There’s an insurgency in America that not many people know about.
It’s a silent, but deadly infiltration that poses a significant threat to the fabric of our culture.
Of course, I’m talking about the growing fast-food restaurant chain, The Halal Guys.
Founded as a small food cart in the streets of Manhattan by three Muslims (Mohamed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka, and Abdelbaset Elsayed) in 1990, The Halal Guys are taking the world by storm thanks to a deal they have in place with Fransmart, the same consulting firm that helped Five Guys explode onto the dining scene.
Now, instead of waiting in a line wrapped around the block of West 53rd and 6th Avenue to get your fix of their Islamically-prepared gyro sandwich or platter with the trademark spicy sauce, you might be able to get it in your own town. The restaurant chain already has several dozen locations in the United States, and even a few spots abroad in South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
If you’re not worried by now, you should be. Their food is delicious, and because of the founders’ Islamic faith, who knows if they have the same views on same-sex marriage as the owners of Chick-fil-A? After all, the American Left seemed to have set a precedent in this regard. If you begin eating platters from The Halal Guys, aren’t you automatically condoning whatever objectionable (in your opinion) views they may have?
Of course not. But that’s what Dan Piepenbring of the New Yorker seems to be suggesting when it comes to Chick-fil-A setting up shop in Manhattan. As the third largest fast-food chain in the nation, Piepenbring makes valid criticism of Chick-fil-A crowding out the mom and pop diners and delis in New York City. Chick-fil-A does have an advantage when it comes to advertising and enticing consumers to eat their food that local small businesses simply don’t have.
Yet, his criticism is marred by his views of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, who, in Piepenbring’s words, “has been accused of bigotry for using the company’s charitable wing to fund anti-gay causes, including groups that oppose same-sex marriage.”
He goes on to say that “the brand’s arrival here feels like an infiltration, in no small part because of its pervasive Christian traditionalism.”
Sure, one article critiquing Chick-fil-A’s efforts to establish themselves in New York City isn’t going to change many people’s minds about how they view the fast-food company and their “Christian traditionalism.” By the same token, questioning the politics of the founders of a growing fast-food chain and their Islamic faith would present its own form of bigotry and intolerance, especially if you’re encouraging your audience to boycott the company entirely.
To put it simply, it doesn’t matter what Cathy, Abouelenien, Elsaka, or Elsayed think about homosexuality or the definition of marriage. After the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case in 2015 that essentially legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, their views on the issue are irrelevant. Even with Republicans controlling the White House and Congress in addition to the Supreme Court leaning more to the right, same-sex marriage doesn’t appear to be a political issue.
So, if anything, stop with the boycotts, get to know your neighbors, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or any other faith (or no faith at all), enjoy their food, support your local businesses, and stop being so angry about everything all the time.
