In the matter of Chick-fil-A, it’s Mike Huckabee vs. Bert and Ernie


Can’t a guy just enjoy his chargrilled chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and sweet tea without politics barging in?

The comments about same-sex marriage made by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy a week ago continue to generate controversy this week, with politicians and fantasy creatures, well at least their handlers, weighing in.

“Guilty as charged,” Cathy was quoted as saying in the Baptist Press last week when asked about his company’s support of the traditional family unit as opposed to same-sex marriage.

“We are very much supportive of the family the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business,” Cathy was quoted as saying.

That stance didn’t go over well with the Jim Henson Co., whose Jim Henson’s Creature Shop toys have been served up in Chick-fil-A’s meals for kids. Jim Henson Co. is named after the creator of the Muppets, though the company transferred the Muppets’ rights and ownership to the Walt Disney Co. in 2003, according to Jim Henson Co.

“The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors,” the company said in a posting on its Facebook page.

“Lisa Henson, our CEO, is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation),” the Henson Co.’s posting said.

The posting, which is dated Friday, had drawn more than 10,000 likes and 2,000 comments as of Tuesday morning.

Also drawing numbers on Facebook was a page by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, which calls for people to turn out to Chick-fil-A restaurants on August 1 to show their support for what Cathy had to say about marriage.

“I have been incensed at the vitriolic assaults on the Chick fil-A company because the CEO, Dan Cathy, made comments recently in which he affirmed his view that the biblical view of marriage should be upheld,” Huckabee wrote on the page, which can also be found at www.ISupportChickFilA.com.

“No one is being asked to make signs, speeches or openly demonstrate. The goal is simple: Let’s affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, August 1,” wrote Huckabee. As of Tuesday morning, more than 88,000 people had indicated they would be heading to a restaurant on August 1.

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