The Online Reflector

Freedom of speech is what separates the United States from most other nations. Not enough people exercise their freedom of speech to their advantage. Chick-Fil-A president and Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy exercises his freedom of speech, but while I applaud his courage to stand up for what he believes in, doing so has come with a price.
The problem is that the moral stance Cathy took goes against the Christian values upon which his company was founded. Basic Christian values say that one should love one’s neighbor as one’s self and that only God can judge another human being. This problem goes beyond gay rights or the millions of dollars that Cathy and his predecessors have donated to organizations such as Exodus International and other “anti-gay” organizations. The root of the problem is that Cathy is singling out a group of people.
This exclusion goes against the morals for which Chick-Fil-A is supposed to stand. If Cathy had spoken out about and shown that he had made donations to extreme pro-life organizations or antiwar groups, the reaction would have been the same. He is attacking a group of people instead of doing the Christian thing and letting his God judge the group that he has deemed sinners. By labeling this group as “bad” or needing to be “fixed,” he is sending the message that Christians are meant to use extreme measures to fix what they see as broken in society.
Religious or not, it should be everyone’s goal to help others and educate them so that they can make good choices. But donating to infamous hate groups does not send the right message. Instead of deeming this group of people as needing rehabilitation, they need to find a way to bring the changes they wish to see in a constructive way.  Even though the concept of “praying away” a perfectly normal part of a person’s being is ridiculous, it’s more Christian-like than calling them sinners.
By calling out one group of people, Cathy has put the judgment in his hands, instead of into a higher power’s hands.
Not only is Cathy going against his company’s publicized values, but he is putting an unfortunate face on his company. Chick-Fil-A will now be seen as the anti-gay fast-food restaurant. Many people are scared to be seen with cups sporting the logo or visiting the drive-thru. This controversy will hurt Chick-Fil-A in the long run. The fact is that Chick-Fil-A has good food, but now getting this food will bring instant judgment from others.
The same can be said for when Oreos published the ad for gay pride. Now there is a face on that company. And even though it is one with which I agree, I understand the danger of such a move can bring to a company.
This public image also has been blown out of proportion. A tweet from late night talk show host Conan O’Brien stated, “This Chick-Fil-A scandal has got me worried. I want to go to Arby’s, but I don’t know where they stand on the unrest in Syria.” This sums up the extremes of the situation, but hints at the effect on customer patronage.
For weeks on end, the Chick-Fil-A controversy spread with pictures and rants on the subject on various social media outlets.
The Customer Appreciation Day brought the biggest outpouring of support for the company. It is unfair to say that all of those people were there to show support for the anti-gay remarks, but to see that many supposed God-loving people in one place was unsettling.
One of the many Facebook photo commentaries that stuck out pictured a line of cars outside of a Chick-Fil-A with a caption that read, “You’d never see that many Christians lined up to help at a food bank or homeless shelter. And that’s something Jesus actually said to do.” This caption showed the ridiculous hypocritical nature of the people that supported Cathy’s donations and statements.
Dan Cathy is brave for voicing his opinion, but in the end the company will suffer greatly. The issue goes beyond gay rights or the question of which company hates which group. Instead it shows how public values and morals reflect upon the legitimacy of one’s company. The world is evolving, and this type of hatred directed at a specific group of people cannot be tolerated anymore.
If Chick-Fil-A wants to have a future in the economy or the free world, it has to stick to the basic Christian values. Dan Cathy and any others that come after him should use their money to support productive groups that actually give back to society, instead of issues that judge harshly and make them look like hypocrites.