On Monday Bisnow led with the headline 'Chick-fil-A To Stop Donations To Charities With Anti-LGBT Views.'
Chick-fil-A is one of the success stories of free enterprise. It has grown to become the third largest fast food outlet in the USA, all the while maintaining its Christian principles. Christians throughout the world have been cheered by the clear evidence that Christian principles work, even in the cut-throat fast-food sector.
Christians have been especially cheered by the example of Chick-fil-A in standing up to the progressive bullies who insist that everyone bow the knee to them. Chick-fil-A has been subject to continuing harassment and boycotts because of its donations to organisations which hold to biblical standards of sexual morality.
No longer. Chick-fil-A has announced that after donating to more than 300 charitable organisations this year, it will instead focus on three initiatives with one accompanying charity each: education, homelessness and hunger.
Chick-fil-A president and chief operating officer Tim Tassopoulos told Bisnow: 'There's no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are. There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.'
That kind of clarity appears to be putting as much clear distance as possible between Chick-fil-A and its past support for Christian organisations who continue to hold to biblical principles.
Drawing a clear line between who the organisation is today and who it was in the past means Chick-fil-A has cut ties to respected Christian ministries. In 2018, the Chick-fil-A foundation donated $1.65million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and $115,000 to the Salvation Army. Make no mistake, Chick-fil-A has been forced to deny who it is.
Starting next year, the Chick-fil-A Foundation plans to give $9million to organisations such as Junior Achievement USA to support education and Covenant House International to fight homelessness. The company intends to dedicate $25,000 to a local food bank each time it opens in a new location.
These are no doubt worthy organisations and Chick-fil-A has every right to make donations as it wishes. The importance of this change is that it indicates the direction in which the culture of the West is moving.
READ MORE: Dear Chick-fil-A: Please do not cave in to LGBT activists
Consider the organisations involved, groups such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army. These organisations were not established to pursue LGBTQ issues. They have particular Christian aims and functions upon which they concentrate their activities.
However, because they have identified themselves with historic Christianity, today's climate of aggressive progressivism has forced them to define their position on LGBTQ issues. This is not the choice of either organisation; these issues are not of central importance to either of them. They are, however, of central importance to the sexual revolutionaries who are determined to crush historic Christianity.
It is the LGBTQ activist community and others who are driving the moral direction of the culture. Relentless pressure is put on individuals and organisations to accede to the intransigent demands of the activist lobby.
As a result, an organisation as large and powerful as Chick-fil-A no longer feels safe making contributions to historic Christian ministries because to do so runs foul of the absolutism of the cultural Left and in particular of the LGBTQ movement.
It can be argued that in corporate terms, Chick-fil-A had no choice: it was either back off or eventually be forced out of business. Before criticising Chick-fil-A we should consider the intense pressure the company has come under and take into account that it is still donating to good causes which Christians can support.
The moral revolution does not take prisoners. It relentlessly steamrollers its targets. If it doesn't get its way the first time round it will just keep on pressing until it succeeds in imposing its will.
Chick-fil-A chief Tim Tassopoulos said: 'We think this is going to be helpful. It's just the right thing to do: to be clear, caring and supportive, and do it in the community.'
If he thinks this has drawn a line under the past he should think again. Enough is never enough for our progressive revolutionaries. Chick-fil-A will come under continuing pressure.
GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) immediately responded to the news by tweeting: 'If Chick-Fil-A is serious about their pledge to stop holding hands with divisive anti-LGBTQ activists, then further transparency is needed regarding their deep ties to organizations like Focus on the Family, which exist purely to harm LGBTQ people and families.'
The importance of this incident goes beyond the fortunes of Chick-fil-A. It clarifies the cultural situation faced by Christians today. For too long Christians in the West have been comforting ourselves with the assurance that the rapid cultural revolution we are experiencing can just as rapidly be turned around. Not so.
The foundations of society are being re-dug and a whole new culture is being built on entirely different principles, and this new culture is widely accepted in the corridors of power as well as in society generally. When cultural foundations are changed at this basic level they don't just turn around.
Those who hold to Christian convictions on these and other issues are increasingly going to experience social marginalisation. Christians have to be aware of what we face, support and strengthen each other as we patiently defend the truths which have created our culture, and work to spread a message of hope and wholeness.
Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack is a retired Presbyterian minister who lives in Stirlingshire. He blogs at A Grain of Sand possil.wordpress.com where he looks at the Church and the world and wonders 'Why?'
