Even the U.S. Constitution, supposedly religion-free, recognizes the Sabbath.

Article I, Section 7: " [. . .] If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law."

I wish they'd stop putting pickle slices on their chicken sandwiches -- since my tatse buds consider them to be the condament of Satan -- but other than that I've found their sandwitches and nuggets t be far less saturated with grease than KFC, or my personal high cholesterol fast food chicken place growing up, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips.

Kane's critique sounds like his objections to the food are grounded more in the chain's religous nature than anything else, as though Chick-fil-A was the poultry fast food version of "The Passion of Christ." Perhaps if the place renamed itself "Wiccan Chicken," he would see it in a more favorable light.

I bet the writer brags about how tolerant he is and how bigoted the opponents of say, gay marriage, are. Yet, he writes this hate filled thing about Christians.

This is what passes for a restaurant review? If they passed out condoms with the Happy Meals, and had phallic shaped icecream treats, maybe that'll make him feel better.

The only place one can see raw anti-semitisim and bigotry these days is not some hick Southern town stuck inthe 1930s. It's in "progressive neighborhoods" run and controlled by the Left.

(That's "OC Weekly" by the way. I didn't notice any affiliation to the Orange County Register.)

Considering that few of his local readers will ever see a Chick-fil-A, this is most easily comparable to Anti-American Soviet propaganda. But probably more hateful.

"God-centric" -- isn't that redundant?

Hey, here's a novel idea: if you don't like it or if it makes you uncomfortable, don't go.

Mr. Kane is speaking specifically of one location, in Irvine, CA.

His description bears no resemblence to any of the Chick-fil-As I've visited in the South and the Rocky Mountain states.

So that's why the Chick-Fil-A was closed at the Atlanta airport on Sunday when I was traveling in January.

I probably wouldn't have ordered there anyway, but now I guarantee I won't order there under any circumstances.

I hope the bastard has a heart attack on Sunday and the EMTs don't come because of the 4th Commandment.

And that has nothing to do with religion.

Yeah! How dare he... not open his business on Sunday? What the heck, Harry?

I await the followup article bashing Ben & Jerry's ice cream for their publical promotion of particular politics.

Harry-- Every Chick-Fil-A I've ever been to has also had a large sign mentioning that they're closed on Sundays, and saying why.

I suppose you also boycott banks, schools, government offices, and everything else that is closed on Sunday?

Wow, Harry, what burr got under your saddle today? Seriously, what's wrong with a guy choosing to bring his religion into the free market? As for the EMTs staying home, surely in all those wasted years of Catholic education, when apparently you were taught nothing but the Bible, you must have covered the part that said Sabbath laws could be broken in matters of life and death?

You just called the owner of this business a bastard and you wished death upon him. When a Christian does such a thing, I may point to Scripture that expressly forbids such things. If he is honest to his creed, he will recognize the obligation to confess his sin and repent.

When the world goes atheist, who shall ever repent?

Their children...and beg forgiveness.

I don't have any problem with him choosing not to open his business any day he chooses not to.

I do object to his opening a restaurant in an airport -- that operates 7 days a week -- and declining to operate 7 days a week. And I choose not to patronize him.

People need to eat as well as to be treated for heart attacks.

It has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with callousness. I'll match mine to his.

I live in a tourist economy. Lots of good Christians here work Sundays. If they didn't, they wouldn't work any other day either, because there wouldn't be any tourists.

He's a selfish, self-righteous bastard, and if God has a sense of justice instead of a sense of humor, he'll die needlessly and unattended on a Sunday

Actually, Orange County must have a Roscoe's, which serve real waffles and fried chicken - that must be more injurious than Chic-Fil-A.

As for Harry's bile, remember your Tacitus: "They terrify, lest they should also fear".

There oughtta be a law...

Wait... it's ok for him to close his restaurants on Sunday... unless they're in an airport? Huh?

What about restaurants in malls? Is that evil too?

And they say the Old Testament has some bizarre regulations...

God's sense of justice doesn't seem to be applied in the mortal realm.

We'll have to settle for the concept of Karma.

