Chik fil-a...freedom of speech or intolerance?

Co-sign. :smt023

 

Atheist vs Christians/ religious people,, a battle fought for ages. Could someone list who is what on this forum. I just want to know.

 

Dan Cathy isn't, thus this thread.

No one said all Christians are intolerant bigots who seek to impose their values on the culture at large, however MANY try to do so.

I consider myself to be one,(lapsed at times!lol), and I know personally that many Christians are some of the most hateful-with-a-smile people around but they cover it by saying they are following the teachings in Scripture.

For instance if someone said that my church had an obligation to marry same sex couples, I'd be the first to stand up and say NO WAY, you can't demand that.

But on the other hand, I would never try to deny another adult his/her civil right to get married.

 

I'm a Christian and I think gay people should be allowed to get married.

I am embarrassed at my sheep-minded parents that go along with everything on the Southern Baptist Convention agenda and/or Fox News. It's disgusting. They are caricatures. I can barely go anywhere with them.

 

I don't think that's a fair statement. You don't know the man. Because he upholds what the Bible (which is the word of God) defines as marriage makes him unloving, unforgiving, etc.? I guess God is too then......right?

 

The bible is the word of God? Dont remember Christ saying that. Can you direct me to the scripture?

 

Christ didn't say it. Timothy did. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II%20Timothy%203:16&version=NIV

However, Christ is described as the word incarnate: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:1-14&version=NIV

 

Shameful :smt009

 

When someone puts their religious beliefs ahead of someone else's civil rights, IMO that's a hateful position to defend.

Clearly the man is intolerant since his personal opinion on same sex marriage had no direct correlation to how he runs his business.

What did Christ say about homosexuals??? Why is there no instance in the New Testament where Jesus explicitly condemns homosexuality?? Is it possible that it wasn't high on his list of priorities to insure the salvation of man's collective soul?? Or that being gay didn't according to Christ inhibit one's ability to love the Lord with all his or her heart???

No as usual, Christians like Dan Cathy are cherry picking the Bible to defend their own personal bigotry.

A non thinking, analytical Christian is a bad Christian IMO.

Gays aren't the spawn of the devil. They weren't put on this earth to test the fidelity of true Christians to His word.

If we are ALL children of God and made in his image, those of us who were born gay are also his 'miracle'.

This is the thing about sex, faith, and the Bible. Anything in your life that separates you from your own spirit and your relationship with God IMO is a sin.

Sex acts between consenting adults don't damage the soul. But sexual relations that destroy your self esteem and prevent you from recognizing your true worth as a spiritual being is self destructive to the soul, and a sin against God.


I just refuse to believe being born gay is a greater sin than being born heterosexual. Righteousness IMO can be distilled down to a sex act or who a person chooses to love.

 

The short answer is that Jesus affirmed the traditional role of marriage as being one man., one woman, one flesh.

 

Brilliant, andreboba. Rep added.

Ches, really. You have your right to your opinion but his makes a LOT more sense. Jesus was about love and salvation, NOT micromanaging everyone's sex lives.

 

He was also about holiness. I didn't write the Bible, I just defend it. And how was what I wrote my opinion? Read Matthew 19.

 

Precisely. Plus, there's this little thing called science, which has proven that homosexuality is as natural as breathing. And the religiously inclined are far too wrapped around the mindset of primitive thinking.

Basically, if you want to be blunt, YES...human beings tend to know better on how to define marriage. Being the sapient and rational species that we are, we're very much inclined to figure out the answers, not from a 2000 year old book of contradictions and lies, but from gaining a greater insight through the process of critical thinking and reasoning.

The sad thing is...the ignorant yolks are hellbent on pressing old world ideas and play it off as though...it's irrelevant.

 

Problem, Jesus Christ was talking about DIVORCE in Mark 10 when he made this statement and was arguing that ANY man or woman who divorces their spouse and marries another commits ADULTERY, a violation of the Ten Commandments and a sin.
He wasn't giving a treatise on the definition of marriage.

"What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

So did Christ believe that a woman whose husband beats her should not be allowed to divorce?? Or a man whose wife squanders half their entire life savings to buy shoes shouldn't be allowed to divorce her??

You simply cannot read the Bible without context and a modern interpretation to real life circumstances.

Hiding behind Biblical verses that are taken out of context is disingenuous.

