Love & Fried Chicken

(Originally published in the 8-8-12 edition of the Boone County Journal)

In defending his company’s stance against same-sex marriage, Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy recently stated his business is “based on biblical principles, asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have.” One of the partnerships Mr. Cathy’s company maintains is with an organization called the Family Research Council, an outfit classified as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Law Poverty Center. According to its own records, the FRC recently lobbied members of the United States Congress against supporting a resolution that denounced Uganda’s notorious “Kill the Gays” bill that calls for anyone convicted of committing a homosexual act to be put to death. Leviticus 20:13 does state, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

So, it would appear that Chick-Fil-A supports the biblical principle that homosexuals must be executed, right? No, you say? That’s not what Mr. Cathy said, you insist. Surely you do not mean to imply that Mr. Cathy or other devout Christians can pick and choose which verses of the bible to accept or reject. The Lord clearly said in Leviticus 20:22, “Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them.” So, if the bible calls for homosexuals and adulterers to be put to death, then it must be done. The scripture also calls for anyone who curses their mother or father to be put to death, too. (How would any of us survive our teenaged years if this law was followed to the letter?) Or what about in Deuteronomy 22:28-29 when God commands that when a virgin is raped, her attacker must pay her father a fine and then they must marry and never get divorced?

If we are to cite the bible as a reason to keep same-sex couples from being married, then we must follow every word of the scripture. If we reject even one passage because we feel it is antiquated or unjust, then the authority of the rest of the book is called into question. Not comfortable with making rape victims marry their attackers? Not convinced that cursing your father warrants being executed? Me neither. Plenty of bible passages mention examples of marriage that would be considered “non-traditional” in today’s world. King David had eight wives and ten concubines, for example. That doesn’t fit very well with many Christians’ biblical definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Since the bible can contradict itself, and because most of us in the modern age don’t accept all the severe punishments it calls for, we must therefore reject the bible as a basis for defining marriage.

How then, can we define marriage? I define it as a lawful union between two people who love one another and who have pledged the rest of their lives to each other. As an ordained minister, I have had the privilege of performing wedding ceremonies for several couples recently. Unfortunately, in Missouri and most states, same-sex marriage is illegal and I am not able to solemnize the marriages of my gay friends. I compare this injustice to pre-civil rights laws that prevented mixed-race marriages. I wonder if those who came out to support Chick-Fil-A last week would have done so if the company openly advocated against the rights of blacks to marry whites. I submit to you that being gay or straight is as much of a choice as being black or white. I have several gay and lesbian friends and I know for a fact that they did not choose to be homosexual. I have seen with my own eyes how dedicated these couples are to one another. It breaks my heart that in this relatively enlightened age, some people dedicate themselves to ensuring that my gay friends can never be married to the people they love.

A friend said I was being intolerant by boycotting a business for exercising their free speech rights. I am boycotting Chick-Fil-A for their financial support of organizations that advocate outlawing homosexuality and same-sex marriage. To me, their effort to marginalize a segment of the population is the definition of intolerance. For that reason, in the battle between love and fried chicken, I choose love.