I wrote this a while ago, and it's old news now, but still relevant.
I've only read a few articles on this (links below), so instead of rendering judgment on Chick-fil-A where there is less clarity, I'd rather look at what the evangelical response to it says about us.
1. Culture wars have leaders and followers.
It's a principle of warfare that you take out the leaders, so the rest can't resist as effectively. When governments persecute the church, they imprison the pastors. When liberals seek to advance their agenda, they seek to capture the institutions that house and create leaders. Chick-fil-A was a leader in that it continued to support biblical marriage when fired at for it.
2. We desperately want standard-bearers in the culture war.
Now CFA has stopped their support for biblical norms in one form (no more Salvation Army or FCA charity support), but we don't want to believe it. We'd rather believe they are misguided or that their actions don't mean what it looks like, than lose a standard-bearer on our side.
3. We don't like criticizing our friends
I don't know the relational chart well, but I'm fairly sure there is a web of relationships between CFA folks and evangelical leadership. These are not only allies in a culture war, but fellow church members, donors and non-profit beneficiaries, and maybe even relatives. Many of us have friends who work at CFA, or we'd be happy to have our kids work there. I think this is part of our hesitancy to come down hard over our disappointment with CFA's move. Some even protest that we are "shooting our wounded" if we criticize CFA for this.
4. We like criticizing from afar.
Some are quick to judge, not knowing all the dynamics involved. Where you're standing and who you're with tends to shape your view. I've noticed a trend that people unfamiliar personally with CFA are quicker to judge them.
5. We are politically polarized, on both sides
It is quite absurd for a city to deny a restaurant a license to open, solely because of statements it has made in the past about the Bible and marriage. The sexual revolution is extremely intolerant and totalitarian in this regard. No safe space for the biblical marriage position allowed! But we are polarized on our side, too. We make CFA a champion for our side, when they are simply running a good business. Should we be looking around the commercial landscape, seeking who is on our side? I'm not sure. Is Walmart the biblical alternative to Target? Your local coffee to Starbucks? Is there always a clear biblical shopping choice?
6. We are inconsistent and need to think through our judgments better.
It's far easier to get Christians to ally with CFA than it is to get them to oppose Starbucks or Target, but it's the exact same dynamic, only in reverse. If we want to support a company that speaks and practices biblical norms, why would we support a company that celebrates immorality?
We like to applaud CFA for being closed on Sunday, on the way to going to another restaurant on Sunday! Why are we commending CFA for doing a biblical thing (giving their employees a sabbath) while we do the opposite (make employees work on the Sabbath)?
Let's be patient with each other as we think these things through, and when we sometimes come to different conclusions.
7. Life isn't always simple
It's hard to tell from a distance if an ally like CFA is being smart, or if they are battle weary from the culture war, or if they are compromising. Don't believe the illusion we get from Fox and CNN these days that every news item is a simple, "Good guys and bad guys." "Just tell me who I should be mad at, and I've got the news." Sheesh.
It seems clear that CFA wants to rebrand itself to deal with opposition to opening stores in newer (more liberal than the South) markets. Is this compromise, or just smart? As a business guy, I can appreciate that you don't want an intangible dynamic to hurt sales and curb growth. I don't think a company led by Christians has a moral obligation to make itself a standard-bearer in the culture war. It's a little trickier, though, since they have made themselves one in the past, and now want to back away from that.
Many are pointing out that this move won't stop the gay lobby from being mad at and demanding more from CFA. Probably true. But their main goal is a corporate one, not of the culture war: to have new cities let them open there, not to satisfy the gay lobby, and for that, it might just work.
Christianity Today, Nov 18
Russell Moore, "Should You Be Angry at Chick-fil-A?"
No comments:
Post a Comment