A syndicated columnist says two airports that banned Chick-fil-A from their facilities engaged in “anti-Christian, unconstitutional” behavior – and that it’s a preview of a future where anyone who affirms traditional views on sexuality will be shunned.
A New York government body blocked Chick-fil-A in late March from opening in the Buffalo, N.Y., airport, merely one week after the San Antonio City Council blocked a Chick-fil-A from opening in that city’s airport.
In both instances, government officials expressed concerns about the corporation’s position on LGBT issues. Chick-fil-A is owned by Christians.
Columnist Rich Lowry labeled the actions “McCarthyite.”
“This is about punishing the Georgia-based company for the faith of its leadership,” Lowry wrote. “The official bans are anti-Christian, unconstitutional and a harbinger of a larger effort to hunt down and punish any organization that has uncongenial views on sexual morality.”
The pushback against Chick-fil-A came as a ThinkProgress report criticized the restaurant’s owners for their donations to the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.
“Needless to say, a lot of other people are guilty of the same offense, given that the Salvation Army raises about $2 billion a year,” Lowry wrote. “To consider all that the Salvation Army does – its thrift shops, aid for the homeless, disaster relief, anti-trafficking programs, Christmas gifts to needy children, and much, much more – and reduce the organization to an allegedly anti-LGBT group is perverse.
“For its part, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes stands accused of seeking ‘to spread an anti-LGBTQ message to college athletes.’ It’s true that FCA asks its leaders to forswear homosexual acts, but it also wants them to pledge not to engage in heterosexual acts outside of marriage and, for that matter, refuse to use drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.”
Chick-fil-A, Lowry noted, does not refuse “to serve or hire anyone.”
“The latest campaign against Chick-fil-A is based on the idea that it is impermissible for it to associate with any group with a traditional Christian understanding of sex and marriage, for any purpose whatsoever, no matter how unobjectionable or noble,” Lowry wrote.
The government officials, he wrote, need “a remedial lesson in the Constitution,” which “forbids discrimination against private companies on the basis of political or religious viewpoint.”
“It is the enemies of Chick-fil-A who are intolerant and out-of-the-mainstream,” Lowry wrote. They desperately need to abandon their tawdry McCarthyite crusade and ‘Eat Mor Chikin.’”
Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.
Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Tom Pennington/Stringer
