Eat Mor Love

Love the article in the Huffington Post I learned about on my friend John Burke’s blog.

Apparently Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A, has befriended Shane Windmeyer, head of Campus Pride, the organization boycotting Chick-fil-A. Shane writes on his blog:

     On Aug. 10, 2012, in the heat of the controversy, I got a surprise call from Dan Cathy… I took the call with great caution. He was going to tear me apart, right? Give me a piece of his mind? Turn his lawyers on me?” Shane was expecting the way things are typically done, but he experienced something surprising as they began a dialogue seeking understanding over the next few months.
Through all this, Dan and I shared respectful, enduring communication and built trust. His demeanor has always been one of kindness and openness. Even when I continued to directly question his public actions and the funding decisions, Dan embraced the opportunity to have dialogue and hear my perspective.…We learned about each other as people with opposing views, not as opposing people.
Throughout the conversations Dan expressed a sincere interest in my life, wanting to get to know me on a personal level. He wanted to know about where I grew up, my faith, my family, even my husband, Tommy. In return, I learned about his wife and kids and gained an appreciation for his devout belief in Jesus Christ and his commitment to being “a follower of Christ” more than a “Christian.” Dan expressed regret and genuine sadness when he heard of people being treated unkindly in the name of Chick-fil-a — but he offered no apologies for his genuine beliefs about marriage.

One of the principles of the Bible is to speak the truth in love. One of the principles I live by and teach is to lead with love. Truth isn’t heard if love isn’t the context for it, and so love must come first. I really appreciate the Christ-like example Dan Cathy is setting here.