Eat mor hate

Though I generally try to avoid being serious at all costs, humor me for a moment here. No, not that sort of humor. There will be none of that today. And besides, that joke is so old. Today is all serious. Sort of. Maybe not entirely. But I digress. In order to progress. So, there's this little company called Chik-fil-A that makes the greatest chicken sandwiches in the known universe (and, more than likely, in all the unknown universes as well). There's a situation, I won't waste my time explaining, I'll just assume you know (you know what they say happens when you assume, but I can safely assume that won't happen here). (I love parentheses). Anyways, the 2 most common words I've heard/read to define CEO Dan Cathy are "hate-monger" and "homophobe." This is the issue I wish to address. Stay with me here for a minute - let's assume I'm taking a written test in school. I'm expected to correctly answer the questions asked, right? So how do i know what the answers are? Easy - I know what is correct based on an objective reality (i.e. textbook,lecture notes). If the textbook says it, it's correct. Now, if I take a test and answer questions incorrectly, do I accuse the teacher of being a hate-monger? How dare he/she (we must be politically correct and gender neutral, you know) tell me I'm wrong for answering with what I thought was correct?!? Am I not entitled to believe what I will? This teacher hates everyone who believes that electrons have a positive charge!!! Now, I think we would all agree that accusation would be absurd. Electrons do not have a positive charge, and anyone who believes they do is flat-out wrong. The teacher probably has nothing against them personally, they're just not right. Now, let's transfer this thought into the current Chik-fil-A situation, as well as all the times Christians are referred to as judgmental, which is quite often. Though the current issue is homosexuality, it can be applied to anything the Bible takes a stance on. If Dan Cathy (or anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ) states that homosexuality is wrong, where is he getting that idea? Is it because he's straight and gay people creep him out? Is it because he's already got his marriage rights locked down, and he's so elitist he wants to deny that right to anyone fighting for it? No, it clearly must be because he's terrified gay people will take over the world with their flamboyant pants and their techno glitter parties (take a joke, people). Sadly, these ideas do not seem absurd to many people, as I intended them to be. This is actually what people think is going through Dan Cathy's head. However, his beliefs are actually based on one thing he believes to be objective reality - the Bible. Now, I am not here to convince you that the Bible is an objective reality (though I believe it is), or to explain to you why I agree with Mr. Cathy (I do), but to explain one simple fact - calling a person a homophobe and a hate-monger and judgmental for their belief in an objective reality is, quite frankly, hateful and judgmental. Mr. Cathy, in essence, stated that electrons have a negative charge. The textbook says so. Why is it any less absurd to claim hate from him than it is to claim hate from the teacher with the red pen?