If you were under the impression Texas was one vast sea of red filled with like–minded patriots and conservatives, we have bad news for you. Texas’ cities, like those of other red states, have been infected with the virus of leftism.
Austin is almost San Francisco on the Colorado River and Dallas and Houston aren’t far behind. Even San Antonio — home of the Alamo! — is jumping on the Cultural Marxism bandwagon.
The United States Constitution may prohibit any religious test for holding office, but the San Antonio city council thinks it’s just fine to impose a religious test on merchants.
The council voted 6–4 to ban Chick–fil–A from the list of approved vendors that will be allowed to sell their merchandise at the San Antonio Airport. This blatant act of discrimination was followed by the usual leftist bromides that are used against Christian merchants.
According to a report in the San Antonio Express–News, “City Council members who voted March 21 to strike Chick-fil-A from a list of airport vendors said they were acting to protect San Antonio’s reputation for inclusion and equality.”
Now for some background that the Opposition Media always manages to forget when they talk about the Chick-fil-A theocracy. This story repeats the standard slur on the company, “Chick-fil-A was founded by a devout Southern Baptist. Its CEO made comments opposing same-sex marriage in 2012, and its charitable arm has donated money to organizations opposed to LGBTQ rights.”
The Chick-fil-A controversy started when company founder Dan Cathy was interviewed by the Biblical Recorder, an obscure weekly newspaper published by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Cathy said, “We are very much supportive of the family – the Biblical definition of the family unit…I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about.”
That is standard Christian belief regarding marriage. Even Obama believed that until fairly recently. What’s more, Cathy was talking about his personal belief to a religion reporter, not company policy. Chick–fil–A doesn’t administer a Bible quiz before serving customers. The company is happy to serve its chicken to the LGBT community, Hindus, pagans, atheists — even Democrats.
But that isn’t good enough for the left that demands ideological conformity.
The factor that has changed the situation in Chick–fil–A’s favor is the intervention of the Federal Aviation Administration. “The FAA …told San Antonio officials Friday that it is investigating complaints that the city-owned airport discriminated ‘against a private company due to the expression of the owner’s religious beliefs. The FAA notes that federal requirements prohibit airport operators from excluding persons on the basis of religious creed from participating in airport activities that receive or benefit from FAA grant funding,’ the agency said in a statement.”
That notice puts millions of dollars in federal airport–related grants at risk. So now the leftist liars on the council are changing their tune and claiming the vote to ban Chick–fil–A was because the company closes its restaurants on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see how this new excuse flies (no pun intended) with the FAA investigation.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.