Jul 27, 2012
Print This Post
The Chicago Republican Party says it will file a complaint with the Illinois Dept. of Human Rights and Attorney General Lisa Madigan after a local alderman vowed to stop Chick-fil-A from opening a second restaurant in the Windy City.
JOIN TODD’S FACEBOOK PAGE FOR DAILY CULTURE WAR UPDATES. CLICK HERE!
Alderman Joe Moreno said he will block the Atlanta-based company’s expansion plans because he disagrees with the owner’s affirmation of traditional marriage.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel supported Moreno, saying, “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values.”
Chris Cleveland, vice chair of the Chicago Republican Party, told Fox News that Moreno’s actions “constitute clear religious discrimination.”
“Alderman Moreno has violated the First amendment rights of Chick-fil-A and the individuals in the corporation by bringing the hammer of government down upon them purely because they disagree with the religious view of the owner,” Cleveland said.
Chick-fil-A faced similar threats in Mountain View, Calif. and Boston – by Mayor Thomas Menino has since backed off his vow to ban the privately owned company.
Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy, ruffled feathers nationwide when he told Baptist Press that his company was “guilty as charged” when it came to supporting traditional marriage – a statement many critics said was an attack on same-sex unions.
Gay rights advocates have also expressed fury over the company’s financial support to a number of evangelical Christian ministries like the Family Research Council and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – groups called anti-gay by detractors.
“This solidifies Chick-fil-A as being closely aligned with some of the most vicious anti-gay voices in the country,” said Carlos Maza of Equality Matters told Associated Press.
But Cleveland said this issue has nothing to do with gay marriage.
“That’s not the issue,” he told Fox News. “It’s about religious freedom. Businesses in the city of Chicago should be able to operate without fear of saying the wrong thing.”
Chick-fil-A posted more than $4.1 billion in sales last year, most of it below the Mason-Dixon Line. Just 14 of its restaurants are in the six states and the District of Columbia where gay marriage is legal. Illinois, which does not have same-sex marriage, has around a dozen, though only one in Chicago.
The Cathy family has never hid its Southern Baptist faith. Since Dan Cathy’s father, Truett, opened the first Chick-fil-A in 1967, the restaurants have been closed on Sundays, and the company refused to reconsider during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, sacrificing profits. It also boasts that the Chick-fil-A Bowl is the only college football bowl game with an invocation.
Roger Oldham, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, said many Christians want to support businesses owned by fellow believers, and the loyalty intensifies “when Christians see a fellow Christian being persecuted.”
“They will come out of the woodwork when a theologically based position is being politicized by individuals for their own purposes,” he said.
The company has also drawn support from Billy Graham, Sarah Palin, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Fox News Channel host Mike Huckabee – who launched “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” on August 1.
With reporting from Associated Press
Related posts:
FOX News Talk
50% of straight Marriages end in Divorce. And you people are protecting marriage, right? I think you're losing.
Adultery everywhere. But gays are the problem, right?
Clean up your own house!
Not one of you haters has ranted about DIVORCE and ADULTERY. Why not? Why?
His business ,his rules.
His for-profit business, our money.
Is Mr Chick Fill'Hate "guilty as charged" on divorce and adultery too, Sarah?
Divorce and Adultery….gulty as charged? Let's hear it folks.
You're all so quiet suddenly. None of you has any comments on DIVORCE or ADULTERY among straight people? You're not "gulity as charged" on that? Or does it hit a little too close to home for you?
Another example of how perverted the left has become. The real story is not the increasing examples ot their true agenda coming to the surface but rather the absolute lack of coverage that these action receive from the media. The deck has been stacked for a long time. The average American is so ignorant and so lazy that there is little hope that we can self correct.. before it is too late. Rush Limbaugh and the St. Louis Rams investment team were castigated for having Rush be a potentially small minority owner, yet a Russian gangster who would be thrown in jail if he had made his money in America the way he did in Russia buys 80% of the NBA Nets and there in zero outcry from the media… the list is long and growing fast… very very sad.
Another example of how perverted the left has become. The real story is not the increasing examples ot their true agenda coming to the surface but rather the absolute lack of coverage that these action receive from the media. The deck has been stacked for a long time. The average American is so ignorant and so lazy that there is little hope that we can self correct.. before it is too late. Rush Limbaugh and the St. Louis Rams investment team were castigated for having Rush be a potentially small minority owner, yet a Russian gangster who would be thrown in jail if he had made his money in America the way he did in Russia buys 80% of the NBA Nets and there in zero outcry from the media… the list is long and growing fast… very very sad.
This country was built on individual beliefs and not the beliefs of Gerat Britain. This is How and Why America is here today. Seems like the Democrat/Libs are turning America into a Socialist, Communist 3rd world country, due to their own warped, uneducated beliefs. Americans, TRUE Americans need to put a stop to these unorthodox, socialist, ignorant views before there is another Revolt within America. We MUST get rid of Obama and take OUR government back. Seems like these liberals are Britain all over again. Load and Lock and be prepared. It is coming in the near future!
HURRAH! HURRAH! FOR CHICK-FIL-A & BOY SCOUTS! CHICK-FIL-A WILL BECOME A WEEKLY STOP! GOD BLESS MR.CATHY!
HURRAH! HURRAH! FOR CHICK-FIL-A & BOY SCOUTS! CHICK-FIL-A WILL BECOME A WEEKLY STOP! GOD BLESS MR.CATHY!
Why does it seem that anyone who has Christian values is condemned in the media? Just because Chick fil A stands for Christian values, they are bad-mouthed by every "gay-loving" person, group, etc out there! Of course, look at those that are making the comments! Whoever it was that said "gays are in the minority" is exactly right but it seems they are the loud-mouths out there, the greasy wheel, etc. Let us who have family values speak up also FOR Chick fil A. Let us show our support for Chick Fil A by increasing their profits and crowd their restaurants. Do what Huckabee says and show your support on Aug 1.
Go Chick-fil-A…thanks for expressing the true American Value.
Let's get up and defeat their Chicago and Boston value.
I am disappointed – no outraged is more like it – that any elected official would accuse anyone of having an "anti-american" stance just because they expressed an opinion. Does this mean that if I am a business owner in THEIR community and I don't believe the way they want me to that I should relocate my business to a different area? Should I ask my employees if they want to go or should I take the position that if they live here they must believe the same way the ELECTED official does, therefor I should just hire new folks after I move?
Homosexuals are executed in other countries because of their way of life. Be happy with what you get in America, but you will never truly be accepted, it's just the way it is. Sodom and Gamora was destroyed for the same thing the United States has become, a land of smut, whores, and blood lust, a land that has forgotten what this country was founded upon. Again, be happy with what you get here homosexuals, you could be getting your head chopped off instead.
Easy Pickle!!
Easy Pickle!!
tell it!
That's ok Chick-fil-A. You're always welcome in Texas where we don't punish businesses for political reasons.
sent you a friend request. wanted to send a message, but can't find the option on "timeline." check out my wall and get back to me on my various posts.
I really like the stands that Chic-fil-a is taking, but a friend suggested that its a money making scheme, which I told him no, we are taking a stand for our children and marriage, he feels there's going to be a kick back in money to Mike Huckabee's show on fox, My good friends feel like I do and are going to Chic-fli-a today….<:
this has nothing to do with free speech. Dan said his piece and he was not punished or thrown in jail. The gay community have a right to our speech and to boycott. It is not over his words or view. it is over the company giving large sums of money to anti gay groups. groups that would throw us in jail. I wish people would do some research before opening their dumb uneducated mouths.
It’s actually a great and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.