The Sheer Lunacy of the Christian Right

Dear Readers. I had initially intended my first post in almost three years to be a reintroduction and update on what my life has been like over the past three years. That post however will have to wait because I want to use this update to speak about the sheer lunacy that is the modern day right wing. As many of you are aware, Chick fil-A COO Dan Cathy recently spoke of his opposition to same-sex marriage in a radio interview. In the aftermath of this comment, it was revealed that Chick fil-A had given a substantial amount of money to anti-gay causes. In response, many pledged to boycott Chick fil-A in order to ensure that their money didn’t end up supporting the causes that Mr. Cathy holds dear. This is of course a reasonable free market response. As a participant in the free market system, I have the right to choose not to be a patron at a business that uses its profits to support causes that run counter to my values. However, the Right quickly rallied behind Chick fil-A and as such, “Chick fil-A Appreciation Day” was born. Christians were encouraged (primarily by men like Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee) to show their support for Jesus Christ by eating Chick fil-A.

I want you to go back to the last paragraph and read that last sentence. We were supposed to show our support for Jesus Christ by giving money to a corporation so it could give its profits to causes that serve only to demean our fellow man (or woman). Don’t believe me? This is from Mike Huckabee’s Facebook page, “"Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1.” We are supposed to embolden people who stand by “Godly values?” I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Christianity but I was always under the impression that Jesus Christ taught his followers to help the sick and poor. After all, it was Christ who gave sight to the blind and used divine intervention to drastically multiply the amount of fish and bread available in order to feed starving people. Jesus Christ probably would not consider your patronage at a fast food place to be any form of support. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d wonder why you didn’t use the hour that you spent waiting in line to go down to a soup kitchen to help feed the homeless. He’d also wonder why you didn’t donate the money you spent on your chicken sandwich to a charity to help starving people in the world. Doing both of the aforementioned things would be a better showing of “Godly values” than going to Chick fil-A to support a bigoted COO.  After all, Christianity in its very design is against the accumulation of vast wealth and highly encouraging of philanthropy. Going to Chick fil-A to support God is like going to a strip club to support women’s rights, it’s so contradictory that it makes my head explode.

If you don’t believe what I am saying then I will defer to Jesus Christ himself and leave this quote for you, “That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matthew 16:23-24, KJV).” Just prior to this quote, this one also appears, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matthew 16:21, KJV).” Jesus Christ clearly condemns excessive wealth and encourages us to give to the poor. For a Baptist minister, Mr. Huckabee has a poor grasp on “Godly values.”

 What Would Jesus Do? Probably not eat at Chick fil-A.