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Health & Fitness

Why the Strong Reaction on Chick-fil-A?

The "Chick-fil-A Appreciation" showed the distaste of the average American for coercion in thought and belief.

The CEO of Chick-fil-A has drawn a lot of personal criticism of late.  But I think we can all agree—even President Obama—that it is unfair for activists to single out Mr. Cathy.  Let me be clear: he didn't build that.  They should be directing their ire at the government that built the roads, the internet and whatnot.

Sarcasm aside, why did people stand in line for an hour or more to get some fast food on Wednesday?  Certainly many of those customers do agree that marriage is between one man and one woman.  But that, alone, does not account for the strong reaction and massive customer turnout.

Many of us are constantly receiving e-mails from friends, lists, and organizations advocating support of one cause or boycott of another.  If we even read them, few of us have the time to sort through it all and take action.

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Had the left/progressives simply picketed stores, or called for a boycott, there would have been some push back, but not, I suspect, that much.  But where they miscalculated—what brought this out from the background noise and galvanized people to get into their cars and buy sandwiches—was when they sought to enlist the heavy hand of government.

Listening to a conversation of people in line Wednesday evening in Lombard, one man told a friend that he is a Democrat, but when asked at the primary election which party (ballot) he preferred, he said "neither".  Causes gather momentum when they move from being purely partisan issues and start to involve neutrals.

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This has become a big deal because the average American is saying, enough.  It is one thing to promote one's own beliefs.  It is another to attempt to use the government to coerce others who don't share them.

 

 

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