There. Had you at the word, ‘controversial’, didn’t I? Well, it’s more than a casual issue with this beloved southern U.S. Fried Chicken chain, and speculation has already started to ramp-up about how the franchise push into Toronto will fly, given the company’s Evangelical Christian social position…
New kid in town: Chick-Fil-A, a fixture in the U.S. Southeast, is coming to Toronto.
It’s not something we hear about much here in Canada. But, in the States, there have been many examples, in the past few years, of how things can get messy when fundamental Christian traditions and values clash with modern, liberal concepts like Gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose. The issue spilled over into the Food-O-Sphere last year in the case of a Colorado bakery that refused to make a Wedding Cake for a Gay couple. It went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Disclaimer
I, for one, am not a particularly religious person, and I am certainly not focused in any religious direction. At the same time, I don’t have anything critical to say about any particular religion. But I do have some pretty strong opinions about where the agendas of the various religions in this crazy world should not intrude. By this I mean, I believe in the separation of Church and State. And I’ll add that the Kitchen should, further, be kept strictly separate from the latter two institutions.
With that disclosure, I’ll now do my best not to inflame or insult anyone as I fill you in on the background to the Chick-Fil-A (CFA) controversy.
Clearly Christian
Chick-Fil-A is privately owned by an openly and unashamedly Evangelical Christian family, the Cathys of Atlanta, GA. They’re billionaires and are described as ‘devout Southern Baptists’ by Wikipedia. The company’s policies, such as it’s firm rule to remain closed on Sundays, are directly informed by the family’s faith. That’s fine. It’s their company. And anyone who disagrees with their religious views is free to get their Fried Chicken Sandwiches elsewhere.
But it’s good Chicken. I’ve had it. Many times, in fact. I took every opportunity that came up to eat at CFA when I used to drive my late father back and forth, to and from his winter residence in Florida twice a year. And I never questioned the company’s religious or political views. Because their staff never questioned mine. As it should be.
Recent messiness…
Some folks don’t feel like I do about CFA. In fact, after current CFA CEO Dan Cathy spoke out strongly in 2012, asserting his and his family’s support for ‘the biblical definition of the family unit’ (which defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman), the LGBTQ Community became outraged and may have gone over the edge a little, organizing Gay and Lesbian ‘Kiss-Ins’ at a number of CFA restaurants.
Other activist groups more recently petitioned New York City Council to ban CFA from expanding into that metropolis. The City Fathers (and Mothers) declined to declare such a ban. And you can now get your CFA ‘fix’ in the heart of Manhattan. Also in Chicago and Los Angeles. But the controversy continues to simmer just under the surface in some places.
Allow me, at this juncture, to remind you that I firmly believe in your right to go get your Chicken Sandwiches elsewhere if you don’t like CFA’s religion or politics. There are lots of options, especially in the U.S. Deep South, where Fried Chicken, itself, is almost a religion. Here in Canada, we already have CFS’a arch enemy, KFC, which is already firmly entrenched, along with St. Hubert and Swiss Chalet, the Spit-Roasted Chicken challengers. Is the CFA brain trust in Atlanta even aware of the latter two Canadian Chicken forces majeures?
Nothing is certain…
Maybe, CFA is different enough to survive and possibly even thrive in the Toronto market. Maybe Canadians, as a culture, are accepting enough of ‘differences’, and sufficiently enamoured of great Fried Chicken, that they’ll embrace the new kid in town like they they did KFC, when it came to Canada in the mid 1960s, when I was just a kid.
CFA President Tim Tassopoulos told the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper, Toronto is, “The best city to kick it off is Toronto. It’s a global city. It has so many different ethnic groups. Toronto really represents the globe. We feel like it’s a great learning ground for us.”
And he added: “Chick-Fil-A’s made the commitment, and always has, to serve everyone. We’re part of the local community, and we reach out to every aspect of the community.” […] “We have people of all faiths that are Chick-Fil-A operators, and of course our team member community, they’re 100,000 strong, and represent all different views and backgrounds and identities – so, very open.”
…Except that I won’t be taking part in any controversies
In case it got lost in the foregoing, I wish to restate, here, in the strongest possible terms, my deeply held belief in the separation of Church, State and Kitchen .
~ Maggie J.