Posted on 08/03/2012 3:34:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Thousands and thousands and thousands of people proudly lined up to support Mike Huckabee’s “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” yesterday. By all accounts, it was a successful campaign, perhaps one of Huckabee’s most memorable actions, a deed that might warrant etching “#ChickFilA” on his tombstone so future Americans will learn of the greatness that occurred on August 1, 2012.
Many of yesterday’s appreciators were born again Christians, people who, I can only assume, claim to love God, put their trust in Jesus, and have a desire that all people hear and experience the Good News of Christ. That fact alone changes the headline of what happened yesterday.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Chick-Fil-A owners felt loved, made lots of money, and greatly appreciated the somewhat positive press they received all day long. And yes, Mike Huckabee has reason to be proud (dare I say, even cocksure?) of the influence he wields to get Americans to buy chicken. Those CFA cows no doubt love Mike Huckabee!
So good for Chick-Fil-A! And three cheers for Mike Huckabee! And good tidings of great joy to cows everywhere.
Yet, amid all of that CFA-appreciating success, the Church (at least, the part that exists here in America) failed miserably. Every member of the Church isn’t to blame, of course. Many individual churches and denominations played no role whatsoever in promoting yesterday’s Great Chicken Awakening. Some Christians, churches, and denominations even tried to throw a social media wrench into the festivities. Some of those attempts went viral and garnered a great deal of attention. But still, chicken-loving Christians everywhere rallied behind CFA yesterday. The crowds were so big that you might have thought that Chick-Fil-A was giving away free iPads or Cabbage Patch Dolls or freshly fallen manna from Heaven. And while lots of Christians chose not to participate for various reasons, many did and the Church as a whole suffered.
Here’s why.
one
Yesterday’s campaign, while I don’t think it should be considered or called “hate,” neither can it be called love. Christians all over America ignored the second greatest commandment: to love our neighbors. Call yesterday what you want, freedom of speech, a rally behind “family values,” a sincere fascination with CFA’s brand of fried poultry… but it cannot be called love. It was not love.
two
People felt hate and we ignored that. At the end of the day, regardless of whether or not your Christian understanding of scripture harbors hate or not, a large group of people felt hated. Again, we can debate this point all day long, but that does not change the fact that people felt hatred because of what happened yesterday. Whether or not hate actually existed is not the point, people felt hated. And rather than acknowledging those feelings or trying to understand or engage them in any way, Christians everywhere marched off to their local CFA like it was a cross to bear, a necessity, a battle cry of some sort, the waffle fry’s last stand.
three
By rallying behind CFA, Christians put an issue above people. And it’s impossible to follow Jesus when issues trump people. Jesus never said “love God, love causes.” That is not the message that gets preached in churches all over America on Sunday mornings. I’ve heard a hundred different explanations from patrons of yesterday’s rally and nearly every one of them gives precedence to “the cause”. We can’t embrace love, mercy, hope, and peace when our causes (or a place of business) trumps people.
four
Once again, the mass actions of Christians built another wall of distrust between the Church and the GLBTQ communities. Nobody was surprised that the CEO of CFA is against gay marriage. Nobody was surprised that Mike Huckabee made the decision to rally support behind CFA. And nobody was surprised that Christians took Huckabee’s words as marching orders, leading the charge with more passion, delight, and Instagram pictures than what we express for so many more important issues facing this country. If Mike Huckabee had declared yesterday “Homeless Appreciation Day,” would the response have been even half as large and loud? Yes, I know; that’s an unfair question. But we’re Christians, so we’re very familiar with the use of unfair questions to make a point.
Once in a while, our culture needs to be surprised by how much we love people–all people. Once in a while, our culture needs to be overwhelmed with joy that we are involved in the greater story. Once in a while, our culture needs to see us being a part of the solution and not the problem. But yesterday? There were no surprises. And no surprises only builds more distrust, not peace, not grace, not hope, and not love.
five
Yesterday’s hoopla surrounding CFA did nothing to prove that Christians don’t hate gay people. Oh I know that most Christians will say, “I don’t hate gay people!!”
But did supporting CFA Appreciation Day prove that?
Trust me, I understand that most people who ate chicken sandwiches at CFA yesterday did not do that as an act of hate. I get that. And that’s cool and all, but did the act of going out of your way to CFA prove that to be true? Do you think that the GLBTQ communities believe you? Would you, if you were gay, believe you?
Now before you answer that, remember that yesterday’s CFA Love Day was just one action in a long line of many. Because let’s face it: Christians go WAY out of their way to “hate the sin”–i.e., by voting against gay marriage, voting against civil unions, voicing their angst about gay people adopting children (just to list a few). Is it possible that Christians lose the ability to truly “love the sinner” because they’re so busy “hating the sin”? Do Christians put anywhere near the energy into “loving the sinner” as they do “hating the sin”?
All I know is that the GLBTQ communities are becoming quite used to feeling unloved by Christians. And with good reason.
