Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Tolerance Buzz Saw Strikes Again

This post will serve as a convenient follow up to yesterday's post, and serves even better as an example of the hypocrisy and irony of the tolerance position that people take nowadays in the public square.  The guy in the video below took it upon himself to go through a Chick Fil A drive thru and give the employee in the window a piece of his mind (while supposedly "taking money" from Chick Fil A by ordering nothing but a free water).  But he went even beyond that and decided to post the video on Youtube.  Not a smart decision on his part.  The company he works for got wind of the video, wasn't too impressed by his "intolerant" behavior, and quickly canned him (read the press release from Vante, his employer here, and watch the video of the encounter here).

Here's a transcript of the most relevant parts of the video:

Guy (before he gets to the window): "People have to have their Chick Fil A anti-gay breakfast sandwich.  Mmm.  Always tastes better when it's full of hate.  Mmm.  Yeah.  Love it...Here I go."
Guy: "Hey, how you doing?"
Employee: "Fine."
Guy: "Good.  Is this my free water?"
Employee: "It is."
Guy: "Awesome.  You know why I'm getting a free water, right?"
Employee: "I do not."
Guy: "Because Chick Fil A is a hateful corporation."
Employee: "I disagree.  We don't treat our customers differently."
Guy: "I know, but the corporation gives money to hate groups.  Hate groups.  Just because people want to kiss another guy."
Employee: "I have to stay neutral on the subject.  My personal beliefs are that it should stay out of the work place."
Guy: "Yeah, I believe that too.  I don't believe corporations should give money to hateful groups."
Employee: "I'm really uncomfortable that you're video taping me."
Guy: "I totally understand.  I'll take my water."
Employee: "It's my pleasure to serve you always."
Guy: "Oh yeah, of course.  I'm glad that I can take a little bit of money from Chick Fil A and from hate groups.  Have a great day."
Employee: "Well, we're always happy to serve everybody."
Guy: "I don't know how you live with yourself and work here.  I don't understand it.  This is a horrible corporation with horrible values."
Employee: "We're here to serve you in any way that you need."
Guy: "You deserve better."
Employee: "Well, I hope you have a really nice day."
Guy: "I will.  I just did something really good.  I feel purposeful.  Thank you so much."
Employee: "Have a nice day."
Guy: "Thank you so much.  I'm a nice guy, by the way, and I'm totally heterosexual.  Not a gay in me.  I just can't stand the hate, you know?  It's gotta stop. It's gotta stop, guys.  Stand up.
Employee: "Drive safely."
Guy: "Alright.  Thanks guys."

If this guy can watch his own video and not see the hypocrisy in his words and actions, there's not much hope for this country (intellectually, that is).  Here are my thoughts on this video:

1. To ambush an innocent employee just doing her job is about the most classless thing I can think of.  All this guy wanted to do was harass an employee of Chick Fil A while making what he thought would be a cool video for him and his friends.  Thank goodness that backfired.  And on that note, props to the employee.  She remained calm and courteous the whole time.

2. The guy opens the video by mockingly saying that the Chick Fil A breakfast sandwich tastes better because it "Always tastes better when it's full of hate."  He then proceeds to drive up to the window and berate and innocent girl after ordering a water.  Apparently water tastes better "when it's full of hate" too.  Are you trying to tell me what he did wasn't spiteful?  Dare we say hateful?  What does he call his actions toward the employee?  Loving?

3. He says that Chick Fil A gives money to hate groups.  Now, I'm not sure what groups Chick Fil A supports financially, but I'm pretty sure they're not hate groups.  They're probably groups that support the biblical definition of marriage.  See my previous post on the Tolerance Buzz Saw to see how general disagreement on the issues has turned into matters of hate for some.  It's become increasingly popular and acceptable to label those with whom we have disagreements as being hateful.  This is scary, and has far-reaching ramifications especially for Christians.

4. "I don't know how you live with yourself and work here...This is a horrible corporation with horrible values."  The first part of this statement is shockingly offensive, considering he has no idea who this woman is.  The second part of this statement harkens back to my previous post as well, since the judgement of Chick Fil A's "values" as being "horrible" is determined solely by this man's opinion and personal preferences.  Why are they horrible?  Because he says so, and for no other reason.  And so apparently he has the authority to label Chick Fil A, their employees, and anyone associated with them as being "hateful."

5. I'm a bit confused by the man's insistence on his heterosexuality.  Why did he say that?  To prove a point?  It actually sounds a bit to me like he's referring to homosexuality as though it is something to be ashamed of.  What a hater.

Todd Friel makes a great point by saying that all value judgments, be they moral or otherwise, are borrowing from Christian principles.  Unless one has an ultimate moral authority to which he or she ultimately appeals, one cannot make definitive moral judgments.  In other words, you can't say definitively that something is right or wrong unless you believe that there ultimately is a standard of right and wrong.  Unless you believe in an absolute moral standard you can't make judgements - you can only have preferences.  You can prefer things one way or another (such as preferring to allow gay marriage), but you can't say that things definitely are one way or another.  As Friel says, we need to start calling people on that.  You can say you prefer something a certain way, but unless you appeal to an absolute authority other than yourself, you can't make a moral judgement.

As I said earlier, this video just goes to show how the intellectual level in the public discourse of the issues in this country today is on a startlingly steep decline, and that's unfortunate for everyone involved.

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