Chick-fil-A and Tolerance

So this last week I learned that my gay friends are not as tolerant as I thought they were. See, Dan Cathy, owner of the Chick-fil-A franchise, came out last week in support of the Biblical definition of marriage. Gasp! Needless to say, liberals were beside themselves with the agony of having to endure anyone who followed Biblical standards. Besides, Cathy somehow managed to insult gays or something, so Cathy is obviously a jerk.

Democrats respond to perceived intolerance with real intolerance. This is, in a nutshell, the difference between liberals and Conservatives. I don't know one Conservative who appreciates, say, Westboro Baptist Church, but we don't go around demanding that they made to be quiet. We all really wish Westboro would go back to wherever they came from and just stay there, and protesting funerals is a new kind of low, but we understand that if we take away Westboro's rights to be a group of jackwagons, then what will stop anyone from taking our rights to freedom of speech? Everyone has the right to say to what they want, within reasonable limits, and being a Conservative you learn early on that all you can do is deal with it.

But liberals don't see it that way. There is only one way of thinking and it's their way. No dissent allowed.

So Cathy was flagellated in the media for having an opinion and not being afraid to say it. Liberal liberal mayors banned Chick-fil-A from their city only to have the ACLU of all groups pipe up and say that the mayors weren't allowed to ban Chick-fil-A. According to CBN:

[T]he ACLU "strongly supports" same-sex marriage, but explained that "if a government can exclude a business for being against same-sex marriage, it can also exclude a business for being in support of same-sex marriage."

Even the ACLU understands. (Incidentally, I haven't any reports of pigs flying - yet.) If the ACLU gets it, I would certainly like to know what's holding other liberals back.

And then there was the support day on the fist of August, which was a smashing success, and then there was the kiss-in response, which was a flop.

But the day after the Chick-fil-A support day, one of my friends on Facebook posting a picture to his wall that said they hoped that when someone who ate Chick-fil-A started choking on thier food, that the only person who knew CPR wasn't gay.

Now, I also support the traditional view of marriage, that is, the Biblical one. Since I learned my friend was gay, however, I have toned down my rhetoric and don't discuss my opinion as much. I haven't backed down from my beliefs, but I try to be considerate of other people. As long as they are not attacking me or my beliefs, there is no point in attacking them.

To be brutally honest, I don't care who you sleep with or why. I don't want to hear about it, regardless. I absolutely condemn homosexuality, but I don't generally condemn those who practice it. You have to attack my beliefs first, before I get riled up. But I have never discussed my views with this friend.

And I was very insulted to see that picture on his wall. Thank you for wishing that I would choke when I eat at Chick-fil-A.

I always thought he was a very tolerant person. It was a quite a shock to discover that I, who hold to beliefs so tightly and see the world very much in black and white, was far tolerant of his beliefs then he was of mine.

I understand that it happens, but is still a mystery to me: why is it that the people who are always talking about tolerance are the most intolerant of all?

Emergency Alert: Venezuela

I feel the need to pass this on. Via Gulag Bound:

This coming Sunday, 1/23 will be a critical day in the passions of world history.

It could bring a new birth of freedom, or an atrocity worse than Tienanmen Square. All eyes must turn to Caracas, Venezuela and remain vigilant until the Marxofascist insurrection ends.

Over this past Christmas season, a hardcore, totalitarian mixture of Marxism and fascism (hence, Marxofascism) has been forced upon this nation of great strategic
importance, one citizen’s life after another.

Did you know that? No shame if you did not. Eerily, even a dogged newshound may not have caught a whiff of the stench of Chavez’ totalitarian abrogations. Even so, this coming Sunday, January 23, Venezuela’s courageous require, perhaps desperately, the massively focused attention of Americans and of the entire world. Will the whole world be watching?