Great - I'll take some karma with that grilled chicken.

Wow, Harry, good thing you didn't grow up in New England, where everything used to be closed on Sunday -- and I mean everything.

This type of explicit Christianity is surprisingly common among small industrial companies, who make no secret about it. We get any number of invoices with Bible verses printed on them. For some reason, this is particularly true of plastic products. My favorite is United States Plastic Corporation:

United States Plastic Corporation is a different type of company. When our company was being established more than 50 years ago, the founder, Dr. R. Stanley Tam, made a promise to God that if God would prosper this business he would honor God in any way he could. God has consistently done His part and, with His help, we do ours to the best of our ability. Mr. Tam has placed 100% of the ownership of United States Plastic Corp. into a foundation whose purpose is to establish churches in third world countries. The dividends paid by the company go to share the Good News of the life changing experience possible for anyone. We believe in the possibility of a person linking his/her life to God, and we believe that God’s Word can produce a spiritual new birth for anyone who seeks Him and follows His plan.

Incidentally, they sell a lot of pretty cool stuff.

What's so hard about bringing a snack to the airport?

What kind of heathen flies on a Sunday?

> He's a selfish, self-righteous bastard, and if God has a sense of justice instead of a sense of humor, he'll die needlessly and unattended on a Sunday

Aw, that's nothing. One time I tried to go to a restaurant for lunch and discovered it was closed permanently! I hope it's because the owner died and his rotting corpse contaminated everything that might have been worth auctioning off.

I suppose that Harry will not want to use Via computer equipment in his systems either, as Via (one of Taiwan's biggest chipmakers) is owned and run by evangelical Christians.

Oh, and by the way, I had lunch at Chick-Fil-A yesterday. Their chicken nuggets, unlike McDonald's McNuggets, actually seem to come from not just a chicken, but the correct part of the chicken, and I've always thought their ad campaigns with the cows were funny.

?, I grew up in the South, so I know all about blue laws. And when I lived in the Midwest, most restaurants closed on Mondays.

My objection to this guy is not that he's a Christian -- though he seems to have missed the Good Samaritan lesson -- but that he's a jerk.

If you're running a service business in a sector that operates 7 days, then you'd better operate 7 days, too. Double so if you have a captive audience, which is how airports work.

I'd feel the same if he closed Saturdays so he could play golf. And I think the aiport management should kick him out. (By the way, the sign at Atlanta airport did not mention religion, just something about offering employees a day of rest.)

But if it's OK for him to slough off on Sundays, why wouldn't it be for EMTs, too? Is he holier than them?

I don't like much of Jesus's teaching, but I always liked his attitude to Pharisees.

Match the amount of money Cathy has, harry, and maybe someone will listen to you. Until then, writhe in the agony of the knowledge that someone thinks, and ACTS, as if God is more important to him than YOU.

What kind of heathen flies on Sundays?

Well, maybe the kind of heathen trying to spend as much time with parents as possible. Without getting fired for showing up to work late on Monday.

Possibly at Chick-Fil-A.

Pizza Hut is usually open on Sundays in airports. But the big question is, do the bars close on Sundays in airports? Of course not. So give Chick Fil-A a break and have a beer Harry.

What kind of heathen has parents so far away they have to fly to see them?

Hey, at least there are options in most larger airports nowadays. Think about what airport food was like circa. 1980. As bad or worse than turnpike food (OH, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA - I don't think it mattered). It is different today. Now, if only there were a Roscoe's at LAX......(full disclosure - I haven't been there since 1998, so there may well be).

When the Marriott Corp. used to run the restaurants on the New York State Thruway, they weren't all that bad. But Mariott got out of the "Hot Shoppes" business 20 years ago.

Well, I just flew in from Phoenix tonight (Sunday). Had a Cinnabon in Phoenix and a hot dog in Denver. Thankfully there are still some heathen establishments willing to feed a traveller.

The airport should have established a rule for all of its vendors to provide service on Sunday, it has an obligation to its customers.

The kind of heathen that serves our country in the military.

The kind of heathens who get married despite having parents that live in different places.

