There is something alarming taking place in our country and I think it’s time for us here at Freedom Cocktail to weigh in on it. After all, we tout ourselves as a site focused on the deliberate application of logic and reason when trying to understand the events of the day. And it’s time to do that here.
There is an organization in our country with roots dating all the way back to 1946. Since that time, they have managed to expand to over 1,615 locations in 39 states and Washington, D.C., with annual sales over $4.1 billion. They have had 44 consecutive years of positive gains in the market, even though they choose to remain closed 14% of the year.
Fifteen years ago, this organization had the audacity to be the first-ever title sponsor of the Peach Bowl, eventually having it renamed after their enterprise five years later. This bowl is the annual site of a classic college football match-up and longest-running rivalry between Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams. The bowl continues to set records. Just last year, that bowl drew a 15th consecutive sellout crowd to Atlanta’s Georgia Dome to witness the December 31 clash between the ACC’s Virginia Cavaliers and the SEC’s Auburn Tigers.
Because of this, that one game continues to lead all bowls in charitable donations to a variety of charities, including WinShape Homes, and provided a record $6.7 million total payout to participating universities. They have even gone further in college sports to become a corporate sponsor and partner with the Big 12.
Continuing their reach into the world of academia, this company created a Leadership Scholarship Program, offering $1,000 college scholarships to qualified employees, a tradition that has awarded over $30 million in scholarships thus far.
But this is only the tip of this iceberg.
With such wealth, the business owners (who may or may not have done this all on their own — that jury seems to still be out depending on whether you are driven by logic or emotion) created the WinShape Foundation more than 20 years ago.
Under the WinShape Foundation umbrella, there are several programs, including WinShape Homes, which currently operates 11 foster care homes in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. The WinShape College Program at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, is a co-op program offering joint four-year scholarship funding to incoming freshmen of up to $32,000. WinShape Camps offers boys and girls summer programs, which will be attended by more than 15,000 campers this year alone.
Additionally, WinShape also operates the WinShape Retreat, which offers a sequestered setting for marriage support and counseling and other gatherings on the Mountain Campus of Berry College. Held at WinShape Retreat, WinShape Marriage aims to help married couples by offering intervention for couples in crisis, preparation for engaged couples and enrichment for those interested in growing their marriage.
And, like those late-night TV infomercials, just wait, there’s more!
WinShape Wilderness is dedicated to using adventure to equip people to experience real change, not just in a team setting, but also through personal transformation. WinShape Wilderness is an outdoor adventure program that facilitates experiential learning for all audiences in ropes course settings as well as canoeing, rock climbing and backpacking venues.
And WinShape International was founded in January 2005 with a mission to mobilize leaders to transform young people and communities around the world.
BUT…
They are a Christian-based company. They have the audacity to put their faith and their respect for the traditional family before profits, electing to close every single location on Sundays. They have deluded themselves into thinking that this nation of ours was based on the principles of religious freedom. They further elicit a lack of understanding of our society by believing there is right to freedom of speech and expression. They honestly believe that they have the freedom to structure their business as they want — to enact policies and procedures that align with their moral and religious core.
Where do they think they live? This is America, dammit, a land where everyone is free to think what they want as long as it’s not different from those on the militant left. Liberals will fight tooth and nail for Islamists to build a mosque at ground zero, even though the tenants of Islam are far more severe against homosexuality than their Christian brethren, while fighting equally hard to make sure this company never opens another shop again. Why? Because this business chooses to believe in the traditional definition of marriage.
How dare they?
Now, they may have never refused to serve someone based on age, ethnicity, gender, orientation or religious view, but that doesn’t matter. They choose to revere the family and keep a religious center and this is why they must pay. It’s better for the more than 35,000 people to have their jobs taken away so they can go work for a more acceptable company — one for which the left has provided its stamp of approval. After all, history is replete with examples of how much better society is when the fringe can make decisions for everyone else.
It’s time this company recognizes that individuality and uniqueness are no longer acceptable and the sooner they can merge with the collective and embrace sameness, the better. Life is always more enjoyable when we are all identical, with the same beliefs, especially when those beliefs are force-fed to us.
One final note: it’s time to recognize that when a militant movement is filled with indignation, anger, bile and outrage, anything they say is good and righteous. Yes, that may seem like an oxymoron, but that’s only because most people in this country are not educated enough to understand intellectual nuance. When the militant minority, who isn’t having a single right infringed upon, runs into a group that thinks differently than they do, it’s their duty to tear that group apart. They deserve to be impugned, castigated, vilified and eventually destroyed. And since that is being done for a good reason, there is nothing hateful about doing this.
For example, Roseanne Barr nailed it with her back-to-back tweets:
“Anyone who eats S%#@ Fil-A deserves to get the cancer that is sure to come from eating antibiotic filled tortured chickens 4Christ,” later adding, “off to grab a s%#@ fil-A sandwich on my way to worshipping Christ, supporting Aipac and war in Iran.”
This is not hateful because, as we have said, her self-righteous position absolves her from any negative connotation. Her comments represent a wish and hope for the greater good — a wish for people who disagree to contract cancer and die, therefore eliminating those wicked individuals. See how this works? Because the greater good is achieved (the elimination of those who think the wrong way), the comments cannot possibly hold any rancor. Again, as history has demonstrated, this way of thinking always leads to a positive outcome.
True hate can only come from an inherent belief in family traditions, Christian values and the Constitution along with the Bill of Rights.
And that’s why Chick-fil-A is hateful and evil and must burn!
Oh, if you haven’t figured out my tone by now, do us all a favor and stay home on November 6th.
And eat a burger.
