Boy, there's three words that will light a fire you could see from space.
Here's something not just a little ironic, though.
It occurs to me that in the flames of the current "freedom fracas" there are, when the smoke clears, only two choices.
More on that in a minute.
First, let's briefly recap our story.
Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A, is pro-marriage, marriage, for his purposes, defined as the union between a man and a woman.
The gay community is red hot angry (tempted to say flaming mad here but suspect that the applicable side's sense of humor button is on pause right now) at Cathy's stand.
What has resulted is a Scriptually soaked, sexually charged reboot of the Hatfields and The McCoys that has manged to hold its own in the headlines even as Olympic gold is being won and the Colorado theater shooter is being judged as to how fit he is to be judged.
At the core of it, though, after all of the prurience, salaciousness and/or raw human drama is taken out of the picture, what's really going on here is simply a very clear difference of opinion.
Next to gun control (and boy, there's a tar pit that makes LaBrea look like Epcot), the whole issue of "gay rights" is about as messy a can of worms as you can pop the top on these days. (Reference to worms, btw, is simply intended as a traditional metaphor for a difficult issue or set of problems and is in, no way, intended to have any phallic connotation, hetero, homo or otherwise)
Personally, I'm resigned to the idea that there are no minds to be changed in either debate.
Now or ever.
Perhaps at some time, a long time from now, in a galaxy far, far away, there will be some kind of enlightening event that will tip the social balance but as regards human beings on the planet Earth, experience has taught me that when it comes to gays and/or guns there are two, and only two, boxes available for checking on the ballot.
Fer.
Aginst.
Sociologists might argue that we are, in fact, in the midst of a great cultural upheaval, one in which the Chick fil A brouhaha is simply the latest salvo being fired in the great war that gays are waging to be understood, recognized and, yes, even accepted into the main stream of society.
Much like, say, blacks fought for and, in large measure achieved, their own societal acceptance in the 1950's and 1960's.
Here's the problem with that analogy.
Near as I can remember, the Bible doesn't have a lot to say about lunch counters, bus seats, public restrooms and who may or may not be permitted to sit, sit and/or sit in those assorted venues.
And the Constitution is just vague enough on the matter of color to be easily interpreted by either side as either side feels it necessary to interpret.
The Bible, on the other hand, is pretty clear (clear, of course, always being the slipperiest word on the slippery slope) about homosexuality.
And strict Scripturists can quote you chapter and verse...all while driving, texting and enjoying their bag of chicken tenders.
And that wacky old "right to bear arms" thing really belongs in a paragraph entitled "however your read this is cool with us".
So you can articulate a measured, reasoned and reasonable argument all day long regarding a common sense control of misused guns but the instant the bubbas hear the words "gun" and "control" in the same sentence, their brains go into a block mode in which all their ears can hear are the sounds of "America The Beautiful" while their nostrils fill with the delightful aroma of a bag of chicken tenders.
I profess no certified expertise in any subject that would qualify me to render an unassailable opinion on the future status of the homosexual community in the mainstream.
But I've lived in America for sixty years and in the American South for the lion's share of em and I'm here to tell ya....
In the land of the free, the home of the brave where freedom of choice sounds, at least, like a wide open buffet of options and opportunites, there are, when it comes to gays and guns.... two and only two choices.
Fer.
Aginst.
God bless America.
Amen.
Pass the chicken.
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