The kind of heathen whose parents decide to move to Florida.

Ah, the kind whose parents run as far away as possible....

Robert:

You guys with your empty claims of tolerance...

Orrin:

C'mon, freedom of religion is important, but not when you are craving a Cinnabon in Phoenix or a hot dog in Denver. Those are human rights.

Peter, you are the one wanting special rights. If an airport has to cater to its customers 7 days a week, it has every right to require it's vendors to do so. Chick Filla has a right to set whatever business hours it wants, it doesn't have any special right to be accepted as a vendor in any venue it wants. I don't hear your outrage at the discrimination practiced by the Boy Scouts against athiests. But we know that the Boy Scouts are a private organization, and can set whatever membership rules they want.

It is like a Muslim applying for work at a pork processing plant, but demanding that he not be given any job where he will touch the body of a pig. Is it religious discrimination for the plant to say "sorry Charlie"? Do they have to start up a separate chicken processing line just to satisfy him?

You know, you guys have sometimes complained about my referring to the over weening self-absorption of atheists, but anyone reading the truly petty sense of personal entitlement on display here will realize why we consider you prey to psychological pathology rather than advocates of an intelligent alternate viewpoint. Get over yourselves and hit the McDonalds right next door.

Run out of arguments, eh OJ?

Harry, Robert:

If it's not in Chick-Fil-A's contract, then it's not going to happen. Buy a banana at the newstand. Griping about bad experiences with air travel is one thing, but Chick-Fil-A being closed on Sunday?

Robert:

No, pity.

I'm not upset, I'm just reacting to Peter and OJ's self-absorbed wailing about religious discrimination.

Apparently the Atlanta airport is fine with the contract, they'd rather promote a local company than worry about their customers. That is their call. The Chick Filla menu doesn't sound to appealing to me, so I probably wouldn't be eating there anyhow.

There have been times that I've arrived at an airport late at night, back from a flight, only to find all of the restuarants and stores closed. Is this wrong too?

Robert:

No, you just want to require him to violate his religious values so you can buy a chicken sandwich and Harry sounds deranged:

"I hope the bastard has a heart attack on Sunday and the EMTs don't come because of the 4th Commandment.

Posted by Harry Eagar at March 6, 2004 04:10 PM

He's a selfish, self-righteous bastard, and if God has a sense of justice instead of a sense of humor, he'll die needlessly and unattended on a Sunday

Posted by Harry Eagar at March 6, 2004 07:29 PM

My objection to this guy is not that he's a Christian -- though he seems to have missed the Good Samaritan lesson -- but that he's a jerk.

If you're running a service business in a sector that operates 7 days, then you'd better operate 7 days, too.

Posted by Harry Eagar at March 7, 2004 04:43 PM "

Jeff has just gone the self-pity route.

Yes, David, in America if you can't receive instant gratification you're the victim of a hate crime.... :)

I don't want anyone to violate their religious values, I just want something to eat when I travel on Sundays. The airlines won't feed you anymore.

You just want to play the martyr and cry "religious discrimination" over what are the normal expectations of our modern culture.

They're closed on Sundays. You guys want to require them to open. Who's discriminating?

Chick-Fil-A really started to spead out across the south during the early 1980s, primarily with small facilities inside malls, either at stand-alone areas or in food courts. At the time of this expansion, much of the south was still under "Blue Laws" which kept most malls either shuttered on Sundays or doing very limited business. Those laws were pretty much phased out by the end of the decade, but Chick-Fil-A maintained its policy, and by the mid-1990s were beginning to open more stand-alone stores, similar to McDonald's, Wendy's or Arby's, but which also remained closed on Sundays.

As for the locations, the now 7-day-a-week shopping malls in the South really don't care if the company keeps its sabbath policy, so long as they pay the rent for seven days a week, and I would assume any other sites, like airports would feel the same way (and given the size of your average mall food court nowadays, anyone who can't find something to eat on a Sunday when Chick-Fil-A is closed really isn't looking too hard).

Ptah:

Surely you aren't equating wealth and social status to honor and worthiness ?

