'Anti-Gay Marriage Day' Disguised as 'Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day'

Today is Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, a de facto celebration for the national fast-food restaurant chain created by former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee that appears to be less about celebrating fast-food chicken and more about celebrating bigotry.

The day was created by Huckabee in response to protests and condemnations from people toward Chick-fil-A after its CEO Dan Cathy came out against gay marriage a few weeks ago.

Even though I realize gay marriage and homosexuality in general is a religious issue for some I stand by my statement that it’s bigotry. Anytime you support a group of people not having the same basic rights as others than it is bigotry. Because of this celebrating a restaurant chain for being against a certain group of people to have equal rights is, in fact, bigotry. It’s really no different, in my opinion, than if Taco Bell came out against heterosexuals or KFC came out against African-Americans or Asians or insert race/group of people here.

It sickens me to see politicians like Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum supporting Chick-fil-A for this reason. Do you really think these politicians are appreciating the restaurant for its chicken nuggets or chicken sandwiches? No. Huckabee, Palin and Santorum are supporting the chain because it shares the same close-minded and ignorant views that they do. They probably didn’t care about Chick-fil-A and might not have even eaten at the restaurant prior to Cathy’s statements.

Asking others to appreciate the restaurant with them is simply asking them to support in the bigotry of the event. It’s really not as much of a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day as it is an Anti-Gay Marriage Appreciation Day, and that’s pretty disgusting. Unfortunately, over a half a million people have accepted Huckabee’s Facebook invitation to Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day and another 60,000-plus have given a ‘maybe’ answer. Now, I’m sure some of those people are oblivious to the situation and just like the restaurant’s food, but I’m also sure most of those people have simply joined in as a means of supporting the hatred.

People tend to use their religious beliefs as a means of supporting their bigotry or as an excuse for making their viewpoints seem right or appropriate to them. This is something that’s likely always existed and unfortunately probably always will, but seems to be more of an issue now than ever in a world that’s trying to change for the better, but struggling because at least half of the country allows religion to dictate political opinion.

Because of Mike Huckabee and other ignorantly minded people I’m sure Chik-fil-A is going to make a killing in sales today, but you couldn’t pay me to eat at that restaurant today or anytime, for that matter, because I refuse to give my money to a business that supports and makes money through the hatred of others.  

     

Second Amendment Couldn't Have Imagined Assault Rifles

Seventy people in Aurora, Colo. just wanted to see the biggest movie event of the year, “The Dark Knight Rises”, late Thursday night, but unfortunately because of one deranged man and some ludicrous American laws none of them got to finish that movie as 58 wound up shot or wounded and 12 lost their lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not want to take your guns away America. Though, I don’t ever plan on owning a firearm myself (because I think it could only lead to more bad than good) I don’t have anything against people who hunt or own guns for their own protection (though some people [George Zimmerman, etc.] take that right too far).

However, I will say that America should look into ways to control guns without infringing on those who live by the Second Amendment. It actually seems pretty simple to me.

The AR-15 isn't meant for hunting or necessary for protection. It's sole intention is killing.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects American’s rights to “keep and bear arms”. The original meaning of the Second Amendment was for the American public to retain the right to protect themselves. The meaning was never meant for Americans to have the right to murder.

This is where it becomes pretty simple to me … Americans should have the right to own guns, but not any gun they want. Guns that are typically used for hunting purposes (rifles, shotguns, etc.) or purposes for protection (handguns, any gun that’s also intended as hunting weapon) are fine by me. However, American citizens should not be allowed to own assault weapons, like the AR-15 assault rifle that James Holmes primarily used to gun down and kill innocent civilians in the Aurora movie theater.

Now, I know Holmes also had two handguns and a shotgun in addition to the assault rifle, all of which were purchased legally, but it’s the assault rifle that it appears caused so much harm and carnage late Thursday night.

Assault rifles really only serve one purpose … killing. Based on that there’s absolutely no damn reason why they should be legal in the United States. Illegalizing assault rifles would not infringe on the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens because they definitely aren’t used for hunting and they aren’t necessary for protection.

When the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791 there was no way that our founding fathers could have foreseen such a horrific thing as an assault rifle and if they had they might have thought twice about ratifying that amendment. As previously mentioned, I’m not for eliminating the Second Amendment, but should we really rely on something created over 200 years ago to dictate our world today.  

However, I know we likely won’t get anywhere in this country on gun control, even after Thursday night’s biggest mass shooting in U.S. history, because discussing gun control is essentially a curse for politicians. Republicans would never touch the issue, even if they believed in stricter gun laws, because of the all powerful National Rifle Association’s influence on the party and Democrats, many of whom likely believe in gun control, won’t approach the topic because they realize it could be a hindrance to their political careers.

We’re never going to see an end to gun deaths in this country, even though I’m a pretty big dreamer I know this will never happen, but we can do something to make the killing of mass peoples harder than it was on Thursday night.