Hall: San Diegans feast on free speech at Chick-fil-A

Americas defining obsessions with fast food and free speech collided in caloric heaven Wednesday as hundreds, if not thousands, of people waited in long lines for up to two hours to have lunch at the Chick-fil-A on Sports Arena Boulevard in San Diego.

Like me, youd probably forgotten there even was a Chick-fil-A on Sports Arena. The last time this place had long lines, it was a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, and the year was 2002. Times sure have changed.

Wednesday, Americas increased appetite for chicken sandwiches came as part of a national effort by Christians, conservatives and everyday people to show support for Chick-fil-As embattled president and chief operating officer, Dan Cathy. His comments last month against same-sex marriage got people on the right and left of the political spectrum running around like, well, chickens with their heads cut off.

I think we are inviting Gods judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage, Cathy said on a radio show. I pray Gods mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.

Mayors in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco expressed outrage, and the remarks incensed the gay community, whose leaders quickly moved to make it an issue in a year when President Barack Obama has come out in support of same-sex marriage.

Gay-rights advocates planned a national Same-Sex Kiss Day at all Chick-fil-As this Friday, and conservatives countered by ordering an eat-in two days earlier in the name of Christian values.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee dubbed it Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day and explained his goal on Facebook: Lets affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse.

If you dont know, and I didnt, the Cathy family, which entered the restaurant business in 1946 and opened the first of 1,600 franchised Chick-fil-As in Atlanta in 1967, doesnt open on Sundays.

Its even more overtly Christian than Californias In-N-Out Burger, which references Bible passages on its packaging but not God in its corporate purpose, as Chick-fil-A does.

Maybe because of that, the people who endured warm weather and long lines in San Diego Wednesday did so happily, with the grace and good nature they might have displayed if they were waiting to enter church.

Originally posted here:
Hall: San Diegans feast on free speech at Chick-fil-A