How many times do we hear Christians say something like, “I don’t hate gay people. I may not agree with their lifestyle. But I don’t hate them… “
If you were gay, would you believe that? Think about it. Would you feel loved by somebody if they included rules, context, and/or explanations about your lifestyle every time they spoke about how much they don’t hate you? Only when talking about gay people do Christians feel the need to preface their “love” or “non-hate” with some variation of “I don’t agree with your lifestyle, but…” Christians don’t talk about any other group of people like that–only gay people.
So, I want to believe Christians when they say “I don’t hate gay people.” But sometimes proof of that is necessary. And yesterday did not prove that. Honestly, yesterday proved little more than how shallow Christians can be sometimes.
Not only did supporting CFA Appreciation Day declare that Christians believe that an issue is more important than people, that declaration was made by the mass consumption of junk food. That fact doesn’t need a punch line. It is a punch line.
Yes, on some level, yesterday was successful. I’m sure that today CFA feels really loved. And I’m sure Mike Huckabee feels loved, too. And I’m sure lots of people, many Christians included, feel great pride for supporting the cause. But there’s also a large group of people, good people, people you might disagree with, that today, feel really unloved.
If it’s true that Christians don’t hate gay people, today would be a really good day to prove it.
UPDATE: This post is getting slammed with traffic right now. So that you don’t lose your comment, please make sure you copy & save prior to trying to post. Several have lost their comments. My apologies. I had no idea that this post would end up receiving as much attention as it has received. Thank you for reading.
Trust me you probably DON’T want to read 2nd Peter in THAT Bible! LOL
It’s the social justice bible straight from the DNC.
Mr. Turner, the issue is ABOUT people. And we recognize your projecting here.
Christians turned out to support the biblical institution of marriage and the founders public stand for that God given institution. Let Turner forgets, the founder was asked to comment.
LOL, wrong on counts, one, two, three, four and five. Other than that...
This is just the tactic of trying to crawl into the enemy’s head and redefine their own philosophy to them. And it invokes the tiredest of all tired misinterpretations - that Jesus’ love means never standing against anything.
In my opinion, Jesus would like nothing better than for every liberal to get a personal ass-whipping. That would be the most loving POSSIBle thing that could happen to these hate-filled, lying, communist hypocrites.
But then many people disagree with my understanding of Christianity.
Oh well! : )
I cannot decide. Poppycock or balderdash?
Certainly sophomoric.
It’s difficult to find anything to engage from such convoluted premises.
I know that I ate at Chick-fil-A because I am an American who happens to also be a Christian. I was openly supporting a fellow American’s right to free speech who was being denigrated by a bunch of bigots for his views. Finally, as a veteran I believe I also have earned the right to tell idiots they are idiots - and this whiner is an idiot.
Author is an idiot on too many levels to list.
one
We’ve allowed the far left fringe to define words that we use and frame issues in a manner that has nothing to do with reality. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends . . .” While standing up for the actual words of the Bible over the words that the far left wishes God has used does not yet lead to death, the backlash often makes that a significant sacrifice. It’s still more loving to do whatever can be done to help everyone, gay or straight, to find their path to God than it is to pretend that the Bible only matters in our lives for two hours each Sunday morning.
two
The far left claimed “hate”, which is a whole lot like playing the race card whenever Obama is criticized, but the claim is nothing like real hate. This was a chance for them to see that the “hate” card is worn out and no longer effective when used frivolously. There is real hate in the world, and to cheapen that word by pretending it’s meaningful simply because a liberal made the accusation, to back down at that overused verbal weapon, is far more harmful than any damage to the delicate feelings of those leftists (if any) who really thought this was about hate.
three
By rallying behind CFA, Christian Americans put God’s word and individual freedom ahead of bowing down to the entitled class. Considering how much damage political correctness does to so many people, it would have been both un-American and un-Christian to do otherwise.
four
I would hope that the mass actions of Christians broke down that wall of distrust created by politically correct rhetoric, giving us a better opportunity for real communication between the Church and GLBTQ individuals. I’m unwilling to consider the GLBTQ “community” as relevant, since we are all sinners but we are also better off defining ourselves in terms of our path to God than identifying ourselves in terms of the things that separate us from God.
five
Wednesday proved that the recent tactics to back Christians into a corner and cow us into silence have worn out. We are no longer chicken of offending those who are perpetually offended; we are more interested in following God’s Word and protecting our freedom from the bullies on the far left than we used to be. Wednesday proved that the PC movement’s claims of victimization have lost their power to force decent people to submit to frivolous and unjustified demands.
Ummm...”Go and sin no more.” How do you square that with claims God is OK with homosexuality? And as far as the Church showing love, if you saw someone diving towards a cliff and their death, would it be “loving” to say, “Hey. that’s just your personal lifestyle choice; go for it!”
Oh, no, they FELT hated yesterday??? The Bible can make them FEEL that? Oh, golly gee. And that is supposed to be OUR responsibility, taking care of their feelings? I don’t think so ....
Oh, no, they FELT hated yesterday??? The Bible can make them FEEL that? Oh, golly gee. And that is supposed to be OUR responsibility, taking care of their feelings? I don’t think so ....
I agree that the churches failed yesterday. They should have been telling their members to go to Chick Fil A.
