Friday, August 03, 2012

Much more than a chicken sandwich

On the very day Obama hoped no one would be paying attention to how he treats Christians,  the beginning of the HHS Mandate,  fining Catholic institutions $100 for every employee without contraceptive and abortifacient coverage insurance, the very victims of his takeover of religious freedom exercise that freedom in a big way. Everyone in America noticed how much our freedom of speech and freedom to practice our faith in the public square means to us. I doubt that Mike Huckabee had this in mind when he planned this event, but I think God has a sense of humor in this convergence of events!

Christina had to get up early for the 2 hr ride to Chick fil A
But the opponents of God's plan for the family are very upset. They were mocking the idea of Chick fil A Appreciation Day. They didn't understand why buying fast food in the name of freedom was such a wildly popular idea, which set the internet ablaze,  that world records were set as family values activists lines up by the hundreds of thousands to buy Dan Cathy's chicken sandwiches. They didn't know we cared. We have been asleep, it seems. But no longer.

 We are tired of being told that our values, the values held by Christians for two millenia and by Jews for five millennia, that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman which was instituted by God Himself is somehow hateful.
 We are tired of being told that our moral values cannot be discussed in the public square, and that our tax dollars will be used to murder unborn children, and if we do not violate our consciences by paying for contraceptives and chemical abortions for our employees then we will pay a fine designed to put our Catholic institutions out of business.We are told we have to help our government  erase God's fingerprints on our civilization.
"Mom, why did  we have to get on this LONG line again?"
We stood up and said a loud "NO!!" to censorship yesterday by traveling hundreds of miles out of our way to our nearest Chick fil A, standing on a lines which wrapped around the block, and gratefully eating a delicious chicken meal which was cheerfuly served by an exhausted employee who managed to smile.
I asked my server, a young man named Mario Perez, how they had enough chicken for the thousands of customers in the Burlington Mall outside of Boston. "I don't know where they are getting it from, it just keeps coming!" he said in amazement. Was there a multiplication of chicken miracle?
I know there was a miracle in the patience, cooperation and charity in the 200 hundred person line in the food court. In the way the angry lesbians in the anti Chick fil A 'homophobic' t shirts were treated. Person after person came up to gently explain why we feel that their lifestyle is not sanctioned by God, how He is calling them home to Him for confession and healing of same sex attraction.
I know the miracle kept going for over four hours, from 11:30 to 4:00PM when the line of 200 began to diminish, just in time for the dinner rush, it was a mere 100.
I saw smiles and 'excuse mes' from people crowded together, cheers for the immense crowd,  and prayers over the food. It was a celebration of love, not an occasion of hate. I pray we can keep the enthusiasm going till November 5 when we again must make our values heard by telling President Obama, that his anti-Christian, anti-life, and anti-family policies do not reflect our values.

In case you were going to report me for child abuse, I took the girls for a ride to lovely Rockport MA after the long drive and long wait in line at Chick fil A. See the photos here.  All is forgiven!

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