Or a celery stalk.
Freedom Cocktail 
Don’t think there is anything else to say.
I appreciate that. Technically, there is a whole different piece to this current event that does need some attention — the notion that public officials (government) can punish a business solely on the beliefs of the founders. We are actually moving to a point where a private company can be put in the crosshairs of the government solely for having a different point of view.
The reactions of political leaders from Chicago and Boston are a frightening indication of the slippery slope our Constitution is currently sitting on…
Great article.
There’s no doubt about it. As I mentioned above to another reader, I’m working on a follow-up to address this very notion of how dangerous and alarming it is for elected officials to wage war against a business in the private sector. And, it’s almost impossible to ignore the connection of Christian values being a target once again.
Americans, especially libertarians, love to wave the flag of capitalism as if it were this godsend, yet here is an article, admonishing that people will choose not buy from Chic-Fil-A. But this is how capitalism works. There are no rules telling people when or when not to buy goods. This is a personal decision which can be any one he/she chooses. So if people want to stop buying a company’s goods because they donate money to Christian charities that lobby against marriage equality, then that is their right. On to the next point: The notion of equal rights has nothing, NOTHING to do with right or left, conservative or liberal. And you know what, fuck Christian morality. Open a Bible and you’ll see it’s full of holes, lies, bullshit, contradictions, and more lies. You want genocide? You want incest? You want rape? You want stories about the Sun rotating around the earth? The Bible’s got it all, so don’t talk about equality as being something leftist. Everyone should want marriage equality, regardless of what hole you stick your cock into.
One of the other fallacies of this article is its presupposition that “marriage” originate with Christianity, as it passive-aggressively uses the “how dare they defend traditional marriage” bullshit argument. What were to happen if one were to actually open up the “Good” Book which they purport to follow? Hmm … let’s see: polygamy, rape, subjugation, trading negotiations. That’s traditional marriage? That’s what we’re fighting for? Interesting.
Genesis 26:34
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
1 Peter 3:5-6
5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Ruth 4:3-5
3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you[a] will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”
“I will redeem it,” he said.
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the[b] dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”
And what is with the passive-aggressive tone of this article: “Life is always more enjoyable when we are all identical, with the same beliefs, especially when those beliefs are force-fed to us.” Just say what you mean. Either way, this statement is hilarious, considering the author seems to be standing up for Christianity. What creates more identical people that an ideology created two-thousand years ago by nomadic peoples? Religion is cult. Cult is herd. Herds are slaves.
Remember: I’m not saying the problem is that some ignorant douche voiced his opinion that homosexuals don’t deserve the right to marry, it’s that he donates money to Christian groups who lobby against what should be a right. That’s the problem.
I apologize for my tone, but I cannot stand intolerance, nor those who defend it. Due to my frequent use of fuck, I imagine this comment will never be posted. Perhaps some asterisks next time.
We prefer a more reasoned tone but respect your passion and comment. Of course, we let your comments stand so others may read and enjoy the conversation and maybe even participate in the dialogue. That’s part of the point of the bartender motif here. We set up the drinks, start the conversation, and let others join in the fray.
I would like to point out just a couple of things, notably that the tone of much of this particular blog was more to do with the sarcasm related to Chick-fil-A being a hateful group. A difference of opinion does not connote, nor does it reflect, hatred. In fact, through illustration, I believe I showed the amount of generosity this one company has done privately. Yet, it seems quite alright to throw them into the box of hatred simply because of a difference of a definition. I also believe I reflected the statements of the owners of the business saying that it is their Christian beliefs and a traditional definition of marriage as it relates to the Bible. I did not ever say my own beliefs, but rather reflected those of the family as they have stated in the media.
In any event, we appreciate you stopping by, and hope you’ll come back for more.
Yes, I agree, my tone was uncalled for. Hopefully you can forgive me and my typos. I always tell myself to never write when I’m angry and I broke that rule.
To reiterate, I’m not throwing them , Chic-Fil-A “in a box of hatred.” I’m throwing them in a box of an organization who purports traditional marriage as stated in the Bible, and as I showed there is no one definition in said Bible. Furthermore, they are a company who funds Christian groups that lobby against equal rights. Libertarians, of all people, should have issue with this.
Again, I apologize. I rather like Eric and I mentioned to him recently that I’d comment here, spread some ideas, as it were. Though after commenting here today, I remember why I stay away from political blogs. I find too often, in my humble opinion of course, that they show only one side of the story as well as hide some choice facts.
Best wishes.
I think in almost every case, it’s nearly impossible to reflect every position from every point of view. What we try to do here, is provide one specific perspective from a conservative point of view. You may not be a conservative. The fact of the matter is, we want to put the dialogue out there and look for the people to belly up to the bar and add to it. Thank you so much for being one of them.
I try not to be conservative nor liberal, but rather “sensible.” In other words, looking at all sides of the argument, looking at all facts, and then making an informed decision based upon those factors. Point is, there shouldn’t be multiple points of view (subjective), there should be just one view which weighs everything out (objective). Subjectivity is the cancer of American politics and American media. Like science, we need to gather all our facts and lay them out, getting as close to an objective truth as possible.
That said, by today’s definition, I fall under the “socialist” category (a dirty word in America these days, no doubt–although America has always been socialist, especially so during the Progressive era. But alas, another topic for another discussion). So I know I’m outnumbered here. Though I thought this was more of a Libertarian site based upon the “About” section, which would align us socially speaking. Either way, I appreciate the dialogue of course, however short lived it was as I will be bowing out now.
And again, my apologies for ranting. Normally I’m more controlled than that. Perhaps one to many beers tonight.