If you know me fairly well, you know of my love for anything ever created by Jim Henson. I adore the Muppets. I regularly cry while watching them. Their stuff is genius, pure and simple. I also value their contributions to society in the form of lessons on how to treat one another: size, shape, color, origin, housing etc. are unimportant. Always be nice. Share your things. I also support their current CEO's right to believe and act as she sees fit, and to direct her company without interference.
I also like Chik-Fil-A products. They're tasty. I also have always been impressed by the company's choice to monetarily support things that are important to me, such as public television. I support their current CEO's right to believe and act as he sees fit, and to direct his company as he sees fit.
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I find it ridiculous that I am now being asked to choose which company I will support, with my money and my approval. I find nothing contradictory in supporting them both.
I realize that their CEOs have recently aligned themselves with groups having opposite opinions on a divicive issue. All laws of God and all reasonable laws of man allow them to do just that, and should allow them to do so without fear of attack, verbal or otherwise, by fellow humans.
The last time I had a similar conversation with someone about this very issue, they assured me that there was no middle ground, that they could not possibly tolerate the view that opposed their own. I held that opposing opinion. "You realize that I find your belief to be immoral and dangerous," they said, trying to explain why they just could not be civil about this issue. My answer: "Yes. Yes, I do realize that. Do you know how I can be sure? Because I find YOUR belief to be immoral and dangerous. I am STILL willing to support your right to hold and express that belief."
If people want me to get behind them and their rights to have and espouse and act on beliefs that I find wrong, immoral, offensive or otherwise unacceptable, those people MUST (must, must) be willing to stand behind me and my right to have and espouse and act on beliefs that they find wrong, immoral, offensive or otherwise unacceptable. If they're not willing to support someone that they think is wrong, they have NO right to ask me to support them when I think they're wrong. NONE. (And the thing is, I will still support their rights, because it's the right thing to do.)
So will eat my Chik-Fil-A products while I watch my Muppet entertainment, and I will not feel bad about it all. Who's with me?
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