Renewing My Credentials

A note yesterday to me on my facebook page told me that "I needed to stick up for the gays too." I had made a comment to that person, telling her that she had come a long way, by making a public statement about supporting gays and lesbians in the wake of this week's Chick-Fil-A kerfluffle.

Now, this person wouldn't know my history, because when she met me, when I was appointed to her church, I was still in "going along to get along" mode in order to be ordained in the UM church. I had been clearly told in Texas that I was not a "company man", and that if I had the opportunity to move somewhere else to be ordained, I should probably do so. But many of my friends from the Texas years remember the Jovinian Society, Dallas Affirmation, PFLAG, Pride Parades in Cedar Springs, and our support of the Reconciling Congregations Program (now known as Reconciling Ministries Network) for 15 years. This person wouldn't know that I had to leave Texas in order to get ordained, in part because of my positions against current UM policy regarding homosexuality. So, I realized that one's social justice witness is only as current as the last controversy.

As a middle aged white guy, it's important to periodically renew my support for my minority brothers and sisters; it needs to be renewed so as not to become stale. So, on the matter of retail boycotting, here is information I want to share, in order to update my "credentials"; Donna and I never ordered from Domino's. I continue that habit now. I will eat it if it's there, but they are a supporter of anti-gay and anti-choice causes. Besides, there's lots of better pizza in the world, especially in Northeast PA.

I prefer shopping at Home Depot over Lowe's, though having a Lowe's at the end of my block is darned convenient. I do use them sometimes; they've got the leather BBQ gloves I like.

I never liked Chick fil A, I found myself underwhelmed by their food. That's a moot point here, because there aren't any around.

The Boy Scouts are a difficult issue. They make hurtful, discriminatory policy decisions regarding gay scouts and leaders, but I see the value of my son's troop in his life, so I bite my tongue there. I wish they'd adopt the Girl Scout's policy of inclusion.

So much of our lives are bound up in relationships, both personal and economic. We're never going to have a completely ideologically pure economy-your favorite mom and pop diner could use some of its profits to support Operation Rescue and the killing of abortion doctors, and multi-national corporations that have monopolies on which we depend send millions to support inclusion of people you may not like. We make our stands when we think we're going to make a difference, and sometimes we do. And my stand is that my gay and lesbian brothers are children of God just like I am, full stop.

They were shown in bald terms this week that a certain population of people, by the evidence of long queues of people standing outside of a fast food restaurant, still hates, fears, and reviles them. Some may (and have) argued that buying a chicken sandwich (not even a very good one, sniffs my inner food critic) from that particular chain on that day was about free speech and free enterprise. Perhaps, and fair enough. That free speech they so cherish, however, was exercised on the back of, and in defense of, a specifically anti-gay corporate culture. Their charitable donations prove it, and without subtlety.

I have heard more than one story of people being shocked that friends, and family, people who seemed to be accepting, posted pictures of themselves in Chick-Fil-A restaurants, holding up drink cups, etc. That has caused a lot of pain. As much as queue-standers would like to think so, there is nothing Christian about that. At least not any Jesus-based Christianity.