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Chick-fil-A “Appreciation Day” results in unprecedented sales; CFO fired for protest (+videos)

By Jacques Couret.  So just how much did Chick-fil-A Inc.’s sales skyrocket on “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day”?

“While we don’t release exact sales numbers, it was an unprecedented day,” Chick-fil-A Executive Vice President of Marketing Steve Robinson said in a statement. “We are very grateful and humbled by the incredible turnout of loyal Chick-fil-A customers on August 1 at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country. Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was not a company promotion; it was initiated by others.”

The Atlanta-based chain is private and therefore doesn’t reveal its bottom line. It discloses annual sales figures, with last year’s record haul hitting $4 billion. There are 52 weeks in a year and Chick-fil-A isn’t open on Sundays. So it operates roughly 312 days of the year. Sales of $4 billion divided by 312 is about $12.8 million a day.

One can only guess how much more than $12.8 million Chick-fil-A considers “unprecedented” for sales on Aug. 1.

In other daily Chick-fil-A controversy news, the Newnan [Ga.] Times-Herald published a guest column from Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, N.Y., and Atlanta. Reed comes out swinging in defense of Chick-fil-A, calling public figures who have come out against the chain “smug, self-righteous, power-wielding, small-time Nazi-types.”  Read more from this story HERE.

In a related story, the CFO of a major Tucson, Arizona company was fired for the following Appreciation Day “protest” against Chick-fil-A:

 

Finally, if you’re a Tim Hawkins fan, here’s his hilarious Chick-fil-A music video:

Video: Fox News’ Megyn Kelly’s Gay Marriage Interview

Yesterday, WND posted a story involving Fox News “America Live” anchor Megyn Kelly that incorrectly attributed to her the view that the Bible prohibits mix-race marriage.

On further examination, it’s clear that Ms. Kelly wasn’t representing such views as being her own, but was summarizing the views of others – including a Virginia judge – who in the past have cited the Bible in their attempts to justify slavery, the subjugation of women and the prohibition of interracial marriage.

Read more from this story HERE.

Publisher’s Note: We join WND’s apology to Ms. Kelly.  Here’s the original video that we posted earlier today and linked to the WND’s original story.  The comments that were the subject of the original posting start at 3:45:

 

Miami threatens to evict congregation over Pastor’s sermons calling homosexuality sin (+video)

A Miami pastor is fighting back after the head of the Miami-Dade school district threatened to evict his church, which rents space on Sunday in one of the district’s schools, because of the pastor’s public stand against homosexuality.

After President Obama came out publicly in support of same-sex marriage, Pastor Jack Hakimian of Impact Miami, a Southern Baptist congregation that rents space on Sundays in North Miami High School, began to preach sermons pointing out that, according to the Bible, homosexual behavior is a sin.

According to Baptist Press News, the school district’s superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, responded to the sermons with a statement that Hakimian’s take on homosexuality “appears to be contrary to school board policy as well as the basic principles of humanity.” Carvalho told ABC television news affiliate local10.com that he had asked “for immediate legal review to seek the termination” of the church’s lease contract with the school district. “I am making this decision not on the basis of policy or politics, but as a rejection of prejudice and intolerance,” claimed Carvalho.

A spokesman for the district followed up Carvalho’s comments, saying that the school board and superintendent had reviewed the “allegations” against the pastor and found his words “disturbing and appalling.”

Hakimian immediately responded to Carvalho’s threats by calling a press conference and demanding an apology from the superintendent and a promise that the district would stop its harassment. “I never thought I’d be penalized for teaching on Christian marriage and sexual ethics from the Bible, the very Bible that presidents swear on, in a privately rented space at an event not sponsored by the school or district,” the Miami Herald quoted Hakimian as saying. “We ask Mr. Carvalho to retract his intolerant statements, apologize, and commit to never again to bully or discriminate against those he disagrees with.”

Here’s the video of Pastor Hakimian’s press conference responding to Miami-Dade school district’s eviction threat:

Read more from this story HERE.

