Who Decides Your Values?

I came across an article in the Chicago Tribune called: Cardinal wades into fray about Chick-fil-A

In light of the recent controversy surrounding Chick-fil-A’s stance on gay marriage, Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel made a statement saying that the company’s values “are not Chicago values.”

Chicago Cardinal Francis George weighed in on Mayor Emmanuel’s declaration of Chicago’s values:

Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the ‘values’ that must be held by citizens of Chicago. I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city?

The Cardinal further quips:

Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry. … Surely there must be a way to properly respect people who are gay or lesbian without using civil law to undermine the nature of marriage.

What I appreciate about Cardinal George’s words are that they challenge the imposition of values by the government. I understand that Mayor Emmanuel might be frustrated with Chick-fil-A’s stance on a particular issue, but it’s hardly a governments (no matter how big or small) place to determine to establish a set of values (regardless of origin). I also understand that the mayor may not be advocating  governmental imposition of values, but words spoken from a position of government need to be weighed carefully.

No matter what the mayor’s intention was, I’m thankful for an influential voice in the controversy that brings caution to our government in weighty matters such as this. I thought the Cardinal handled the situation gracefully and wisely.

You can read Cardinal George’s blog post here: Reflections on “Chicago values” and an amazing follow up post here: Chicago Values, Revisited: it’s not about chicken!