Today in the paper, they've actually got an article about Chic-Fil-A and their support of religious right stuff! for this paper, it's actually a bit critical! |
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110129/NEWS/101295066/1410?p=a ll&tc=pgallI'm hoping that things like this will prove to be chinks in the dominionist wall... and that readers will start to see how the religious right can be such a pernicious problem in a free society, especially when they have funding and support from a major chain as Chic-Fil-A. What is amusing is that we've known about things like this for years, but only now the news is catching on. I must admit that I've seen this pattern for years, however - learning about something and it only making the news weeks or months after I'd heard about it from other sources.
I would have no problem with the owners running the company according to Christian principles - that is, TRUE Christian principles. The sort of rules and regulations, and the things that this company supports shows them to be of the type that rather than being a force for good (and actually helping people), they try to force their "Christian Principles" on others - same as all the flavors of the Religious Right that we struggle against. It should be none of their business what an employee (or other) does away from the company (with a couple of common-sense caveats), and I resent them using bait-and-switch proselytizing. If their version of Christianity is so valid, why do they use deception and lies to promote it? Why do they require people to sign statements? Essentially, they are trying to force external behaviors on something that should be an internal motivation to do right. Some of those behaviors are not necessarily "Christian" either... I can argue that the usual ban on fun, alcohol, dancing, etc. is not actually Christian practice. At most, such things could be called Paulian, and I would even find that possibly erroneous.
When I was in business, I was repeatedly warned by a few (decent) business owners that if anyone started talking or promoting religion in business, that they could not be trusted and to avoid dealing with them if possible and try to prevent loss if not. I learned just how accurate this warning was - when people brought their religion into their business, they invariably found reasons and ways to be dishonest and greedy and religion was ALWAYS the justification. I did try to avoid the Bible-Pounders, but economics made it impossible, and while the usual greed cost us a lot, I must say that a significant portion of the losses I took were directly due to these "Good Christians" and related types - even when I tried to "talk the talk" around them. I did have a small handful of customers who were very religious but it was a personal and inward thing, and those few remained my customers until the day health forced me to close the door. I also had a couple that were very secular and that also remained customers to the end.
I'm no longer connected in any way with the business world (Thank God!!!), but I'd bet that I would be hearing horror stories about Chic-Fil-A if I was. They have all of the outward signs of a business that practices deception and dishonest (and unfair) dealings with suppliers and employees, based upon the businesses I observed over a sixteen year time frame. Being a big business, they are scrutinized far more thoroughly than smaller businesses, and thus I could understand them hiring more minorities. However, another thing I observed in those years of business - the more religious (with that handful of exceptions) a business owner/president was, the more likely that they did not have minorities working in anything more than the bottom rung - and as I discovered, the real reason was pure and unadulterated bigotry (they knew better than to talk where someone who they thought could be "librul" might hear*). It would be interesting to analyze the structure and employment history of Chic-Fil-A. I would not be surprised, knowing it's history and the way it is, to learn that minorities (especially African-Americans) were only found as laborers (or maybe even local managers) of stores, and the higher you went in the organization, the rarer minorities would become.
Someone who is GLBT, or belonging to a non-"Christian" faith... probably non-existent or severely persecuted.
I haven't eaten anything from Chic-Fil-A and one time actually went hungry rather than eat one of their sandwiches. I refuse to support religious right institutions, whether they be churches or businesses. I doubt we can ever break the stranglehold the dominionist/religious right programming has on their minds, but we can hope that the pressure such as this article discusses gets them to realize that open discrimination is not acceptable.
*- When it became public knowledge I was myself one of those despised minorities, American Indian, I lost around 60% of my customers in little over a month. The people I'd heard private racist rants from... a couple of them even accused me of lying to them or deceiving them about my identity (even though I didn't know about my heritage until my mid 30's).
I would have no problem with the owners running the company according to Christian principles - that is, TRUE Christian principles. The sort of rules and regulations, and the things that this company supports shows them to be of the type that rather than being a force for good (and actually helping people), they try to force their "Christian Principles" on others - same as all the flavors of the Religious Right that we struggle against. It should be none of their business what an employee (or other) does away from the company (with a couple of common-sense caveats), and I resent them using bait-and-switch proselytizing. If their version of Christianity is so valid, why do they use deception and lies to promote it? Why do they require people to sign statements? Essentially, they are trying to force external behaviors on something that should be an internal motivation to do right. Some of those behaviors are not necessarily "Christian" either... I can argue that the usual ban on fun, alcohol, dancing, etc. is not actually Christian practice. At most, such things could be called Paulian, and I would even find that possibly erroneous.
When I was in business, I was repeatedly warned by a few (decent) business owners that if anyone started talking or promoting religion in business, that they could not be trusted and to avoid dealing with them if possible and try to prevent loss if not. I learned just how accurate this warning was - when people brought their religion into their business, they invariably found reasons and ways to be dishonest and greedy and religion was ALWAYS the justification. I did try to avoid the Bible-Pounders, but economics made it impossible, and while the usual greed cost us a lot, I must say that a significant portion of the losses I took were directly due to these "Good Christians" and related types - even when I tried to "talk the talk" around them. I did have a small handful of customers who were very religious but it was a personal and inward thing, and those few remained my customers until the day health forced me to close the door. I also had a couple that were very secular and that also remained customers to the end.
I'm no longer connected in any way with the business world (Thank God!!!), but I'd bet that I would be hearing horror stories about Chic-Fil-A if I was. They have all of the outward signs of a business that practices deception and dishonest (and unfair) dealings with suppliers and employees, based upon the businesses I observed over a sixteen year time frame. Being a big business, they are scrutinized far more thoroughly than smaller businesses, and thus I could understand them hiring more minorities. However, another thing I observed in those years of business - the more religious (with that handful of exceptions) a business owner/president was, the more likely that they did not have minorities working in anything more than the bottom rung - and as I discovered, the real reason was pure and unadulterated bigotry (they knew better than to talk where someone who they thought could be "librul" might hear*). It would be interesting to analyze the structure and employment history of Chic-Fil-A. I would not be surprised, knowing it's history and the way it is, to learn that minorities (especially African-Americans) were only found as laborers (or maybe even local managers) of stores, and the higher you went in the organization, the rarer minorities would become.
Someone who is GLBT, or belonging to a non-"Christian" faith... probably non-existent or severely persecuted.
I haven't eaten anything from Chic-Fil-A and one time actually went hungry rather than eat one of their sandwiches. I refuse to support religious right institutions, whether they be churches or businesses. I doubt we can ever break the stranglehold the dominionist/religious right programming has on their minds, but we can hope that the pressure such as this article discusses gets them to realize that open discrimination is not acceptable.
*- When it became public knowledge I was myself one of those despised minorities, American Indian, I lost around 60% of my customers in little over a month. The people I'd heard private racist rants from... a couple of them even accused me of lying to them or deceiving them about my identity (even though I didn't know about my heritage until my mid 30's).