Black pastors’ leader accuses Obama of supporting child rape

By Michelle Fields.  The leader of a group of black pastors opposed to gay marriage lashed out at President Barack Obama during a Tuesday appearance at the National Press Club. In his remarks, Rev. William Owens accused Obama of being “unprofessional” for ignoring him and insinuated that Obama had condoned child molestation by endorsing gay marriage.

“For the homosexual community and for the president to bow to the money as Judas did for Jesus Christ is a disgrace and we’re ashamed,” said Owens, the president and founder of the Coalition for African American Pastors.

“If you watch the men who have been caught having sex with little boys,” said Owens, “you will note that all of them will say that I was molested as a child. A man molested me in my home, wherever they will say they were molested. And for the president to condone this type thing knowing the full facts is just irresponsible.”

Owens added that the “president is in the White House because of the Civil Rights movement, and I was a leader in that. And I didn’t march one inch, one foot, one yard for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. So the president has forgotten the price that was paid … where they gave their blood to have equal rights in the United States.”  Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s more on the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors’ effort:

Black pastors group launches anti-Obama campaign around gay marriage

By Dan Merica.  A group of conservative black pastors are responding to President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage with what they say will be a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the President, though the group’s leader is offering few specifics about the effort.

The Rev. Williams Owens, who is president and founder of the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors and the leader of the campaign, has highlighted opposition to same-sex marriage among African-Americans. He calls this campaign “an effort to save the family.”

“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women,” said Owens, in an interview Tuesday after the launch event at the National Press Club. “I am ashamed that the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”

At the press conference, Owens was joined by five other black regional pastors and said there were 3,742 African-American pastors on board for the anti-Obama campaign.

When asked at the press conference for specifics about the campaign – funding, planned events and goals – Owens said only that the group’s first fundraiser will be on August 16 in Memphis, Tennessee. But Owens insisted that “we are going to go nationwide with our agenda just like the president has gone to Hollywood.”  Read more from this story HERE.

City officials’ threats against Chick-fil-A may backfire

As we reported several days ago, Chick-fil-A is receiving heavy criticism from liberals and the gay community for its stance on traditional marriage.  Now, local city officials are trying to create economic hardship for the restaurant chain.  Not so fast say legal experts:

On July 20, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino indicated that Chick-fil-A will find it “very difficult” to obtain licenses for a restaurant in his city, but he backed away from that assertion. He later told the Boston Herald, “I can’t do that. That would be interference to his rights to go there.”

Chicago is the latest city to tell Chick-fil-A that it is not welcome. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said July 25 he would support Alderman Proco Moreno’s announcement that he would block construction of the restaurant in his district. Moreno said, “If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the First Ward.” Emanuel has articulated similar sentiments. He said, “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values. They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents.”

But according to legal experts, barring construction of Chick-fil-A because the owners oppose gay marriage is a clear case of discrimination. “The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words,” said Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “When an alderman refuses to allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint the government disagrees with, the government is practicing viewpoint discrimination.”

Schwartz noted that even the American Civil Liberties Union, which is known for its pro-gay “marriage” position, recognizes that the government cannot exclude a business simply because it has taken a stance against gay “marriage.” Such a policy could be a slippery slope and could then be used against businesses that support gay “marriage.” Though the ACLU supports gay “marriage,” “we also support the First Amendment,” Shwartz said. “We don’t think the government should exclude Chick-fil-A because of the anti-LGBT message. We believe this is clear cut.”

Jonathan Turley, a professor at the George Washington University Law School, said Moreno’s intentions raises “serious” constitutional concerns. “It’s also a very slippery slope,” Turley told FoxNews.com. “If a City Council started to punish companies because of the viewpoints of their chief operating officers, that would become a very long list of banned companies.” Turley said that Moreno’s actions could be “execessive and likely unconstitutional.”

Read more from Raven Clabough’s story HERE.