"They're closed on Sundays. You guys want to require them to open. Who's discriminating?"

I don't want them to do anything, I want the airport to replace them with an establishment that will feed me on Sunday. No discrimination involved, it's called giving the customer what he wants.

Robert:

I guess you would be opposed to putting kosher delis in airports or malls?

Well, Orrin, I wouldn't want this guy to force the EMTs to work on Sunday, because of religion and all, you know.

Let me rephrase that.

For the same reason that I believe that PETAs who are diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes are morally obliged to turn insulin down and die instead, I withdraw my hope that the guy dies on Sunday and replace it with an expectation that, if he does get sick on Sunday, he'll be moral enough to wait until Monday to call for help.

Will that do?

That would be the nub of the problem, your belief that your hunger is similar to a heart attack.

Not even hunger--consumer choice.

"I guess you would be opposed to putting kosher delis in airports or malls? "

I wouldn't miss them. Malls are different, people are in more control over what time they go, and can stop at a restaurant along the way if they don't want to eat mall food. Airport travellers with multiple stops can be stuck 6 to 8 hours or more with nothing more to eat than airline pretzels and whatever dining options the layover airport provides them with. You may not have enough time between flights to peruse the whole terminal for all the dining options. Airports should give travellers as many options as they can.

Why are you guys treating this as a religious bigotry issue? As you are wont to tell us, choices have costs. A businessman who chooses to obey his religion's commandments against work on the sabbath should be willing to forego some opportunities where Sunday service is mandated by the marketplace.

Harry:

I agree with your point entirely. But perhaps the Mr. Chick Fil-A's hypocrisy would be more in view if you drove by his house on Sunday.

The house better be completely dark, for one. After all, someone has to work to produce that electricity.

Equally, he better not be running the sprinklers, or watching TV, or listening to the radio, or reading the Sunday paper.

If he isn't a hypocrit, that is.

Jeff:

He's not an Orthodox Jew, for whom those things would be suggestive. He's just a sabbatarian. Our grandfather was too. You'd have liked him.

Robert:

Are you sharing Harry's canteen today--the market obviously has no problem with him being closed on Sunday. You do. I know you guys think that you are all important, but it just ain't so.

Not important!! Grrrrrr.....

Jeff:

So you are now into mocking bigotry. Kind of puts your statements about how much you respect and value religion in America in perspective. That little Sunday vignette was charming. I'm sure you could easily find a reason why he should be publically scorned for saying grace. You may be a proud American, but intellectually your model is France. They don't like religion and individual choice either.

Robert, I never realized what a snob you were. Airports are different than malls? Could that be because busy movers and shakers like you need to have all their needs catered to RIGHT NOW. What about the plebs who drive along the interstates? It's ok for them to meander through the countryside with a car full of cranky kids because the rest stop is closed? How about downtown cores? Can we really threaten our exciting new collective urban renewal projects by depriving tourists of a full choice of sustenance, not to mention shopping opportunities? That won't help the five-year plan, will it.

You do realize, I trust, that you are asserting that airports and all who earn their living in them are the equivalent of civil servants? You would, I presume, vote to give these merchants subsidies (or allow price-fixing) for forcing them to stay open during non-economic hours, because chicken wings are a public necessity. And as for freedom of religion, it must bow to state planning and control, especially if the state ordains we should have our fast food seven days a week.

Peter:

My comment had nothing to do with religion.

In a sense I am mocking him. He appears to be applying a holier-than-thou sabbath. He won't work, in order to observe the holy day, but he will happily partake of the fruits of those who do work. To me, their is a clear whiff of hypocrisy there. The only people who do the Sabbath correctly are Orthodox Jews.

But Harry's and Robert's point is more fundamental. Why not shut down all facilities in airports on Sundays?

The only reason his decision is not particularly problematic is because he is the only one doing it.

Like it or not, airports are public facilities with captive audiences. If people are going to travel on Sunday, then they are going to need to eat on Sunday, and they can't go somewhere else to do it.

Jeff:

Why? Pack a lunch.

Jeff:

I'm sure Orthodox Jews everywhere are beaming at your compliment. Morality too, eh Jeff? They are the only ones who do morality correctly? I mean, if they do the Sabbath correctly, it must mean the source of the commands they believe in about how to do the Sabbath is true.

Truly I say to you: I have never witnessed such a gloriously sustained display of intemperate petulance and glib nincompoopery as Messrs. Eagar, Guinn, and Duquette have shown us here.

OJ:

You are utterly missing the point, which is: should an essential service be allowed to routinely close on Sunday, or any other day?

That question doesn't quite apply to Chick-Fil-A, because it isn't the only restaurant in the airport. So in closing on Sunday, it free-rides on those restaurants that remain open.

Peter:

You completely dodged the question. Is it, or is it not, hypocritical to enjoy the fruits of others' labor on the Sabbath? With respect to the Sabbath, Orthodox Jews are completely internally consistent, are they not? And this has nothing to do with the "truth" of the underlying reason: your last sentence is a non-sequitor.

Paul:

Truly I say to you: imagine yourself in the middle of a three-hour layover, hungry, and EVERY restaurant closed. Imagine yourself happy about that.

Can't? Well, why not?

If he wants to close all the Chick-Fil-As on the highway on Sunday, fine. It's a free country.

How about if, instead of chicken, he wanted to have the fueling concession at the airport, except he wouldn't fuel the planes on Sunday?

Are people less important than machines?

Without food for THREE WHOLE HOURS! The horror!

Sing, O Muse, the rage of Hungry Airline Passenger . . .

Essential service? My goodness, what a bunch of spoiled brats we've become. Sometimes you have to root for the asteroid.

"Robert, I never realized what a snob you were."

Snob? That must be why I eat at Cinnabon, because I'm such a high-powered mover & shaker.

"You do realize, I trust, that you are asserting that airports and all who earn their living in them are the equivalent of civil servants?"

What is wrong with civil servants? Do you look down on our policemen and firemen and street sweepers? Who is the snob now?

"You would, I presume, vote to give these merchants subsidies (or allow price-fixing) for forcing them to stay open during non-economic hours, because chicken wings are a public necessity."

Noone is forcing anyone to do anything. Having a branch restaurant at the airport is not a business necessity.

"And as for freedom of religion, it must bow to state planning and control, especially if the state ordains we should have our fast food seven days a week."

Three guys complain about a chicken shop being closed on Sunday, and you see an all-powerful state crushing religious freedom under it's jackboot. Aren't we being a little paranoid?

"Truly I say to you: I have never witnessed such a gloriously sustained display of intemperate petulance and glib nincompoopery as Messrs. Eagar, Guinn, and Duquette have shown us here."

And verily I say to thee, Monsieur Cella, I have yet to experience a more pompous putdown as ye hath unloaded upon me.

I would love to take credit for this superlative Paul, but based on my experience at this blog I have a ways to go before I can truly earn it.

Robert:

Based on your arguments on this subject, a very long ways to go.

Paul:

It isn't just three hours, it is the length of the preceding flight, plus the suceeding flight. Further, extend your thinking to the example Harry cited. Would that be OK?

Peter:

Ad hominem attacks aren't usually your forte. I tried, hopefully without rancor, to raise some inconsistencies regarding this guy's approach to the sabbath. Did they make sense, or not?

Speaking of ad hominem attacks. They are the sure sign of a bankrupt argument.

Jeff:

No they don't make sense. No one has ever suggested that observing the Sabbath requires forgoing medical treatment or, another obvious example, allowing your country to be attacked and overrun by a non-sabbatarian neighbor. Do you labor under the impression that you three are the first to think of these things as regard a religious tradition thousands of years old?

OJ:

Do you actually read what I post, or just make up what I said as you go along? I never said a thing about emergencies of any kind.

What I suggested is that to coherently observe the Sabbath would seem to require foregoing the fruits of the labors of those who don't.

Like electricity, or newspapers, or running water, or TV, or the radio. The last time I checked, those things were not thousands of years old.

So far no one here has answered that question, which it very much was.

Of course they are: power, water, etc.