To the Readers' Forum:
I stand with Billy Graham in support of the president of Chic-Fil-A, Dan Cathy. Doing nothing more than stating his position of marriage being a union between a man and woman, Mr. Cathy did not anticipate the angry backlash for simply stating what his view was. NBC anchor Brian Williams made it sound like Cathy stated his opposition to same-sex marriage when he just gave his opinion of what marriage was. Cathy only said what President Obama said about marriage in 2008.
Former Chief of Staff in the Obama administration and now mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel says that values of Chic-Fil-A are not the values of Chicago. Considering the explosion of murder occurring in Chicago and the rampant corruption saturating that city, I'm thankful that the values of Chic-Fil-A are different. At least the mayor recognizes a difference, but still demands the God-fearing values of the company stay out of his city. He has more tolerance for the racist Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam than he does for Chic-Fil-A. The mayor has shown far more disdain for Chic-Fil-A running a legitimate business than the violent gangs in his city peddling drugs and terrorizing the streets. He hasn't come close to ridiculing "gangster values" like he ridiculed "family values" when he worked for the Clinton administration in the 1990s. And we wonder what's wrong in a major city, like Chicago.
I admired the young Chic-Fil-A female employee who remained composed and always returned courtesy while under attack by rude and belittling remarks from an agitator accusing Chic-Fil-A with hate. I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the employee was a Christian. Do you think she would have responded as she did if her values were the values of Chicago?
When Chic-Fil-A came under fire from the "tolerant" crowd of the politically correct, it looked like their business would take a hit. Yet, Americans, particularly those with God-fearing values, rallied and threw their support for the company with an overwhelming but underreported turnout for Chic-Fil-A Day on Wednesday, Aug. 1.
I'm personally grateful to Pastor Ron Lemon of Frewsburg who went to Erie to participate as one of millions all over America blessing the company for the stand not only on marriage but also for giving their employees the day off every Sunday. Like 1 Samuel 2: 30 says, God honors those who honor Him. Chic-Fil-A was honored.
The Rev. Mel McGinnis
Frewsburg