Can We Jump Off the Chick-Fil-A Outrage Train?

Not surprisingly, people are mad at Chick-fil-a. What’s surprising is who is mad at them: the Christians. After wearing themselves out questioning Kanye West’s conversion to Christianity, many Christians are now ready to jump on the Chick-fil-a outrage machine, fueled up by the media itself. This past Monday, Chick-fil-a released a statement defining their 2020 charitable giving priorities, to focus on education, hunger, and homelessness. Noticeably absent? Their past charities, including the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. These two non-profits, in particular, had been the target of LGBTQ groups because of (as defined the LGBTQ community) their anti-LGBTQ stance. The media defined this as a clear win for the LGBTQ community for successfully pressuring Chick-fil-a to change their charitable giving, Facebook Christianity picked up on that and slammed Chick-fil-a for caving to LGBTQ pressure, and the outrage train had officially left the station.

So let’s pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and look at the facts. True, Chick-fil-a ceased donating to the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The LGTBQ community chalked it up as a win for their political pressure. Chick-fil-a said they had fulfilled a multi-year donation commitment to these organizations and were using this opportunity to give in other areas. Chick-fil-a made absolutely no mention of LGBTQ pressure in their decision, that was ascribed by the media and by the LGBTQ community. So, who’s right?

Well, here’s a recent real-life example: after a solid seven-year run, my wife traded in her minivan for a mid-sized SUV. She wanted a minivan for the interior room while our kids were babies and toddlers. Now that they’re growing up and we’re transitioning away from car seats, she wants something different. So we got a mid-sized SUV. Now, the anti-minivan coalition (if there was such a thing) could easily claim responsibility for this decision and they could claim that their anti-minivan media campaign and political pressure forced my wife to give up her minivan after seven years. Or . . . my wife wanted to trade in her minivan.

If you look at the width and breadth of Chick-fil-a, their values and what guides their decision-making process, I would argue that the LGBTQ community is claiming a level of influence in this decision that does not match reality. As for the outraged Christians fueled by a one-sided media interpretation of these events, we can properly express our concern for these two great non-profits by doing something that Chick-fil-a has actually been doing for years: donating to them.

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