As for would this have happened if it was “Homeless Appreciation Day”, all I can say is “What is the homeless’ stand on gay marriage and do they sell chicken sandwiches?”
"I KNOW BUT ONE CODE OF MORALITY FOR MEN WHETHER ACTING SINGLY OR COLLECTIVELY"
--Thomas Jefferson
one
Yesterday’s campaign, while I don’t think it should be considered or called “hate,” neither can it be called love. Christians all over America ignored the second greatest commandment: to love our neighbors. Call yesterday what you want, freedom of speech, a rally behind “family values,” a sincere fascination with CFA’s brand of fried poultry… but it cannot be called love. It was not love.
In the first place, Christians did not "ignore" the second greatest commandment. Is not the CEO who made this statement our neighbor? Are not the employees of CFA worthy of our love? They're the ones who are being threatened after all - far more than the LGBT crowd is! CFA is being threatened with direct legal action, not just having their tender feelings hurt. Anyway, the second commandment is trumped by the first - Love your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul. And standing up and being counted for what you believe God's word to be is a direct expression of that, not so?
two
People felt hate and we ignored that. At the end of the day, regardless of whether or not your Christian understanding of scripture harbors hate or not, a large group of people felt hated. Again, we can debate this point all day long, but that does not change the fact that people felt hatred because of what happened yesterday. Whether or not hate actually existed is not the point, people felt hated. And rather than acknowledging those feelings or trying to understand or engage them in any way, Christians everywhere marched off to their local CFA like it was a cross to bear, a necessity, a battle cry of some sort, the waffle fry’s last stand.
Err, actually, the existence or not of hate is exactly the point. You can't convict people of theft because alleged victims "felt" robbed. You have to prove they were actually relieved of goods or money. You can't fine people for libel because alleged victims "felt" upset about things written about them. You have to prove the scurrilous statement is actually untrue.
I'm very sorry that the LGBT community felt "hate", but as it wasn't there, that's their problem, not mine. You can't expect people to modify their behavior, especially when it concerns the highest moral values of their lives, just because someone else might get upset. That's a route to being a doormat at best, and an absolute slave at worst.
three
By rallying behind CFA, Christians put an issue above people. And it’s impossible to follow Jesus when issues trump people. Jesus never said “love God, love causes.” That is not the message that gets preached in churches all over America on Sunday mornings. I’ve heard a hundred different explanations from patrons of yesterday’s rally and nearly every one of them gives precedence to “the cause”. We can’t embrace love, mercy, hope, and peace when our causes (or a place of business) trumps people.
But the cause itself IS about people. It's about how we interact with each other, what we consider to be acceptable behavior, whether we can say what we think is right without fear of being shut up, or even shut down. Really, you would have thought that if the LGBT community is as marginalised as they claim they would have been more sensitive to this.
four
Once again, the mass actions of Christians built another wall of distrust between the Church and the GLBTQ communities. Nobody was surprised that the CEO of CFA is against gay marriage. Nobody was surprised that Mike Huckabee made the decision to rally support behind CFA. And nobody was surprised that Christians took Huckabee’s words as marching orders, leading the charge with more passion, delight, and Instagram pictures than what we express for so many more important issues facing this country. If Mike Huckabee had declared yesterday “Homeless Appreciation Day,” would the response have been even half as large and loud? Yes, I know; that’s an unfair question. But we’re Christians, so we’re very familiar with the use of unfair questions to make a point.
If no one was surprised, why did the LGBT community make such a big deal of it? They're the ones threatening legal action. They're the ones trying to drive CFA out for what, basically, boils down to failure to toe a party line. If a wall has been built, it was the LGBT lot who provided the first bricks and mortar.
Once in a while, our culture needs to be surprised by how much we love people–all people. Once in a while, our culture needs to be overwhelmed with joy that we are involved in the greater story. Once in a while, our culture needs to see us being a part of the solution and not the problem. But yesterday? There were no surprises. And no surprises only builds more distrust, not peace, not grace, not hope, and not love.
I think people see Christians loving others plenty of times. As for surprises, there's also such a thing as consistency. And in God's service, that's no bad thing.
five
Yesterday’s hoopla surrounding CFA did nothing to prove that Christians don’t hate gay people. Oh I know that most Christians will say, “I don’t hate gay people!!” But did supporting CFA Appreciation Day prove that?
I don't care about proving that Christians don't hate gay people. Or rather I do, but I care more about obeying God's word. Besides, most people who believe that don't really understand what Christianity is and says, and many who do are out to get us anyway.
Someone from the Episcopal Church/Rev. Jim Wallis “Jesus was Liberal” school of “Christianity.”
“Yesterday’s hoopla surrounding CFA did nothing to prove that Christians don’t hate gay people. Oh I know that most Christians will say, “I don’t hate gay people!!”
But did supporting CFA Appreciation Day prove that?”
What this author doesn’t seem to understand is that nothing will prove that to gay peoples’ satisfaction, short of caving in and compromising all of our Christian principles to their demands. They have determined that the Christian desire to be seen as loving people is a chink in our armor that they can exploit.
“I cannot decide. Poppycock or balderdash?”
Gibberish, or Libberish?
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