S P E C I A L R E P O R T :
The truth behind the Chick-fil-A vote
TIME TO WAKE UP
Christian business owner urges Christians to get involved
BY RICHARD ZOWIE
B E A CON W R I T E R
Three years ago, Mike Sharrow and
the company he leads, the C12 Group,
relocated to San Antonio from North
Carolina. “We felt San Antonio would
have a non-discriminatory environment
and would be conducive to our
business,” says Mike, whose company
serves 1,500 CEOs in America including
100 in the Alamo City (www.c12group.
com). San Antonio City Council’s
recent “Battle with the Bird” has made
him wonder if his first impression was
wrong.
The majority of our city council
voted for an amendment to the San
Antonio Airport contract to ban Chickfil
A to operate as a vendor. A motion
was made by Councilman Greg Brockhouse
to conduct a revote. It too was
defeated. Despite the opposition from
some council members and the
remorse of another who regretted his
vote, the vote now stands.
This local government decision has
earned statewide and national attention.
Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton has asked the U.S. Department
of Transportation to investigate to see
if the city violated religious discrimination
laws.
“Tolerance in our city is a two-way
street,” Mike says. “Christians have a
right to exist even if we disagree on
religion, politics or sexuality.”
The trumpet has sounded. Multiple
faith-based churches, ministries and
businesses believe we are at a significant
crossroads in our city. Lines have
been drawn. Rights violated.
Mike feels the city council’s decision
is especially dangerous, since it could
cause many local Christian business
leaders to suppress their faith out of
fear and even pull out of pursuing
certain city contracts in order not to
have to compromise their faith.
Why has this happened?
Opponents have been critical of personal
remarks made by Dan Cathy (current
CEO) regarding one man, one woman
marriage. In addition, they oppose
donations made to the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes and the Salvation
Army (among other nonprofits) by
Chick-fil-A corporate.
What are the implications of
this decision? Ryan Tucker, Senior
Counsel at Alliance Defending
Freedom, an alliance-building, legal
14 www.saBeacon.com May / June 2019