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February 4th, 2011
05:09 PM ET
Chick-fil-A controversy shines light on restaurant's Christian DNABy Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor The ongoing Chick-fil-A flap - which has gay rights groups blasting the restaurant chain for donating food to an anti-gay marriage group - may be a fleeting controversy for a privately held company that is more accustomed to fiercely loyal patrons and generally positive press coverage. But Lake Lambert, author of the book Spirituality Inc., says the flap may be a sign of more turbulence ahead for Chick-fil-A as it attempts to hold onto its conservative Christian business culture while expanding its chain beyond the Bible Belt. “If you have a faith-based corporate identity and you want to function in the national marketplace, you’re going to continue to encounter resistance to those values because not everybody is going to share them,” says Lambert. “The only other option is some sort of secular identity and that’s not where Chick-fil-A is going.” Lambert says Chick-fil-A is the most visible example of an American corporation trying to foster a specifically Christian identity. The company is privately held and family-run, making that task somewhat easier. Lambert says Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy signed what Cathy describes as a “covenant” with his children when they took over the company, to help preserve its Christian DNA. The current controversy erupted when some college campus and gay rights groups blasted the restaurant chain for donating free food to a Pennsylvania organization opposed to gay marriage. The Human Rights Campaign, a major gay rights group, launched a letter writing campaign to the company, while the Indiana University South Bend went so far as to temporarily suspend Chick-fil-A service in its campus dining facilities. The fallout provoked Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy to defend his company in a Facebook video and in a written statement. “In recent weeks, we have been accused of being anti-gay,” Cathy said in a written statement last Saturday. “We have no agenda against anyone.” “While my family and I believe in the Biblical definition of marriage,” the statement continued, “we love and respect anyone who disagrees.” The gestures have not mollified many of the chain’s critics, some of whom are airing their grievances on Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page. The Human Rights Campaign is calling on the restaurant to begin participating in the Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies’ treatment of gays. Christian culture pervades many aspects of Chick-fil-A’s operations, from its corporate purpose – which includes “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us” – to its policy of closing restaurants on Sundays to praying at restaurant openings. According to a recent case study of the restaurant chain by the Yale School of Management, employees are encouraged to attend prayer services. Chick-fil-A has over 1,500 locations and began moving beyond the Deep South in the last decade or so. Recently the company has expanded its number of restaurants in the Northeast, creating a more serious presence there. According to its website, there is only one Chick-fil-A store in New York State, at New York University in downtown Manhattan. Considering Chick-fil-A’s conservative Christian mission, perhaps the most striking feature of the recent controversy is how unusual it is for the company. As the chain continues to grow, they may find it more difficult to avoid the culture war. soundoff (3,197 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Jeremiah,
Check your facts before you speak. The Bible says the "love" of money is the root of all evil, not money itself. Big difference.
I personally think the only laws made by government should be those to insure the good order and functioning of society. Any issue having to do with morality or God's will should be regulated by religion. If religions enforced their own rules I would expect we would have either a more moral society – or more atheists 😉 I also think governments should recognize and regulate legal domestic partnerships – and leave ALL 'marriage' to religion. If they want the word – let them have it. Religions don't enforce their own rules anyway.
Sorry Bob, I'm trying to reply but my posts keep getting sent way up the discussion so that they are not at the bottom of the page, instead, they're way up where you have to look for them. Sorry too for the redundancy on some of the posts. I figured that if I tried again with a slighly different wording then it might appear in chronolgical order.
Who really cares? I go to Chick-Fil-A for FOOD. What the owners believe in and so on shouldn't matter. Oh, plus their chicken is amazing.
Exactly... Who are they attacking?
I like my lunches without a side of Jesus. Religion has no place in business, just like it has not place in politics. but again, the separation of church and state is a myth. Jesus lovers push their agenda everywhere they can.
This is a PRIVATE COMPANY!! by your rationale:
1. No religion in school
2. No religion in government (although Obama just proclaimed he IS a Christian)
3. No religion in business (private or otherwise)
4. No religion in churches
5. No religion in PRIVATE HOMES
6. No religion!
No thanks but thanks or the offer!
Oh good lord, this is a private company you idiot. Do you actually say things of consequence or just copy/paste rants you have written down for when you troll forums?
What about parents. Would it be ok to marry ones parent?
Sorry Bob. I thought that it was still illegal for cousins to marry.
@Bob. Sorry Bob, I thought that it was still illegal for cousins to marry. How about polygamy? Would that be ok while we are redefining marriage?
I love chick-fil-a. I love their food. My 16 year old son works for them and are wonderful to him. We would do well to have more companies out there of the same character and quality. Fight on my friends!
Using the pro g-a-y marriage logic, couldn't three people get married to each other?
Eat more chick'n
Does the pro g-a-y marriage crowd support the marriage of multiple partners?
Going to Chick-fiel-A for dinner. The food is yummy and it drives the anti-Christian crowd crazy.
No you are not going there funny man. And remember, the bible was written by people who thought the earth was flat. And if jesus is actually god, why did he allow himself to be crucified? That's like committing suicide. And we know that christians don't believe in that.
So, if you are going to go have some chicken ( and no, the chicken didn't come before the egg), ask some of the good people who work there to help unravel the mystery of it all.
pleezthink, I dont know where you live, but I've never heard of someone wanting to marry their cousins for obvious reasons. However theoretically speaking if a pair of cousins wanted to be together I dont think we could stop them. Futhermroe if they live together throughout their lifespan why should we not give them the same rights as a married couples receive? just a thought.
@bob,
I think, cousin-cousin relationships were quite common at one time and not unheard of today. Usually there are laws against it in the interest of the children, i.e. inbreeding.
Always cracks me up – the gurus of the gay community, who wants marriage rights that have never been granted in thousands of years of human history, can't stand when someone exercises their 1st amendment rights to, oh the horror, have an opinion that differs from them.
It's one thing to have an opinion. It is completely another thing to discriminate and oppress.
Why eat Chick-fil-A's unhealthy, crappy food in the first place? Meh.
Reproduction is not an argument used by the pro g-a -y crowd. They say that reproduction doesn't matter so you can take that one off of the table. Which opens up lots of possibilities. What about marriage to multiple people? Why wouldn't the pro g-a -y marriage crowd now support this using their same arguments?
Private company. It can do what it wants and the marketplace can decide what it wants to do likewise. Personally, I'm not going to give them my business.
@badger
I also like the quote "Business is created because of the tyranny of nature."