Chicken, Charity, and Cancel Culture

We are new creatures in Christ, and we're called to behave not like the world, but attempt to reflect our Savior. Philippians 3 states this:
17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things.

Because we are in Christ and He is in us, we have new instructions about how we are to live our lives. And, we have to have clarity in the way we walk.  Jesus reserved some of His strongest words during His earthly ministry about hypocrisy, and we have to make sure that how we act lines up with who He says we are.  We have to be grounded in that new identity and recognize that the strength to live that life comes from Him, and not from ourselves.

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Our identity is rooted in Christ, and determined by His presence within us.  And, if we believe we are who He says we are, then we will act and think accordingly. We need to make sure that our practice lines up with our proclamation.  Colossians 3 gives us some direction:
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Honestly, I don't know where to begin here.  I think I want to ask the question: what's up with the Salvation Army?  I mean, you had this pop singer who decided that she wouldn't sing at the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving to kick off the Army's "Red Kettle Campaign," which is a Christmas staple.  Why?

Well, anti-LGBT, of course.  That's the common phrase to describe people and organizations that uphold a Biblical view of marriage and sexuality.  Ellie Goulding will perform, after all.  A report on the WFSB Television website quotes the singer:

"We'd like to thank Ellie Goulding and her fans for shedding light on misconceptions and encouraging others to learn the truth about The Salvation Army's mission to serve all, without discrimination," wrote David Hudson, National Commander of The Salvation Army. "We applaud her for taking the time to learn about the services we provide to the LGBTQ community."

So, imagine the concern over at the Salvation Army when it learned that one of its corporate donors was pulling the funding that it had been receiving for years.  Yes, that's right, Chick-fil-A, through its giving arm, the Chick-fil-A Foundation, has decided to cease funding the Army as well as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  The story that set off a chain reaction on Monday was found on the Bisnow website.  It says:

The Salvation Army has been accused of LGBT discrimination in the past. The organization has repeatedly denied those accusations, most recently on Monday afternoon after Chick-fil-A’s announcement. “We’re saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations,” the organization said in a statement to Bisnow.

“We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, we believe we are the largest provider of poverty relief to the LGBTQ+ population.”

FCA is an organization that spreads the truth of Christ among young people and has a strong emphasis on character development.  However, as Bisnow says, the LGBT community finds fault with "FCA’s employment purity statement, which speaks out against sex outside marriage and 'homosexual acts.'"

The Bisnow article drops this bombshell, quoting Chick-fil-A President and COO Tim Tassopoulos:

The new giving structure moves away from the multiyear commitments Chick-fil-A had with the Salvation Army and the FCA and focuses on annual grants, which Tassopoulos said will be reviewed and assessed each year. Future partners could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities, but the company said none of the organizations have anti-LGBT positions. While the philanthropic shift is an acknowledgment that past giving has hurt the company’s brand, it hasn’t negatively impacted sales.

So, if an organization upholds Christian principles, including traditional marriage and God's plan for sexuality, that organization will be disqualified?  That's what this sounds like.

Robert A.J. Gagnon of Houston Baptist University quotes from Princeton Professor Robert George on Facebook, who makes a number of points - here are some:

6. Then, suddenly, the company announced that it would no longer fund organizations like the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian athletes. It said that in assessing its philanthropic work, it would only support organizations that "align with its values"--clearly implying that those organizations did not.

7. There is no explanation for this development apart from the fact that the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes uphold Biblical standards of marriage and sexual morality.

8. If there is some other explanation, Chick-fil-A has not provided it, despite requests to do so.

9. Chick-fil-A has announced that it will support Covenant House, which publicly embraces "gay pride" activism and has been praised for it by the pro-LBGT "New Ways Ministry."

10. This makes clear that Chick-fil-A has established a litmus test for its philanthropy. If an organization holds to Biblical standards of marriage and sexual morality, it will not be funded. By notable contrast, if an organization publicly rejects such standards it is nevertheless eligible for funding.

Steve Berman, over at The Resurgent, cautions against what I would term a "Christian outrage mob" over what he terms ".02% of revenue" that was given to Salvation Army and FCA.  He writes:

Dan Cathy is still the Chairman and CEO. He still gives to Christian organizations. The other executive leaders, including the president and COO Tim Tassopoulos, have been with the company for decades.

Chick-fil-A is still closed on Sundays.

And buried at the bottom of the “Who We Are” page, but featured prominently, framed on the entryway wall in most restaurants, Chick-fil-A’s corporate purpose remains the same:

“To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Until this changes, those who now plaster the media with “Chick-fil-A caves” stories still want the company to fail. They want Christians to react with spittle-flecked tantrums and threats. They want to bring out the worst in Christians so they can gleefully watch the company’s fans turn on their favorite chicken sandwich restaurant.

The Christian Post went to Chick-fil-A for more information, and received this quote:

"Our goal is to donate to the most effective organizations in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger. No organization will be excluded from future consideration – faith-based or non-faith based," the spokesperson said, noting "I also wanted to add that Chick-fil-A will not be opening on Sundays."

