This article prompted a discussion on my Facebook account today: http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples

A friend of mine posted a few subsequent articles that illustrate exactly how deep Chick-fil-a is involved in agendas that they have not exactly been forthright about in the past. She said, in part: They are a part of an extreme right wing conservative Christian movement called “Dominionism”, that seeks to turn this nation into a Christian theocracy. Dominionists are extremely powerful and have a lot of money and influence in right wing politics.

Chick-fil-a is essentially saying, “We’ll take money from LBGTs and feed them but we’re going to use that money to fund organizations that work to deny their equal rights.” That is abhorrent. The restaurant itself may not technically be discriminating but they ARE funding people who do. They’ll take money from anyone but where that money goes is the real question.

Following that statement, she posted this explanation:

Chick-Fil-A may have some of the best-known links to dominionism, in part because of their extensive promotion of dominionists in things as simple as children’s meals.

One of the tactics Chick-Fil-A is infamous for is stealth evangelism targeting kids–via use of both Veggietales and via giving out Focus on the Family audio programs as children’s meal incentives.

“Veggietales” was originally created by Paxson Communications (owner of PAX-TV and a major player in the dominionist “alternate media”) as an alternative to PBS programming for families in the dominionist “parallel economy”; according to the very creators of the show, they apparently think Sesame Street promotes the “homosexual agenda” and hence the creators made the “parallel economy” alternative.

Veggietales is, by the explicit admission of the creator, designed to recruit kids into dominionism as early as the toddler age; disturbingly, Veggietales has been used to recruit kids into “revivals” held by Assemblies “name it and claim it” preacher Luis Palau and in a flyer distributed in a public school trying to recruit kids into a “Jesus Camp” type summer camp affair.

Of disturbing note, the creator of Veggietales is linked to one of the early dominionist “Joel’s Army” groups, Maranatha (FACTnet, a group dedicated to exposing coercive and abusive groups, has more info here). Maranatha was so spiritually abusive it was banned on multiple state campuses; it has since reinvented itself under the names “Morning Star International” and “Every Nation”.

Chick-Fil-A has distributed CDs of the dominionist program Adventures in Odyssey; this show has been described as a Radio “Jesus Camp”, and is broadcast on radio stations that are part of the dominionist “alternate media”. Show topics have included promotion of assistance to the Contras (under the guise of “evangelisation” of the Miskitu first nation–a very common method FGBMFI-linked groups used to funnel aid to the Contras which made the Miskitu targets of both the Contras and Sandanistas as a result; the Miskitu had been Christianised since the early 1800s and actually had a European style of government by the 1850s, and were in fact largely Protestant well before the dominionists came with their Contra funding-fronts). Other fun radio topics include the wholescale genocide of a people simply because they were pagans and a story on how it is permissible to steal and destroy roleplaying games belonging to another person to prevent them from being “demonised”.

Chick-Fil-A has also been associated with the promotion of “dad’s groups” linked to Campus Crusade for Christ (which has been noted as being coercive on a number of campuses) and promotes the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation–a group that has promoted “bait and switch” evangelism, is a major funding source for dominionist groups, and is most known for having famous sports figures (including, formerly, NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon) promoting an explicitly dominionist version of the New Testament.

Truett Cathy, the head of Chick-Fil-A, claims to >use “Biblical principles” in running Chick-Fil-A–often this is a code-word often used in the dominionist community to flag a business as “dominionist friendly”.

Hawking dominionist “kid’s meals” is bad enough. That’s far from the only support Chick-Fil-A gives to dominionists, though.

Among other things, Chick-Fil-A is a major sponsor of National Bible Week–a dominionist-operated scheme to get state legislatures to pass resolutions declaring a week of Bible study and which was started by a proto-dominionist group in 1940 called the “National Coalition for Religious Recovery” (which felt the Great Depression occured because people “got away from the church”); is one of the largest corporate funders of Focus on the Family (and FotF has lauded him back in past–after all, he does drop those CDs encouraging the genocide of the entire pagan population into kid’s meals); apparently publishes books on “Christian business” popular in the dominionist community; and operates a fairly extensive group of facilities targeting kids and adults.

And when I say “Winshape” is extensive, I mean extensive; the network includes a “parallel economy” alternative to Outward Bound, a “training group” for collegiate dominionists, a network of foster-care homes, a own “Jesus Camp” type affair, an explicit missionary corps a la Youth With A Mission to train “future Christian leaders” (presumably to start dominionist movements in their own countries), a religious retreat (which is affiliated with a college which started out as a conservative Bible college and missionary school (and is still technically a Protestant college, though they do allow non-Protestants to attend), and finally a marriage counseling retreat.

In regards to that “retreat”–it includes seminars from a dominionst “marriage counseling” service (which has a bibolatrous statement of faith); the counseling service has links to Salem-controlled groups as well as a plethora of dominionist sponsored links. (As noted, Salem Communications is a big player in dominionist radio.) The Winshape marriage seminars also include links to a second “Christian counseling” service which is explicitly dominionists-only; in fact, it’s associated with an “ministerial mill” with close links with steeplejacked congregations and dominionist churches–as revealed in the staff page. Folks associated with Intimate Care Ministries (one of the groups linked to the second group) have been associated with Bill Gothard et al; Bill Gothard is a known promoter of dominionist “deliverance ministry”, including operation of dominionist “character city” stealth-evangelism programs aimed at public schools and promoting the rather bizarre idea that “Cabbage Patch Kids” dolls were demonically possessed and caused infertility, and at least one exit-counseling group considers his work potentially abusive.

Rather disturbingly, it also has programs that could potentially put spouses at danger (there is no communication with the outside world, and at least some of the tracks deal with spouses who are physically abusive to their spouses–a situation where it is far more appropriate for the spouses to separate and the abused spouse to protect him/herself)).

Chick-fil-a is not the only company that funds these dominionism movements. Further reading shows that Amway/Quixtar, Hobby Lobby, and US Plastics are also majorly funding dominionism. So what do you think? Are you comfortable giving money to companies without really knowing where your money is going?

Additional reading, Dominionism’s parallel economy: corporate sponsors: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/23/142836/277

5 Facts About Dominionism: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/5-facts-about-dominionism_n_945601.html