Okay, now, obviously I have no love lost for the religious nutjobs of America. I’ve prattled on about the “war on Christmas” and “Christian persecution” more times than I could probably count. That said, generally whenever these issues come up, even if I’m on the opposite side of the issue, I understand why the objection has been made. Sure, I’ll mock people for howling at Target for having a “holiday sale” and not a “Christmas sale”, but I get it.
The anger at Krispy Kreme over their word “choice”? No, sorry, I don’t get it. We’ve entered surreal levels of wingnuttery, here. From the American Life League’s press release, with the pertinent parts highlighted.
“The doughnut giant released the following statement yesterday:
‘Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American’s sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies — just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet “free” can be.’
“Just an unfortunate choice of words? For the sake of our Wednesday morning doughnut runs, we hope so. The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that ‘choice’ is synonymous with abortion access, and celebration of ‘freedom of choice’ is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.
Are these people for real? I’ve read that statement a dozen times and for the life of me cannot see how else it could be phrased without coming across as awkward. A free doughnut of your selection? Of your determination? Or hey, according to the ol’ thesaurus, “adoption” is a valid synonym. So there you go, won’t you please adopt these free donuts?
The word “choice” is not synonymous with abortion. Now, “pro-choice” is, and I readily admit that if Krispy Kreme’s statement said “we believe in an American’s right to choose… their donut! Here at Krispy Kreme we are pro-choice, have whatever you want!” then sure, ALL would have a case. But if they want to start having a shit-fit every time the word “choice” shows up in anything, they’re going to have their schedules pretty dang full.
