During the month of July, I spent a substantial portion of my “dining-out” time (and money) at Chick-Fil-A. I purposely patronized the business in response to what I perceived as hypocritical intolerance by individuals and groups who purport to uphold the concept of tolerance, but most importantly as a response to attempts at political suppression of free-speech rights against a private company by elected officials in various municipalities.
During that same timeframe, Luci and I also spent a substantial portion of our remodeling budget for the master bedroom at another company, JC Penney. How is that relevant? Well, let me share the following with you. JC Penney is adamantly in favor of gay marriage. In fact, this ad appeared a couple of months ago in their Father’s Day sale.
It’s an ad featuring a real-life same-sex couple. The ad features Todd Koch and Cooper Smith hugging their two young children. The copy reads, "What makes Dad so cool? He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver -- all rolled into one. Or two." Similar ads appeared in Mother's Day ads.
Do I think that JC Penney’s management hates evangelical Christians? Of course not. Do I think this ad somehow undermines traditional values? In my view, that idea seems ridiculous. Only a shallow, convoluted, inverted kind of thinking would arrive at that conclusion, the same kind of thinking that would conclude that Chick Fil-A “hates” gays. I’ve managed to spend a whole lot of money at both Chick Fil-A and JC Penney lately, even though I agree with one and disagree with the other. Regardless what I believe about gay rights and gay marriage, I believe even more strongly that tolerance and free speech and an honest respect of diverse opinions and social value systems can’t be a one-way-street.
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