Business Week is trying to push its socially left-wing agenda to be helpful in advising Chick-fil-A to follow the example of Marriott International, the hotel company run by Bill Marriott, a “devout” Mormon. Business Week says that the company stayed out of the gay marriage fight when the Mormon church supported a ban on the practice in California. In fact, Marriott International went out of its way to publicize its commitment to gay relationships. Bill Marriott tells Business Week that his religion opposes drinking, but guesses his company is one of the leading purveyors of alcohol. As Marriott explains, you’ve got to make money.
The Baptist president of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy, on the other hand, has his company close on Sundays, is critical of gay marriage, and celebrates the traditional family. This, Business Week will tell you, is divisive and alienates customers. Of course, it also attracts many faithful customers. But all this is beside the point.
Business Week holds Bill Marriott up as a model for Cathy to emulate because he won’t “impose” his views on his company or the public. But that is the point: Marriott too easily separates his religious beliefs and his business practices (does he do the same for the virtue of honesty?) and Cathy refuses to split himself into two, with a private religion that does not influence how he lives his life. In other words, Cathy’s religious views are meaningful and sincere and Marriott’s are not.
