Social Commentary II: Hate

*Be warned, there is language in the following blog; not my own.

Hopefully this will be short and sweet.  Because honestly, this will serve as a bridge between parts I and III.

A few months ago, there was an uproar about comments made by Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-a, regarding the company’s and his family’s stance on marriage.  The quote is as follows:

"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.”

Do a google search about this subject, and you will find nothing but articles titled basically the same thing:

“CHICK-FIL-A SLAMS GAY MARRIAGE”

And there was a veritable storm of tweets by celebrities and status updates on Facebook on the subject, examples of which follow:

"Hate mongers! Never again! Not another $ from me”

"Goodbye Chikkk-fil-a! your food was delicious, but I can no longer eat nuggets filled with hate!"

That’s the first example.

Let’s step back a couple years.  Carrie Prejean is up for Miss USA, and prompted with a question on the subject of gay marriage, she says this:

“Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be between a man and a woman.”

Prejean was subsequently attacked and slandered verbally, the most vile of the responses coming from the very person who asked the question, Perez Hilton.  First, he called her a “dumb bitch”.  Then he retracted his statement and apologized, only to come back and say “I didn’t mean to call her a bitch, I meant to call her a c*nt.”

Prejean had this to say in response to her attacker:

“I can only say to him that I will be praying for him. I feel sorry for him, I really do,” Prejean said. “I think he’s angry, I think he’s hurt. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. He asked me specifically what my opinion was on that subject and I gave him an honest answer…”

All of this is documented.  Don’t take my word for it.  Go Google it for yourself.

That’s the second example.

Hate.

As I said in the previous blog, part I…forget the topic itself for a moment.  Forget that we are talking about gay marriage.  Replace the topic with anything you’d like. 

And you know what?  While we’re at it, forget that Cathy and Prejean were specifically asked a question that was designed to discredit them. 

Just. Look. At. The words.

Compare the two sides.  Compare what Cathy said, to the words in response.  Compare what Prejean said with the words of her attackers.

Go ahead and read it all again.  I’ll wait.

...

I honestly don’t know how to continue because I’m just dumbfounded. 

These people are accused of spreading hate, because they answered a question honestly. 

Because they voiced their opinions, when asked to do so.

Because those opinions were different from those of others. 

This.

Is where we are heading.

What is one supposed to do when asked a question, a question specifically designed to act as a weapon?   

What does one do when, after answering that question honestly, they are accused of spreading hate?

From the reactions, you would think Cathy and Prejean had called for an out-right extermination of homosexual people.  Genocide. 

But they didn’t even answer in a negative way.  They answered positively, affirming their own belief, and not speaking negatively of the beliefs of others.  And when attacked, they responded just as positively and with as much grace and dignity as the situation allowed.

And they are the ones being accused of spreading hate.

Cathy and Prejean didn’t use questions as weapons.  They didn’t call anyone a bitch or a c*nt. 

The level of sheer absurdity in this argument is staggering to me.  To say that someone is spreading hate, to malign them publicly, simply for answering your question honestly, simply because they voiced an opinion that was different than yours...that is a level of insanity that my mind cannot grasp. 

Honestly, I have more respect for the argument for homosexual marriage than I do for the argument that someone who disagrees with you is spreading hate. 

Look at both sides of the argument again.  Research the words yourself.  And you tell me who is spreading hate, and who is not. 

What is one to do?  There is no way out of that situation. 

There is no recourse…

Coming next: Social Commentary III : Social Recourse