In case you missed it, since it was buried beneath Olympic headlines, the 60-year old "chief spokesman" for Chick-fil-A, Don Perry (VP of public relations), died early yesterday from a presumed heart attack. My condolences go out to Mrs. Perry, not only for her loss, but for the life in store for her should she too be a firm believer in the passage of Leviticus that her husband had to defend, thanks to company president, Dan Cathy.
If you're living under a rock and so haven't heard about the controversy caused by Chick-fil-A company president, Dan Cathy, making remarks on homosexuality that echo those of insane, inbred Westboro Baptist Church in their protests against military funerals., Cathy said, "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage."
Cathy's remarks raise so many questions about who can and how we're supposed to interpret the Bible.
The first and most obvious question is, "How does he (Cathy) know what God thinks?"
When Westboro Baptist Church says the same thing in their protests at military funerals, pretty much all sane people oppose their stance. When Cathy states the same anti-American position, some hypocrites rush to support him. Are they saying God thinks it's okay to be a bigot, just not at a funeral? Is it solely military funerals one shouldn't be a bigot at, or all funerals?
Cathy should actually read more of the passages around the one he cherry picks to support his position. If he truly embraces ALL of the words of the Bible, he, and Mrs. Perry, are in for some rough times. But, since he seems unwilling to actually read the WHOLE Bible, I'll help him out, courtesy of a fellow-writer and friend, Karen, who posted this beautiful summary of that entire section of Leviticus on Facebook:
"READ LEVITICUS. Yes, it says homosexuality, bestiality and incest are abominations. Of course, so is eating pork, shellfish, divorce and premarital sex. It says if a man sees a woman naked while on her period they shall both be sent into exile, it says a widow is only allowed to remarry if it's her husband's brother - after the first half which goes into detail on how to prepare your animal for sacrifice.
"To quote the only true Christian I know, "One sin isn't worse than another, who am I to compare my sins to someone else's? It's not my place to judge." That's the difference between religious and SELF RIGHTEOUS. (FYI, you may want to keep in mind a lot of people on Facebook knew you when you were scarfing down a ham sandwich, getting laid or pregnant before marriage, or getting divorced, or having an affair, or whatever other dumb mistakes you made in your past.) DON'T USE THE BIBLE TO JUSTIFY YOUR BIGOTRY OR PREJUDICE!""
Oh dear. This does put Mr. Cathy, as well as poor Mr. Perry's widow in an odd predicament. Will Mr. Cathy, staying true to his beliefs in a literal interpretation of that specific section of the Bible, insist that Mrs. Perry marry her brother-in-law?
Does Mr. Cathy banish Mrs. Cathy from the house to some cave each month so he won't accidentally cross her path adn condemn himself and her to exile? What about the bacon that goes on those Chick-fil-A sandwiches? Has he himself never eaten any? What degree of guilt is confered on someone who offers that evil temptation to customers, condemning them to the flames of hell? Doesn't his putting bacon on a sandwich bring down God's judgment on the country? By offering bacon on the menu, isn't he "shaking his fist at [God] and saying "I know better than you"?"
And what about those chickens they serve? Are they prepared according to the directions that follow in Leviticus? I'm guessing Leviticus doesn't say "cram they fowl into tiny cages and force-feed them of the antibiotic compounds and growth-hormone laced feed." More likely they're killed according to industry, not Biblical, practice. Doesn't that mean he's bringing down the wrath of God on our nation?
I also wonder how Mr. Cathy feels about violating three of the seven deadly sins: gluttony (sorry, fast food is nothing but a luxury item intended to feed people who all ready have too much food), greed (luring people in to eat fast food so he can make a profit while people are starving in the world certainly covers that one!), and pride (seriously, he knows what God intended by the words written by man and interpreted for a few men's (the clergy's) benefit? Talk about pride!) Has he given it any thought, or is he too busy thinking about gay sex?
Isn't it funny that someone who claims to be so Christian is so selective about what parts of Christ's teachings he'll comply with? Or that he's willing to ignore Christ's teachings in the New Testament to embrace parts of the Old Testament that Jesus Christ clearly overrode? What happened to love they neighbor as thyself? Judge not lest you be judged? How does a "good Christian" reconcile their homophobia with the discovery of the genetic basis for homosexuality--the proof that God made someone that way--and their belief that God is infallible? The logical conclusions to that are either that homosexuality IS acceptable to God, or that God makes mistakes. If you want to vehemently embrace your bigotry, your only option is to grant that God does make mistakes. That opens the whole can of worms for arguments about your own interpretation of the Bible. Any passage, any "directive" claiming to be right from God, could be wrong!
I just don't get homophobia. Even more, I don't get how people can forget Jesus Christ's teachings when they're busy shouting so loudly about how "Christian" they are. Maybe we should pay less attention to Leviticus and more to Matthew?
Matthew 6:6
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
Matthew 7:1-5
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
To Mrs. Perry, you have my condolences on the loss of your husband. I hope your brother-in-law and future spouse is a good man, and that your sister-in-law and future sister-wife is kind. And that you all enjoy your life in Utah and conversion to Mormonism.
To Mr. Cathy, maybe you should read the WHOLE Bible?
To anyone who has to live in fear because of self-righteous bigotry wrapped in a Bible, remember Isaiah 35:4: "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
As for me, I admit it. I'm angry over this all for selfish reasons. I loved those waffle fries, damnit. Now I'll have to wait for some entrepreneur to step up and fill the void left in my fast food options by Chick-fil-A's unpalatable position. I guess there is a silver-lining here. Mr. Cathy has created an opportunity for job creation in the market place!
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