This isn't a faith issue anyway for me.
Believe what you want, but don't try to make the state conform to your faith because you feel Biblically entitled to violate other citizen's civil rights.


IMO Jesus purposefully did not discuss homosexuality, which is profound in hindsight.

 

where? Just because the bible depicts him marrying a couple?

 

Neither passage condemns homosexuality or promotes heterosexual relationships. Like I said if we are to be Christians then shouldn't our focus be to live as Christ did? He didn't support some while looking down his nose at others. He lived amongst the prostitutes and the thieves. That's the example we should follow.

 

The point really went right over your head. Please don't talk to me about understanding the Bible in context. That's been my battle cry throughout this forum.

Btw, if I, as a Christian who holds similar views to Dan Cathy, am intolerant because I support biblical values, what are you (and others) when you open-minded liberals bash my beliefs, hmmmm? Pot, meet kettle.

 

MS, you've made your thoughts perfectly clear again and again and again, in this thread alone, on the fact that you don't believe in the Bible. That's fine. Please refrain from continuing to say these types of things. There is no need.

Thank you.

 

This.

And again, I always want to ask these people.... if you showed up in a hospital and a doctor said they only used a medical reference papyrus from Ancient Egypt, wouldn't you think that was RIDICULOUS and INSANE? So, WHY, I ask you, are people still holding onto this ridiculous, inane fucking storybook?!

You want to believe in a higher being, fine. Go ahead. You want to believe that if you eat meat on Fridays during Lent, your soul will burn a in torrent of holy hellfire, rock out those crab legs.

However, you do not, under any circumstances, get to tell my friends or family they can't get married based on some bullshit hypothesis from a few stories written thousands of years ago. I know the concept of evolution has been argued about for forever, but this is simply getting ridiculous.

Also, several other businesses that I will never patronize again...(courtesy of one of my FB friends)

A-1 Self Storage Company: Terry Caster is the owner. It is a family (third generation) run company. They have over 40 locations in California. The Californians Against Hate blog reports: “Mr. Caster and his family have contributed $693,000 to the Protect Marriage campaign. That makes the Casters the 2nd largest individual donors to Yes on Prop 8.” [GuyDads]

AutoZone Inc: Does not offer domestic partner benefits to their employees. The company can discriminate against and exclude same-sex couples in ways they can't do to opposite-sex (married) couples. A Fortune 500 company. [HRC buyers guide]

CBRL Group Inc. (Cracker Barrel restaurants) Operates 579 full-service Cracker Barrel restaurants and gift shops in 41 states. The business has a long history of discriminating against gays and blacks, both as employees and dinners. It had an HR policy from 1991 until 2002 that said "It is inconsistent with our concept and values, and is perceived to be inconsistent with those of our customer base, to continue to employ individuals in our operating units whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values.” Seventeen workers were fired because they admitted or were assumed to be gay after the first few months that the policy was created. [Wikipedia] A spokesperson in 2008 said Cracker Barrel “welcomes all guests, and our equal opportunity employment statement clearly states that we will not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation." However, it does not offer diversity training, domestic partner benefits or any support for their GLBT employees. It has a Corporate Equality Index score of 15/100. [HRC]

Chick-Fil-A: (fast-food restaurant chain) Provided monetary (almost $2M) and in-kind donations directly and through it’s charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, to virtually all of the major organizations fighting against marriage equality and GLBT rights. These groups include the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund, a group devoted to opposing same-sex marriage, Focus On The Family, The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Family Research Council, and Exodus International. [Change.org]

Cinemark: Alan Stock, Cinemark’s CEO, gave $9,999 to the "Yes on 8" (Protectmarriage.com) campaign. Cinemark has 2700 movie screens in North and South America. In northern California they mainly operate under Century, CinéArts and Cinedome name. [GuyDads]

Domino’s Pizza: While Domino’s does not directly contribute to anti-gay activity, founder Tom Monaghan has contributed heavily to initiatives and organizations that oppose the rights of GLBTs. He is a co-founder of the Thomas More Law Center, which is advocating in court to restrict access to domestic partner benefits, and in 2001 financed a ballot proposal in Ypsilanti, MI to remove sexual orientation from that city’s non-discrimination ordinance. David Brandon, the current board chair, also opposes gay marriage. The current CEO, Patrick Doyle, donates to conservative and Republican causes which are known for their anti-gay stances. [RedeyeChicago]

