The recent fuss over the Christian stance of Chick-Fil-A's CEO and the proposed boycott has me defending a "homophobe". The guy is within his rights, and even strikes me as a better Christian than many, but this requires some explaining. The stance of the Bible (you know, that book the Christians use as an instruction manual) is clear - homosexuality is a sin. Those of us who approach the Bible from a more intellectual standpoint can fill in the gaps of historical content and cultural bias, but the true Christian runs on faith, not on facts. It would be hypocritical of him to do other than run his business by his own standards. He catered an event that made a lot of money for his business - an event that also supports his beliefs. When asked about it, he gave an honest response. I do think he is in the wrong to support legislation that infringes on the rights of others, because of this little thing called Separation of Church and State, but I otherwise have his back.
The gay community is calling for a boycott of his business. I will not be participating in this, or any, boycott. Boycotts hurt more people than they help. Think of all the people employed by this company - how many of them are you willing to put out of work? How quickly will you judge them when they apply for Welfare? If I boycott every business run by, or employing, people whose private lives I disapprove of, I'd never go anywhere. The girl who rang me up sleeps around, the boy who bagged my groceries smokes, the manager of the store is a racist... it could go on forever. I'm sure someone working for the company that made my truck is a really bad person, but I still want my truck.
succinct. good job
ReplyDelete"I do think he is in the wrong to support legislation that infringes on the rights of others….."
ReplyDeleteThis is where it gets tricky for a Christian. Not only is the sinner (in this case the homosexual) out of relationship with God, but we are also out of relationship with God if we approve of their behavior. Mr Cathy may feel obligated to contribute to show his disapproval.
Of course I could be wrong he could have the wrong notion that we can legislate morality.
I am a Christian, but I believe most Christians are wrong headed about government and politics. Our country will not become more moral by forcing people to live a certain way. Also, we never see an example in the Bible of God's people getting involved in a political process (other than in Israel, which was a theocracy). For example Paul and Peter were both thrown in prison, yet they never formed a protest. Instead they modeled the love of Christ and had a loving attitude toward their captors and told them about the Gospel.
Today's Christians want government to force morality of the population. But, Christ said we must imitate Him and love others. This doesn't mean we accept sin, it means we love others in spite of the sin. That may not make sense. Let me just say that you would be more prone to be a Christian if I consistently forgave and loved others, and controlled my mouth, rather than just telling you how to behave.
Christianity grew from a few hundred people to a few million people in a short while. That growth did not come from political involvement, it came from Christians feeding the poor, providing clothing to those who needed it and giving care to the sick. I personally think that the biggest hinderance to Christianity today is Christians sticking their noses where Jesus never said they should. I don't know what Mr Cathy's motives were for contributing to those organizations, but I do not think those organizations represent Jesus as He wants to be represented. The money would serve Christ better if it was used to raise the living conditions of our poor elderly people or something. (I also do not think they are "hate groups" at the gays say they are.)
Pax