Will you be fired for your fish?

by Michael G. Mickey

(10-22-06)

Above is a photo of the back of my personal vehicle. Could I be fired from my job for it? You never know these days!

Am I kidding around by asking what seems, at face value, a silly question like that ---- in the United States of America no less? Not in these end times and not in the state I live in, which is one of the most conservative in the nation ---- maybe. I say maybe because an American Family Association article tells of the plight of a man from my home state of Virginia who was fired recently after displaying the following message in the rear window of his personal vehicle in the employee lot of his former employer: Please, vote for marriage on Nov. 7.

On November 7, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, voters will be provided an opportunity to vote for or against a marriage amendment to our state's constitution that will, if passed, clearly define marriage as the union of one man and one woman only. The gentleman who was fired, Luis Padilla, as shown by his sign, supports voting in favor of traditional marriage.

Padilla was fired for merely engaging in the political process that every American who has ever placed a politically-themed bumper sticker on their car in favor of or in opposition to any issue on past ballots, right? So what gives? Is participation in our nation's democratic process now a no-no if your position taken isn't politically correct? It certainly seems so, at least when participation in our nation's democratic process is offensive to some who work for Padilla's former employer, Cargill Foods.

Here's how The Daily News Record, a local newspaper, indicates events transpired leading to Padilla's recent dismissal from Cargill Foods' Harrisonburg, VA plant:

The company fired Padilla earlier this month after it had received complaints about a sign on his personal pickup truck. The sign asked voters to support a constitutional amendment on marriage that defines the institution as a union between one man and one woman. Voters will take up the amendment on Nov. 7.

Cargill representatives said this week that Padilla, who was a human resources clerk, lost his job because of insubordination.

But Padilla believes he was fired because of the sign on his pickup truck.

The company ordered Padilla to remove the sign after receiving complaints about it.

Padilla removed the lettering, which was written in white marker on the black rear window of his pickup truck.

The next day, Padilla returned to work with the message back on his truck, but he parked the vehicle outside the company gates.

Padilla believed he was off Cargill property, but a company spokesman said Padilla remained on the premises.

Told of this, Padilla then covered the offending words with cardboard.

After he made an effort to discuss the matter further with management, Padilla was dismissed.

"I tried to accommodate them," Padilla said.

Padilla’s supporters, including the Valley Family Forum, consider the company’s action discriminatory against Christians and have asked Cargill to reinstate him with back pay and an apology.

Yet another shining example of why I say that tolerance is a one-way street! Tolerance, as designed by the forces of darkness along with political correctness and moral relativism, only applies when utilized in support of those who oppose the Word of God. That would be why Padilla's political view wasn't tolerated while the views of those opposed to his view, which are clearly either homosexuals or homosexual sympathizers, were not only tolerated but fully supported!

An attorney for Cargill Foods, according to The Daily News Record, has indicated that Padilla is free to believe what he wants and to take whatever position he favors on the proposed amendment. The same attorney, however, indicated that "Padilla’s actions violated company policies on intolerance", adding that Padilla had been "insubordinate." Basically, Cargill Foods employees are allowed to believe whatever they want and vote however they want but only if they do so silently. Yes, that is precisely what this attorney has said, more or less, which is corroborated by the fact Padilla is, at this hour, unemployed because he wasn't silent!

Padilla's actions, according to this attorney, "contained a message that other employees could have "reasonably construed as a show of hostility and intolerance toward homosexuals.""

Do the words "Please, vote for marriage on Nov. 7" demonstrate hostility in any manner? No.

Do the words displayed on Padilla's truck show that he is intolerant of homosexuals? No. It shows that he is in support of traditional marriage and hopes others will join him in voting for the state to amend its constitution to ensure Virginia law isn't changed sometime down the line to allow same-sex marriage to occur.

The definition of intolerance is "unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs."

Now, I ask you, based on the definition above, which party in this instance was harmed by intolerance? Padilla, of course! No one else! The complaining party (or parties) is the one who was intolerant, being so upset by Padilla's political viewpoint that they couldn't tolerate his opinion being voiced without acting out against him to the extent he was harassed and, ultimately, fired!

