(KATV,
Source, Family Council) On Friday, Family Council President Jerry Cox thanked
former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's decision to spearhead a nationwide
Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which will take place all day Wednesday, August
1.
"I want to
thank my friend, Governor Huckabee, for using his influence to amass national
support for Chick-fil-A,"Cox said. "They have been viciously attacked simply
because their President and COO, Dan Cathy, publicly reaffirmed his company's
Christian principles. We are encouraging Arkansans to eat at the nearest
Chick-fil-A on
August 1st
to show support for this great American company. We are also asking folks to
write a note of appreciation to Chick-fil-A at FamilyCouncil.org. Every note
that we collect will be delivered to each restaurant in Arkansas and to the
corporate office in Atlanta. These simple actions will show Chick-fil-A that
they are appreciated.
In the
end, we hope that their strong stand for Christian values will encourage other
businesses to do the same.
"The
Family Council staff will be having lunch at one of the Chick-fil-A locations
in Little Rock on August 1st,"Cox said. "We are proud to support this company
and also help local business at the same time."
Governor
Huckabee issued a statement, saying, "When I heard of the vicious hate speech
and economic bullying being directed toward the Cathy family and their
Chick-Fil-A company, it was stunning. In the name of ‘tolerance' a group was
exercising extreme intolerance and trying to censor a citizen by threatening
his business. When mayors of major cities like Boston and Chicago actually went
on the record to say they would stop a business from opening in their city
because they didn't agree with the fact that the CEO of the company supported
Biblical marriage, it was time to take a stand. I'm thrilled that the Family
Council is expressing affirmation for the rights of citizens to be free of being
bullied by illegal government threats."
Cox said
he really does not see why Mr. Cathy's position should be treated as
controversially as it has been. "In 2004,more than seventy-percent of Arkansas
voters affirmed the traditional definition of marriage when they passed the Arkansas
Marriage Amendment. Some forty states, including Illinois, have laws and
amendments to that same effect.
Mr. Cathy
is not the one who is outside the mainstream on this issue. Those trying to
censor him are. All we want to do, between allowing people to write to
Chick-fil-A via our website and promoting Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, is give
people a way to reiterate that support."
The Atlanta-based company's questionable contributions have been reported and the subject of a number of high-profile protests.
This year, Equality Matters published a newly-released analysis of Chick-fil-A's
charitable work that found that the fast food chain donated nearly $2 million
to anti-gay groups over the course of 2010.
Among those to reportedly receive
donations through Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation were the Marriage &
Family Foundation ($1,188,380), Exodus International ($1,000) and the Family
Research Council (also $1,000).
There are now social media pages and websites about boycotting the chain.