Chick-fil-A's Foundation will now be donating to Junior Achievement, Covenant House International, and local food banks.   Tassapoulos says, "There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” adding, “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”

While there has been enormous negative response in the Christian community, the LGBT advocacy group, GLAAD, is not overly impressed. NBC News quotes Drew Anderson, the director of campaigns at GLAAD, saying, “Chick-fil-A investors, employees and customers can greet today’s announcement with cautious optimism, but should remember that similar press statements were previously proven to be empty..."

The Bisnow article acknowledged that:

While the philanthropic shift is an acknowledgment that past giving has hurt the company’s brand, it hasn’t negatively impacted sales.

Chick-fil-A surpassed $1B in sales in 2001 and eclipsed the $5B mark in 2013, the year following Cathy’s statement on gay marriage. The chicken chain became the third-largest U.S. fast-food chain this year with $10.5B in sales, according to Nation’s Restaurant News data. Only McDonald’s and Starbucks bring in more revenue among fast-food chains.

But after years of “taking it on the chin,” as a Chick-fil-A executive told Bisnow, the latest round of headlines was impossible to ignore. This time, it was impeding the company’s growth.

As the story points out, these headlines included contract issues in San Antonio and other airports, protests in Canada, and the forced closure of a location in the UK due to protests.  Instead of standing strong with Dan Cathy's statement upholding traditional marriage, it seems the company, on a corporate level - and that is important to note - has been slowly backing away from being seen as "intolerant" or "anti-LGBT."  This announcement is just another step in the process, it seems.

And, Christians have been leading advocates for the ultra-successful chain, and after years of defending Chick-fil-A's faith-infused operation, you can sense there is betrayal.  For instance, there's former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who tweeted:

In Aug 2012, I coordinated a national @ChickfilA Appreciation Day after they were being bullied by militant hate groups. Millions showed up. Today, @ChickfilA betrayed loyal customers for $$. I regret believing they would stay true to convictions of founder Truett Cathey. Sad.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) November 18, 2019

Rod Dreher of The American Conservative wrote:

So, let me get this straight: Chick-fil-A has managed to become the third-biggest fast-food chain in the US, despite earning so much progressive hatred for honoring what its leadership once claimed was fidelity to “a much higher calling.” But now, in 2019, as it sits near the summit of business success, Chick-fil-A suddenly finds that it can no longer afford to follow that “higher calling,” and is cutting the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes off.

LGBT - never satisfied.  So, never capitulate. Dreher writes: "And it’s a lesson to all of us. The LGBT lobby, and their progressive allies, will never, ever leave you alone. Never."  Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family agrees; he is quoted at Life Site News:

“What Chick-fil-A will now be surprised to learn is gay activists will absolutely not leave them alone,” suggested Glenn Stanton, director of Global Family Formation Studies for Focus on the Family, on Facebook. “They will still be judged ‘bigots’ because their owners still support natural marriage. The only action acceptable will be for them to 1) denounce their current convictions. 2) announce their strong support of the lgbt community, and 3) demonstrate that support with financial support.”

So, again, the LGBT activists are never satisfied and demand 100% acceptance.  There are LGBT advocates who demand that others be "cancelled" because they disagree with their set of values; we have to be careful that we are not taking the same tactics.  Chick-fil-A has been a victim of "cancel culture" by some; I would contend a very small, but loud percentage.  But, you can also consider this: is refusing to eat at Chick-fil-A a representation of this "cancel culture" that we are seeing?

Certainly, the branding of Christians and Christian organizations as "anti-LGBT," is symptomatic of this pervasive attitude.  Christians are not "anti-LGBT" people, because we are to love and welcome all, but we are to be "pro-Bible," and that causes us to embrace its principles, including its teachings on sexuality.

The Chick-fil-A executive talked about telling these new markets who they are.  According to that mission statement, they are dedicated to glorifying God.  So, there are people who wonder if that has changed; is the company suffering an identity crisis because of the constant negative publicity that it has received for the past seven years; even though revenues continue to increase - I contend that is God's blessing on its foundational principles.  We have to recognize that who we are is tied up in who He says we are and how we respond to Him.  How you give communicates who you are, as well. We are called to stand for our values, which are consistent with Scripture.  We are at war with an agenda, but there are people held captive by it who need to be set free.

I would also encourage you again: Remember the good work of local Chick-fil-A operators.  This is a corporate decision not a local decision. Punishing the operators and their employees locally may not be the most prudent course of action.  But, I would expect that local franchisees would send a clear message to corporate to make this right.  Plus, Chick-fil-A and the Cathy Family has historically done great work through the WinShape Foundation, which apparently is separate from the Chick-fil-A Foundation.  WinShape sponsors Christ-centered day camps across the country and hosts marriage retreats with Christian speakers.

All in all, we need to check our own lives to make sure that our actions are lining up with what we say we believe.  While organizations and individuals may not act all of the time the way we would like, we can still attempt to live a life that reflects who we say we are and what we say we believe.