Friday, July 25, 2008

God hates McDonald's

So, the religious right is boycotting McDonald's because they are supportive of gay rights.

Not only do I have a problem with people who fight tooth and nail for their "right" to treat an entire demographic as subhuman, I also have a problem with hypocrisy. The catalyst for the current whine-fest is McDonald's being listed as a "Corporate Partner" on the webpage of the NGLCC. You can see this list here:
http://www.nglcc.org/corporate/partners

They are targeting McDonald's, yet there are quite a few other partners listed that are not getting so much attention. One major example that stands out in my mind includes a few pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson. I don't see these bigots going without their Viagra, Zithromax, or Zocor. Or, in the case of Johnson & Johnson, their band-aids, baby shampoo, or Tylenol.

Other companies include airlines (Southwest and American), hotels (Hyatt, Hilton, and Wyndham), credit card companies (American Express, Capital One, and quite a few others), quite a few grocery chains (including Acme, Shop n Save, and Albertson's), realtor Century 21, and that obscure little shipping company, UPS. In fact, it seems that quite a few of the corporate partners are providers of services that most people would be hard pressed to do without.

McDonald's has taken a beating for years over many things, including environmental issues, health concerns, and not disclosing that their fries are not vegetarian. Now that they've done something right, something that promotes justice, I really hope they stand their ground against the bigots. It might even convince me to occasionally patronize them, even if it's just for a pie and iced tea once in a while, and I am going to roll my eyes at the hypocrite fundies who think that boycotting one corporate sponsor of a civil rights group is going to help them in their fight to keep gay people from being treated as human beings.

I watch these people freaking out, as if they are terrified that gay people are going to...what, exactly? Break into their houses and make them engage in gay sex? Wave a rainbow flag in their faces?

No, really, I want to know why people are so terrified. If gay people are allowed to live their lives without being harrassed, discriminated against, or otherwise treated like crap, what are the consequences homophobes are so afraid of? Gays currently are able to do many of those things in certain parts of the US, and it is very clear that they aren't out raping heterosexuals en masse.

Why are they so concerned with something that is none of their business, that doesn't affect them?

6 comments:

Regina said...

I have been scratching my head pondering this very thing for most of my adult life. Even when I was heavily into church and even one of their singles group leaders. The pastor would actually say from the pulpit, "If you are gay, we want you to know that we love you and Jesus loves you"! WTF? You preach against their god given gender preference yet you love them? One of the many reasons I have abandoned organized religious groups.
As for the fundies boycotting McDs....it's a pick and choose mentality. Hypocrisy is deep rooted in all groups who disparage others who stray from their version of "normal". I guess they suppose McDs would be the most recognizable and receive the most attention. I don't understand the fear of homosexuals. Even as a hetero, I don't understand it. The best I can come up with is that if homosexuality is ok, then they makes them or their beliefs wrong, and that wouldn't be good for them. Trivial, but not a stretch to make that assumption at all.
Thanks for a great blog!
Regina

Miranda said...

"Why are they so concerned with something that is none of their business, that doesn't affect them?"

Actually, the definition of "marriage" affects everyone, and especially children. The challenge (assuming this was a real, and not rhetorical, question): listen to two secular arguments against same-sex marriage by David Blankenhorn (http://forum.wgbh.org/content/forum/3063-2006_04_06.mp3) and Maggie Gallagher (http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=3063). Even if you don't wind up convinced, at least you'll know what people opposed to same-sex marriage really think, instead of relying on straw-man stereotypes.

Anonymous said...

i think i might go have a greezy sammitch at mcdonalds this morning, just to spite the religious right!

Anonymous said...

I don't understand homophobia, either. And for the first time in a long while, I am applauding McDonald's.

Anonymous said...

Opposition to same-sex marriage: Bigotry hidden behind the mantle of religion. There is no secular argument against gay marriage, especially if your consider the divorce rate for heterosexual couples these days. What about the "children" in those situations? Stop hiding your nonsense behind "the children," Helen Lovejoy.

Every legitimate medical and psychological organization has studied children raised in same-sex couple homes, and there is NO difference and it's certainly not worse than some kid getting shuffled around foster care for years.

Anyway, I had McDonald's for lunch today. Grilled chicken snack wraps and fruit. It was good stuff.

Anonymous said...

I recently saw a news story where a gay man found a baby abandoned on his doorstep. He tried to tell his heterosexual neighbors, to call the hospital, they didn't. What about the heterosexual parents who dropped their kid on someone's porch instead of taking them to a safe haven?

It is a story where the only person who didn't fail this child, was a gay man. It says to me, here's something that tells people gays aren't the people who are problems, in more cases heterosexuals are.

Gay people also don't create babies who they then decide to throw out like a piece of garbage, when they become an inconvenience to them. What are straight people afraid of? That someone might suggest gay relationships are better, because less children are sacrificed upon the altar of irresponsible hetero sex?

I'm going to say it again. A gay man saved this baby's life. When he asked his heterosexual neighbors to do the same, they just looked the other way.