Hypothetically, assuming for a moment that Padilla's political opinion alone demonstrated true hostility toward homosexuals, do the combined words and overt actions of Cargill Foods offer Christians far greater evidence to reasonably construe that Padilla's firing was a clear showing of hostility and intolerance toward their Christian employees than there is evidence to support Cargill's assertion that Padilla was being intolerant by displaying the sign in question?

And furthermore, if Padilla's former employer, the Cargill Foods plant located in Harrisonburg, Va, was equally enforcing this type of policy, shouldn't every Cargill employee who, hypothetically, had one of those disgustingly annoying stickers of a cartoon character urinating on a Chevrolet symbol displayed on their Ford in an employee parking lot have been ordered to remove it - or be fired? Shouldn't Cargill Foods fear that a sticker showing a cartoon character urinating on a Chevrolet symbol is a "show of hostility and intolerance" toward their employees who are Chevrolet owners? Cargill Foods employees who drive Chevrolets deserve to be safeguarded from Ford drivers who overtly demonstrate that they don't support the ownership of Chevrolets just as much as homosexuals or homosexual sympathizers should be safeguarded from men like Padilla! In fact, Chevrolet owners, using Cargill logic, may well be working in a hostile work environment at the very least if one of those anti-Chevrolet stickers is in their parking lot! The leadership of Cargill Foods needs to run out as soon as possible and survey their parking lots everywhere to ensure that no one is being hostile or intolerant of the values or beliefs of any of their employees, not just their homosexual employees or those who support them!

And how safe can Jeff Gordon race fans who are also Cargill Foods employees feel if the guy parked three cars down from them has a Dale Earnhardt Jr. sticker prominently displayed in his window?

And then there are the in-state college football rivalries to consider. Some Cargill Foods employees, using the Harrisonburg, VA plant as an example, are probably marking their cars in support of the University of Virginia while others are menacingly displaying Virginia Tech stickers! Heaven forbid that such differences of opinion that carry with them such potential for hostility and intolerance be allowed to foster in the land of the free and the home of the brave, not to mention Cargill Foods!

Would Luis Padilla have been required to remove a pretty rainbow decal from the back window of his personal vehicle had one been observed on it in the employee parking lot of Cargill Foods and it 'offended' a Christian? Nope. Padilla, in all likelihood, would still have his job if the rear window of his truck had read: "Vote no to the marriage amendment on November 7 so everyone can be married!" I say that because it probably would've been too politically incorrect of Cargill Foods to limit Mr. Padilla's freedom of tolerant expression, especially if it was merely displayed on his personal vehicle in the employee parking lot.

The American Family Association story quotes Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation of Virginia as saying it is ""devastating to our democracy" when there are individuals who believe, like Cargill, that simply posting a sign in a car window constitutes "imposing" one's beliefs on others. It is abundantly clear that those who seek to impose same-sex 'marriage' on society are not at all interested in tolerance of other viewpoints. And they are willing to go so far as to destroy a man's family and take his livelihood to get their way."

How true and it's only going to get worse! Bet on that!

If you're a born-again Christian, have you given any thought to where all the tolerance, political correctness and moral relativism of our world is leading us? The powers of darkness don't want to merely quiet your involvement in the political process that shapes the future of our nation, but SILENCE your voice altogether!

Christians, will you someday be asked to remove the fish from the back of your car because it is a symbol of your Christian faith which, in and of itself, will be construed as a show of hostility and intolerance toward homosexuality because Leviticus 18:22 forbids the practice? If so, will you tow the line and remove your fish, find a creative way to leave it on your car by parking it off your employer's property, or be fired for your fish? Trust me when I say that the day is coming when each of us is going to be forced to make choices like these! Why do I say that? Because our world today finds the born-again Christian, by way of his or her very presence in the world, an offense!

If no one acts to right the wrong done to Luis Padilla, it's an injustice of epic proportions, especially in a land that prides itself on being the land of the free! According to The Daily News Record's report, a number of Virginia lawmakers are outraged and being energized to take action. While I wish Virginia lawmakers all the best in preventing anything like this from ever happening again, will there be any justice for Luis Padilla and his family?

Luke 17:28-30: Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

HE'S COMING!

SEE ALSO: Train Wreck Coming: Why homosexual marriage threatens free expression of religion

UPDATE (added 10-28-06): Virginia Man Rehired After Flap Over Pro-Marriage Slogan