Fights for civil rights have proven to be of the utmost importance in our country ever since we fought for our freedom against the British. In that time we have come a long way, African Americans were granted their freedom when slavery was abolished and when they were still mistreated a civil war broke out in hopes of resolving the issue. They were given the right to vote, as were women, and laws were created to protect their rights. The civil rights fight of our time seems to be that of seeking country-wide approval of same sex marriage, a simple right that shouldn’t be denied. This controversy has grown rather heated in recent months as the President/COO of Chick-Fil-A, an exponentially growing fast food company originated in the south, openly announced his disapproval of same sex marriage in an interview stating “I think we are inviting god’s judgement on our nation when we shake our fists and say ‘we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”.
This statement has produced an enormous response across the country including nation-wide protests, and the destruction of a deal in place to establish another Chick-Fil-A in Chicago. These protests were non-violent and involved countless same sex couples visiting Chick-Fil-A locations, kissing in the restaurant, taking photos of it and posting them on social media sites. In Chicago politicians are calling for the company to stay out of their city, in addition alderman Joe Moreno, who was in the process of making a deal to bring a Chick-Fil-A to his city, has killed that deal. Also the mayor of Boston has urged the business to back out of their plans to spread to his city, and councilman James Kenney of Philadelphia has been quoted telling the company to “take a hike and take your intolerance with you.”
It’s quite evident that this is a pressing concern in the eyes of politicians from northern cities as they either hope to prevent the spread of the business to their city or to remove their intolerance from it. It’s also crystal clear that this is an extremely heated topic as one remark by a wealthy business owner has stirred such an intense response. Going back to the comment made I’d like to ask so what if we are inviting god’s judgement on our nation? So what if we are saying we know better than god as to what constitutes a marriage? This is a country where we pride ourselves on the freedoms we are given, the rights we have as civilians; so why is it that a person’s sexual preference should deny them a right given to all civilians? Since this isn’t the Middle Ages and the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t rule all let’s put god aside for a moment, are their any actual moral arguments against two people of the same sex getting married? Will it harm anyone at all if we allow this? I personally am heterosexual, and I don’t have any friends or family members that are in a same sex marriage at this time, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel their struggle. I think that it is imperative that we realize that we mustn’t deny individuals that same pursuit of happiness that this country was built on.