Sebastian – Page 375 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Chick-fil-a Controversy Manufactured by Media?

I came across this link which suggested that the entire controversy over Chick-fil-a and gay marriage was ginned up by the media. It included a link to the original source of the conversely, and being partial to making judgements based on original source material, I decided to read it.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Dan Cathy is opposed to gay marriage. His religious values would practically guarantee that. But I do have to admit the context in which he was speaking sounds more like heterosexual marriage rather than gay marriage:

It began as a college scholarship and expanded to a foster care program, an international ministry, and a conference and retreat center modeled after the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.

“That morphed into a marriage program in conjunction with national marriage ministries,” Cathy added.

Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family. “Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

He’s speaking here of the WinShape Foundation, which has a program that is described thusly:

Truett Cathy‘s middle son, Don “Bubba” Cathy, and his wife Cindy, also head up efforts to minister to couples in strengthening their marriages. The retreat center offers several special events for couplesâ€”ranging from couples who have healthy marriages to couples who are actively considering divorce. The program seeks to promote healthy marriages and families.

If the claim that in this context, Cathy is speaking of heterosexual marriage, I buy it. But I think it’s a stretch to suggest that “biblical definition of a family unit” would ever include a gay family in the minds of the Cathy family, and as the Wikipedia entry notes, WinShape has given substantial funding toÂ Eagle Forum,Â Focus on the Family,Fellowship of Christian Athletes,Â Family Research Council,Â Exodus InternationalÂ and the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund. Since the controversy, it seems WinShape is agreeing to get out of the debate on gay marriage, and leave the political arena. For a business, this is wise.

So while the media may have ginned up a controversy from this one article which nowhere mentions gay rights or gay marriage, it’s a fact that the WinShape foundation has given money to causes that oppose gay marriage. As for the controversy, I think Popehat said it best in this “Eat Less Totalitarianism” post:

Menino could use his bully pulpit to call on Bostonians to reject Chick-Fil-A if they come to town. He could call for social opprobrium on Chick-Fil-A and its affiliates and even on its patrons. He could organize protests and marches and letter-writing campaigns. He could carry a sign in front of Chick-Fil-A saying “BE LES BIGOT” if it opens. But if he says he’ll use the coercive power of government to retaliate against Chick-Fil-A for views he doesn’t like, he’s totalitarian.

Read the whole thing.

Some in the Media Speak Out

The Investors Business Daily laments gun free zones. The OC Register editorializes against bringing back the Assault Weapons Ban.Â E.J. Montini is a columnist for The Arizona Republic, and he laments our post-massacre routine:

Eventually, however, [the media will] figure out, as I did in Edmond all those years ago, that the best thing they can do for a grieving community is to leave town.

I couldn’t agree more.

Quote of the Day

Says James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal, in regards to the complaint that there’s no debate on gun control:

When people find it necessary to demand a “debate” or complain about the absence of same, it usually means they’re frustrated because thereÂ isÂ a debate and their side is losing.

Word. Hat tip Instapundit.

Chris Christie on Political Grandstanding

He might not be the 2nd Amendment’s best buddy, but I do give him credit for speaking out on the politicization of tragedy:

“People were just killed over the weekend,” he said. “Can we take a deep breath before politicians start sending out press releases? Can we allow the people to be mourned appropriately by their families before you have opportunistic politicians out there trying to make political points in an election year?”

[…]

“I’m not going to get into the gun control issue while these people are still waiting to be buried,” he said. “And it may not offend you or bother you, but it offends me and bothers me.”

Decline of Mental Hospitals

Clayton Cramer takes a look at the capacity of our mental health system, and notes that even recently, there’s been a precipitous decline. I’m guessing this is because states are running out of other people’s money and turning mental patients out onto the street is an easy way to save money. One interesting thing to know would be to understand how mental health services compare in Europe. I don’t think you can use cross country comparisons to draw absolute and firm conclusions, but I do think they can be useful.

“Did you all fit in one Suburban?”

The protest at NRA’s Federal Affairs office in DC looks pretty sad to me. I particularly like that they had to put a person there with a sign pointing out that they were not, in fact, protesting a popular bar. I count 11 people, two of which I know for sure work for gun control groups. According to their Facebook page, they had 31 signed up to go and 12 maybes. That’s dedication! Only about 1/3rd of those motivated to click they’d be there bothered to show up. As one person on Twitter put it, “Did you all fit in one Suburban?”

Finally Back Home

Bitter and I went on a last minute trip down to Nashville, Tennessee in order to help Bitter’s mom scope out a new condo she was thinking about moving to so she can be closer to the grandkids. The place looked pretty good to us, so she signed the lease, and will be moving down there in a few months. Unfortunately, the drive to Nashville is considerably longer than the drive to Roanoke, but we’ll manage.

We did manage to stop briefly in Knoxville, the Blogger Capital of the World, in order to have lunch with SayUncle. Apparently Robb was up that way with his family, coincidentally, but we didn’t manage to catch him. It seems all bloggers are drawn to Knoxville at some point, and we’ll certainly be passing through more often now that Bitter’s mom is moving to Tennessee.

Your Moment of Duh

Brought to you by Heather in Alaska, who was having a conversation with some friends about the Colorado shooting, and discussed carry in movie theaters. This prompted the question: “Why would you need to bring a gun to a theater anyway?”

I think that particular question has rather answered itself.

Gun Control Groups to Protest Bullfeathers

Looks like the anti-gun groups are planning themselves a little (and I do mean little) protest of NRA. Of course, they are not going to protest NRA’s high-profile headquarters in Fairfax, but instead will protest NRA’s non-descript Federal Affairs office, which sits atop the popular Capitol Hill bar Bullfeathers. I guess the anti gun groups can’t really cover the cost of bus or cab fare out to Fairfax these days, so I suppose I should be understanding here.

It’s a shame I’m in a rush to get back, because Bitter and I could pass through DC and counter protest. Actually, the idea we came up with would be to stop off at a gun shop and pick up one of those jam-o-matic 100 round drum magazines, and offer to destroy it on camera under one condition: that the protesters all sing “I’m A Little Teapot,” of course also acting out the song as they sing it. I figure their dedication to stopping gun violence and ridding our streets of these killing machines is very strong, so of course they would be willing to suffer some minor embarrassment among gun bloggers to accomplish it.

Why You Can’t Trust Gun Control Advocates

I found one of them peddling this bit around, so like a grade school teacher, I have marked it up in red and corrected the ignorance, inaccuracies, and distortions: