As the surprisingly popular BBQ restaurant grows to its goal of 24 locations, I think it is time to ask is the 4Rivers Smokehouse anti-gay?
Since they are still a small organization it is hard to get a truthful answer. But even with a company as large as Chick-Fil-A, it is hard to get a truthful answer. There are similarities between the two companies. Both are owned and run by ultra Christians who happen to be good friends. For years Chick-Fil-A has done their best to keep the way they feel about homosexuals quiet. Over the past year more and more evidence has come forward to show their true stance on the matter. A quick Google search can fill you in on the facts if you do not already know.
So let's look at the evidence about 4Rivers to see if we can figure out how they stand on issues important to gay people and other mainstream Americans. The founder and owner John Rivers is an extreme Christian. He has said he holds prayers with his employees at work, and that religion is part of the culture of his business (http://vimeo.com/19293815). He refers to his BBQ restaurant as a “barbecue ministry” and continually donates proceeds to local churches and other Christian organizations. One of these recipients of funds from 4Rivers is the Luis Palau Association. Their main focus seems to be spreading Christianity around the world. As an aside I wonder how they would feel about Muslims traveling to this country to spread their religion, but I digress. Last year Luis Palau joined with an anti-gay Reverend to spread the word of Christ in China:
http://shanghaiist.com/2010/03/31/luis-palau-james-meeks-china.php
But one of the largest recipients of Rivers money is most likely his own church, Summit Church in Orlando. This is their statement of Partnership:
http://www.summitconnect.org/pages/partnership
It includes expectations like "Partners should seek meaningful relationships with people who do not know Christ, and have the courage to communicate the gospel in the context of these relationships" which of course means to force your Christian beliefs onto non-believers, and "Partners are expected to tithe to Summit" which means giving one tenth of your income to the church. To me this means that by eating at 4Rivers Smokehouse I would in effect be giving money to the Summit Church. So let's find out a little more about Summit Church. Here is their statement of faith:
http://www.summitconnect.org/pages/beliefs
Well right off the bat by reading their beliefs you find out they do not believe in evolution. I do not care if people believe in God or not, or if they have strong religious beliefs. But when people start to ignore science a red flag goes up for me. To ignore science is to ignore education, and when education is ignored all kinds of scary things can happen.
This is from the founder and senior pastor at Summit Church:
http://www.summitconnect.org/uploads/uploaded_images/385_original.pdf
and contains the following statements:
"I do not believe homosexual activities are, or can be pleasing to God. However, people with homosexual proclivities are very much loved by God on the same basis that every other fallen creature is."
fallen creature?????
"I do not think gay marriage is something Christians can or should embrace."
"If we can vote who gets to clarify the definition of marriage, arenʼt we failing to be the men and women that God has called us to be if we donʼt? My answer is yes."
I don't know if 4Rivers Smokehouse is anti-gay, but it seems clear to me from the own words of the founder and senior pastor of Summit Church that they are. I don't know about you, but I don't want my money supporting such hateful thoughts.
