Yeah, it's been a while. Thanks to those who kept checking back and didn't completely abandon ship. From the Stats page I can see that the the viewership has stayed fairly constant since last spring when I became pissed with Blogger and the "Lost Blog Post".
This isn't the start of a New Year's Resolution or anything else as mundane as that. I just didn't have anything to say for a while. Rampant rambling just wasn't working for me. I've always considered myself a somewhat shy and quiet person - um, r-i-i-ght as Robbie would say. It seems as I've aged that I've become one of those people you can't shut up if I am the least little bit passionate about a subject.
Oh! I was introduced during the holidays by a cousin to her husband as "the photographer and the opinionated guy". Really? Me? I try very hard not to inject my opinion about politics, religion or anything that might be remotely controversial at family gatherings. To me it's akin to dropping your pants and mooning everyone - everyone knows you have an ass, they just don't need to know about it up close and personal. Turns out the reference was to a Facebook posting about Chik-Fil-A and how the founder of the restaurant had given almost 2 million dollars to anti-GLBT groups in 2009 alone. The WinShape Foundation is the charitable arm of the restaurant and this link will take you directly to information on where some of that giving went in 2009.
Unnamed cousin said she could see my point but the WinShape Foundation does a lot of good in the community and Georgia in general. The founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy does gives a lot of money to help worthy organizations in his home state and also helps send underprivileged kids to summer camps. While
that is in deed a noble and kindly gesture there are two points I would
like to point out. One, he's still excluding an entire community and
firing off millions of dollars to hate groups whose soul(less) purpose is
to deny the GLBT community equal rights. Second it's really not his
money but that of of the patrons of his restaurants. If someone is
concerned that a disadvantaged child wont' get to go to camp, save
yourself a few trips through Chik-Fil-A and sponsor a child yourself.
And for the sake of fairness, I did find it admirable that a company would stick to religious beliefs and not be open on Sunday to honor the Sabbath. I also have eaten there only one time in the three and half years that we've been back in Indianapolis - we live less than two miles from one of their stores. I didn't find their food all that great. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't worth going back for. That's not bias on my part, I didn't find out about their "charitable" giving until sometime last summer.
And the link I referred to on Facebook? Here it is. It's an open letter to the founder and CEO of Chik-Fil-A from a blogger named John Paul from Oklahoma. I found his blog when a friend of mine originally posted this letter to his Facebook page. The more I read him the more I feel less like I'm on a soapbox and more like I'm on a soapdish. I can't promise that I won't be pulling out the box more - I probably will - but it was time for me to stop being so bloody polite all the time. The more voices added to the conversation, no matter how small or quiet they be, the more will be exposed of the hypocrisy that is the conservative movement.
(Part 2 to follow shortly.)
