I found the discussion in this thread very interesting, it's the classic "principles vs comfort" weighing scale where people go different lengths in boycotting companies/services because of ethical standards behind those companies/services.
While I was thinking about it today, I actually came to an interesting question: what if people believe Chick-Fil-A's anti-gay campaigning isn't effective?
Now, I'm European so this establishment is not available to me, and I'm not interested in ever trying their food because I'm pro-same-sex marriage, and if I visited the US there'd be a variety of other fast food restaurants to try out. However, if I would buy something there, would I REALLY be supporting the anti-gay agenda? Like people have said, the US is slowly but steadily turning more progressive and I remember the 50% barrier has been reached in general public polls about same-sex marriage approval quite a while ago. Does Chick-fil-A's lobbying and support for an anti-gay agenda (or pro-traditional marriage, however you want to frame it) really have an influence on this evolution? Because if they don't, the portion of my money that goes towards the anti-gay agenda (which may be negligible; they DO have to produce the food with that money too, after all) is not actually advancing the anti-gay agenda per se. Marriage equality is gaining ground irregardless, so whether or not I support Chick-fil-A would be meaningless. You could give yourself a personal "moral score" or something, but in reality it wouldn't actually change anything. Same-sex marriage legality is the future, regardless of that Chick-fil-A sandwich or not. So why deny myself the pleasure?
Ofcourse if I'm underestimating the political clout Chick-fil-A has on this particular political issue, my point is moot. But I'm not knowledgeable enough to judge that, and I'm more interested in the theoretical value of my question anyway since I don't have to make the decision.
While I was thinking about it today, I actually came to an interesting question: what if people believe Chick-Fil-A's anti-gay campaigning isn't effective?
Now, I'm European so this establishment is not available to me, and I'm not interested in ever trying their food because I'm pro-same-sex marriage, and if I visited the US there'd be a variety of other fast food restaurants to try out. However, if I would buy something there, would I REALLY be supporting the anti-gay agenda? Like people have said, the US is slowly but steadily turning more progressive and I remember the 50% barrier has been reached in general public polls about same-sex marriage approval quite a while ago. Does Chick-fil-A's lobbying and support for an anti-gay agenda (or pro-traditional marriage, however you want to frame it) really have an influence on this evolution? Because if they don't, the portion of my money that goes towards the anti-gay agenda (which may be negligible; they DO have to produce the food with that money too, after all) is not actually advancing the anti-gay agenda per se. Marriage equality is gaining ground irregardless, so whether or not I support Chick-fil-A would be meaningless. You could give yourself a personal "moral score" or something, but in reality it wouldn't actually change anything. Same-sex marriage legality is the future, regardless of that Chick-fil-A sandwich or not. So why deny myself the pleasure?
Ofcourse if I'm underestimating the political clout Chick-fil-A has on this particular political issue, my point is moot. But I'm not knowledgeable enough to judge that, and I'm more interested in the theoretical value of my question anyway since I don't have to make the decision.