by a media more than willing to amplify the distortion.
The true story — as opposed to what is currently being presented – involved an interview of Cathy by Biblical Recorder editor K. Allan Blume. Blume asked Cathy about his support for traditional marriage. “Guilty as charged,” Cathy answered. Further on in the interview, he explained what he meant. “We are very much supportive of the family–the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” he said. Blume also revealed that Cathy does not impose his beliefs on others. “We’re a business that serves the public, all people are welcomed into Chick-fil-A, and frankly we do not feel called to weigh in on a lot of social activism that’s taking place as it relates to the definition of the family, but we do definitely want to encourage strong families.”
“Homophobic” references regarding gay marriage? None. That “inconvenient” fact was corroborated by Blume. “He was not saying ‘guilty as charged anti-gay,’” noted Blume, who further revealed that Cathy “never even brought up that subject. Everything he stated was on the positive side…He never stated anything negative.” The Biblical Recorder published the interview on July 7th. It was re-posted on July 16th by the Baptist Press, and subsequently picked up by the Huffington Post, the Associated Press, USAToday, the Los Angeles Times, and other news agencies.
The level of willful distortion media and public figures have engaged in, portraying Cathy’s statement of a popular and religiously based position as a hateful rant, is chilling. Like the Huffington Post, which published the piece, “‘The Onion’ Introduces Chick-Fil-A’s ‘New Homophobic Sandwich,’” Chik-fil-A critics have vigorously made the case that Cathy’s support of traditional marriage is little more than homophobic hatemongering. They further assumed that if Cathy is homophobic, that prejudice must be reflected in his company’s policies regarding hiring and customer service. They did this despite Cathy’s assertion that his company “does not feel compelled to weigh in on a lot of social activism that’s taking place as it relates to the definition of the family[.]”
Hack politicians were more than comfortable to ride atop that wave of distortion. “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston,” said Menino, who delivered a warning to the franchise. “If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult–unless they open up their policies.” Menino added an Orwellian outburst to his diatribe as well. “We’re an open city. We’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.” Thus, the “forefront of inclusion” is off-limits to those who don’t align themselves with the reigning government’s position.
Chicago alderman Moreno echoed Menino’s faux self-righteousness, as well as his jackboot aspirations. In an op-ed piece presented to theTribune by one of his aides, Moreno referred to Cathy’s statements as “bigoted, homophobic comments.” Then came the hammer. “Because of this man’s ignorance, I will now be denying Chick-fil-A’s permit to open a restaurant in the 1st Ward.”