ExxonMobil: Eliminated domestic-partner benefits for same-sex partners when the two companies merged in 1999. It is the largest Fortune 500 company that does not offer domestic-partner benefits. It also refuses to ban discrimination based on orientation and gender identity. [HRC buyers guide]

Gold’s Gym is another company that betrays LGBT people. It has a huge gay membership and markets itself as gay-friendly. But the billionaire CEO that owns Gold’s Gym, Robert Rowling, is a major supporter of a new political organization, American Crossroads, run by Karl Rove. Rowling reportedly gave them $2 million through both his corporate and personal accounts. The organization funds anti-gay candidates around the country such as Sharon Angle who said homosexuality would lead to the destruction of the United States, and called gay people "sodomites" and "perverts." Another recipient was Rep. Roy Blunt in Missouri, who has voted against the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and is in favor of banning gay adoptions in Washington, D.C. [Change.org]

Golfland Entertainment Centers: The Kenneys, the family that owns and runs this business, were big donors to the “Yes on H8”. Together they contributed over $35,000 to take rights away from gays, lesbians and their families. They run a chain of family fun centers in California and Arizona. [GuyDads]

Insure.com (online insurance quote-comparison portal): The Company is a major sponsor of Bill O’Reilly’s radio talk show and Bill gives voice to their commercial. In addition to selling insurance, they provide information about the insurance industry. In an article on the business website entitled “Top five ways to kill yourself and get away with it”, They lists the number one way to kill yourself: “1. Being gay.”
[boxturtlebullentin.com]

Meijer Inc. (Retail supercenter) Owns 180 huge grocery and general merchandise stores in the Midwest. It is a family owned business. The only good thing to be said about Meijer is "they don't engage, that we know of, in any activity that would undermine the goals of equal rights for GLBT people," said Jay Smith Brown, a previous HRC director for communication strategies. It has a very low Corporate Equality Index score of 15/100. It does not offer diversity training, domestic partner benefits or any support for their GLBT employees. [HRC]

OutsidePride.com: Sounds like gay banner website but, in fact, is an on-line seed and lawn care retailer. Troy Hake, the president of Outside Pride, sent a homophobic manifesto to the participants of his company's email list, trying to rally them in a full-on campaign against "the whole CBS homosexual cartel". He says he is not a bigot but is tired of homosexuals rewriting history. [The Consumerist]

Request Foods: A frozen-food maker and supplier to Campbell’s Soup works hard to keep civil rights away from gays and lesbians in their community. In a political ad they ran to defeat a local nondiscrimination policy, they accuse gay people of being psychologically disordered, suggest that people can spontaneously change their sexual orientation, and argue that gays and lesbians don't deserve civil rights because homosexuality is destructive to society. Request Foods president Jack DeWitt has also contributed thousands to the hate group Family Research Council's political action committee. [Change.org]

Salvation Army: This “non-profit” religious organization is anti-gay and actively lobbies against pro-gay legislation in the US and abroad. The money you put in that red kettle is going to anti-gay evangelical Christian lobbyists. They believe that since they're a "church" they have the right to not hire gay people because they are sinners. Salvation Army reserves the right to discriminate in hiring, promoting, and firing gay people, and in the benefits they provide their employees. And they come right out and admit that "practicing homosexuals" are not welcome in the "church." [americablog.com]

Urban Outfitters: Richard Hayne, the Chairman of the hipsterish Urban Outfitters, is a notably right-wing Republican who generously supports GOP candidates and causes that vote for legislation against gay marriage. His company also operates stores under Free People and Anthropologie name.
NOTE: Glen Senk, the CEO of the parent company, Urban Outfitters, Inc., is an openly gay man who has been in a committed relationship for over 30 years. However, Richard Hayne is still the founder and current chairman and does indeed have a record for supporting right-wing Republicans who are against abortion and gay rights. [NYMag]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: Does not offer domestic partner benefits except in locations required by law. Wal-Mart is the largest retail seller of books but refuses to carry any LGBT titles in their stores. [HRC buyers guide] However, they do sell an "ex-gay" children's book. [Edge] Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke and his wife signed petitions to ban adoption for same-sex couples in Arkansas. [KnowThyNeighbor.org]

 

The Koran and Torah have been around just as long as the Bible, yet no one on this thread is bringing up how outdated they are.