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This Fox News Host Is Declaring Chick-Fil-A the Official Chicken of Jesus

Fox News radio host Todd Starnes gave a rousing sermon yesterday wherein he declared Chick-Fil-A "the official chicken of Jesus." Jesus could not be reached for comment.
Hilary Pollack
Los Angeles, US
Photo via Flickr user Wally Gobetz

It's far from new-news at this point that Chick-Fil-A has a (wing) bone to pick with gay marriage.

The widespread American fast-food chain—which comes with a strong Southern Baptist influence from its founder—first caused controversy three years ago when chief operating officer Dan T. Cathy made public remarks in opposition to same-sex marriage, blowing open the doors for a backlash towards the brand—especially after reports showed that Chick-Fil-A had donated millions to anti-LGBT groups via its charity, the WinShape Foundation.

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In a 2012 interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said, "We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

READ: Is In-N-Out Burger Too Good to Be True?

After his comments sparked heavy debate and calls for boycotts, Cathy decided to dip out of the gay marriage conversation. And last year, he even said that he regretted speaking out about the issue in the first place.

But you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Now, Fox News radio host Todd Starnes has taken it upon himself to resurface Chick-Fil-A's religious associations. In fact, Starnes is confident that the chain is the harbinger of some seriously holy fried chicken.

In a sermon from yesterday, Starnes declares Chick-Fil-A "the official chicken of Jesus."

Sure, his tone was a little bit cheeky—but the comment wasn't a dig at the chain for its opposition of gay rights, but a nudge of support. Starnes goes on to warn attendees about the "war on religious liberty … targeting people of the Christian faith!"

The remark wasn't off-the-cuff, either. Back in May 2014, Starnes made the same rather bold statement about Chick-Fil-A while sharing on Twitter that he was about to go to town on a few bags of the stuff.

Lifeway serves me Chick-fil-A - the official chicken of Jesus. pic.twitter.com/TJYTnbswWz

— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) May 14, 2014

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There's no doubt that the man loves his chicken, but his claim raises a lot of questions. Did Jesus verbally endorse Chick-Fil-A, but it didn't make it into the Bible? How does one get official designation for their food to represent Jesus Christ?

If deep fryers weren't invented during the time of Jesus's life, how could he know that Chick-Fil-A would have superior seasoning or crispiness to, say, KFC?

ON VICE.COM: Was Jesus Gay?

Is the Vermont guy who got sued by Chick-Fil-A for making "Eat More Kale" shirts an enemy of Jesus?

Is Jesus kind of like Bob Marley or the Calvin peeing logo in that his name and likeness can be brought on board to affirm any sentiment?

What if Jesus was gay? Would Chick-Fil-A have reconsidered their stance on same-sex marriage, or just politely tell Jesus that he's great and all but marriage should be between a man and a woman?

And most importantly, did Jesus like waffle fries?