For dinner last night I had me some Chick Fil'a. Not for any political reason but because I really like their chicken sandwiches with the buffalo sauce. It did however get me thinking about the recent Chick Fil'a hubbub.
So as I understand it the founder/head of the company, who has made his Christian beliefs no secret if you know anything about the company, said something along the lines of he supports the traditional biblical definition of marriage and I suppose this caused a backlash from the gay community because they saw this as aimed at them. I guess he has donated to charities that try to discourage being gay.
As a libertarian I feel both sides have valid points and I don't want to be seen as on one side or the other.
On the one one side i feel if people want to believe the gay lifestyle is sinful or wrong and donate to charities that discourage it, I think they are completely within their free speech rights. If they disagree with someone having sex with another of the same gender is wrong, it their opinion. Just like if they think pre-marital sex. They are allowed to believe that if they want. I may not agree with them, but free speech is easy to defend if everyone only said things I agree with. I do think some of the people on this side do want to prevent people from being gay or genuinely hate gays. I don't want to support that any more than I would support laws against pre-marital sex.
On the other side those that are gay or do not feel it is wrong have a right to boycott a business or person they don't agree with if they want to. I have decided that this is not important in my life. If I only bought from stores or people that were completely in line with my libertarian philosophy it would make my life pretty difficult. Those in the pro-gay camp do not have the right to force other to agree. They cannot use govt. to force other to think a certain way. There should not be thought police.
I buy from Chick Fil'a and Apple even though neither is completely in line with my politics. I will buy albums from Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen or Kid rock if I like their music, no matter what they believe, or the party they belong to. I would only stop if they encourage very extreme beliefs completely out of the main stream on both sides.
Where I have trouble is when they start using government to prevent people from doing what they want. It it doesn't directly affect another persons body or Property the government should stay out of it.
In my mind Marriage is a contract. Each state (yes this is a state issue) should have a standard marriage contract. it should state they want to get advantages of marriage such as inheritance rights, tax treatment and other special rights given by marriage in exchange they agree to let the courts decide property division and such in the event of divorce by predetermined rules. It should be pointed out that this marriage contract only affects the govt. and those individuals. Most of Rights that gay groups are fighting for is treatment from the govt. Inheritance rights, medical decisions, visa sponsorship, tax filling these are all shortcomings of the govt. Private companies should be able to give or reserve any rights they have irregardless or marriage. Many companies already give gay couples the same treatment they give married couples. They are free to do that no matter what the govt. does.
Some people might think that certain things are wrong and they should be free to say so. Some people may still feel that interracial marriage is wrong for what ever reason. I don't agree with them (seeing as my wife is Asian and I am not) , and I may feel that they are bigoted or misinformed but I would never try to use the government to force them to change their thinking. Enforcing politically correct or right wing religious ideology on people is the not the way of freedom or tolerance. Yet we see it from both sides.
In my America, people are free to speak their minds and beliefs even if others don't agree, but not free to use govt. to force them on others. Whether they are pro-gay or antigay, religious or not. You can't tell others what to do. You can boycott and speak your mind and donate to to your cause but you can't use laws to make it so. I don't want to be in the middle but I guess I am. I will be the one standing for freedom for all. Besides the buffalo sauce is good on the waffle fries too.
