Sometimes an issue is so divisive and politically charged that even something as irrelevant as a fast food chain can become a rallying symbol for one camp and an effigy for the other. And of course that’s exactly what happened to the Georgia-based chicken sandwich “restaurant” Chick-fil-A after president Dan Cathy defended his company’s donations to anti-gay organizations. Supporters of gay marriage have been staging protests at locations across the country, while opponent Mike Huckabee called for a “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.”
The ad-hoc holiday was observed heartily in Abingdon on Wednesday. Hordes of same-sex marriage opponents came to the eatery to enjoy a “Christian” chicken sandwich and to hold signs supporting Cathy’s adherence to “biblical” principles and freedom of speech. One thing, when you let a fast food joint symbolize God’s law, you’ve got to be careful not to court blasphemy with your protest signs. One man’s in Abingdon read, “WE LOVE GOD + CHICK-FIL-A.” (Well I guess He’s not that jealous of a God!)
I can only imagine that the chicken-sandwich-loving Christians were a little disappointed by Chick-fil-A’s recent statement that despite the company’s “biblically-based principles” it would “leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.” But then again, the fight over gay marriage — at least in Maryland — was never going to be won or lost by eating chicken sandwiches.