Now, immediately, if news is spread, if watchers watch and prayers pray, it could mean the Venezuelans’ key to freedom and perhaps a turning point in the worldwide soft war against freedom and sovereignty, by a stealthy, globalist, Marxofascist complex. Yes, Virginia and even District of Columbia, there is a vast globalist, Marxist/fascist conspiracy. Just call it a “beast,” to use the term the Bible provides for such machinations and deal with it.

According to published articles and Venezuelan sources, this beast has applied the tentacles and fangs of Cuba, FARC, Iran, and Russia, to come to the aid of Hugo Chavez, after his party lost the overall majority vote in Venezuela’s parliamentary elections, September 26, of the past year. And it becomes increasingly apparent, this beast includes others, even some of the powers that be (TPTB) in America; more on that in a subsequent article from us.

[break]

While the majority voted against Chavez’ party, they maintained a majority in their parliament. This vote signaled the potential failure of that governing majority to sustain itself. Their solution was to relinquish authority to Chavez by a very broad enabling act, granting him dictator status.

By Christmas time, the Chavez thugs’ rallying cry was “Merry Chavismo,” as they busied themselves confiscating major farms totaling many thousands of acres, especially in the relatively successful, freer market stronghold of the Sur del Lago region. ... This is a locality very rich in oil and natural gas, also in increasingly precious agriculture and never mind Venezuelan mouths, the top-down tyrannical regimes of the world are hungry for all of the above.

Chavez’ ill-fitting excuse, not wasting even a micro-crisis: his government needed to
come to the rescue after alleged chaos following heavy rains. ...

Massive protests followed. Farm machinery was parked on highways,
blocking the movement of military confiscators. In one case, thug forces were
halted by a ninety-something-year old man, blocking their path. But eventually,
for the most part, they accomplished their kleptocratic work, as family and
corporate farmers both had their land stolen by Marxist fiat.

As the demonstrations mounted, we are informed, Chavez told farmers that his
bureaucrats would review their land rights, if they brought their legal deeds
for review. They were stored in a building that was promptly burned. Chavez, not
missing a Marxofascist beat, then assented it was arson, but blamed it upon his
opposition in the Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party.

[break]

Venezuelan students vow never to give up nor give in

Tens of thousands of students have organized, to depose Hugo Chavez. They have vowed to not to recognize Chavez as the legitimate president of Venezuela, vowing to remove him from office “at any cost,” through civil disobedience.

Here's what it all comes down to:

On the anniversary of when the people of Venezuela threw out the last dictator,
January 23 (Sunday) they take to the streets again to protest against dictatorship. There will be sympathy demonstrations in some 30 cities around the world, including Miami.

The reason for holding this rally is not only the anniversary, but also the unconstitutional laws that have been implemented to deny any power to non-chavista parties, even in jurisdictions where they actually won the elections. There is no judicial separation of powers (e.g., judge Maria Afiuni is in jail without trial because Chavez didn’t like her verdict in a case); there is no legislative separation of powers (the lame duck Congress granted Chavez the right to rule by decree); and there is no local democracy (all state and municipal elected bodies have been replaced by “communes” answerable only to Chavez).

Furthermore there is media and internet censorship, and rampant confiscations of private property, both firms and farms. Rather than to use the oil wealth to improve conditions in Venezuela, Chavez is using it to subsidize the dictatorships
in Cuba and Belarus, and he is apparently bribing the politicians of Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, to change also their constitutions to allow for perpetual reelection of the president. Being an ally of Ahmedinejad and Putin, and spending heavily on armaments for a high-technology war, he is clearly setting the stage for a conflict with the United States.

The main event is of course in Caracas, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM ET.

Emphasis added. Also,

Erlingsson also lists locations and times around the world, in which demonstrations will be held. ... These include, in the United States: Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Dallas. ... American patriots, from Tea Parties to social democrats are being urged to show up as a “flash mob” preferably with a red gag or bandana over their mutually non-violent mouths — or at least to noise it up, in media and to media.

I won't be wearing a red bandanna over my mouth in church tomorrow, but I do plan to wear red. Feel free to pass this post or Gulag Bound's post on.