Today is August 1st. For some, today is the appointed time to flood the parking lots at Chick-fil-a and order a combo meal in support of free speech and traditional marriage. Word on the street is that the serving lines are out the door. And I’m getting hungry.

Competing for a voice in this debate is rivaling the intensity of London’s Olympic games. Social media outlets have been blitzed with activity, opinions and gestures of outright hatred. Some believe this phenomenon represents a platform to affirm and advance our protection of free speech. Others offer a disparate viewpoint, claiming diversity and tolerance as the twin pillars of a progressive society.

Make no mistake, traditional values are no longer the moral centerpiece of our culture. What we embraced a generation ago has been pushed aside to make room for a whole new set of conflicting values. We are entering an era where anything can be redefined to suit our neurotic and pathological psyches. With self as the final arbiter of truth and values, anything is defensible and everything is permissible. Whether we like it or not, we are experiencing a flashpoint in today’s postmodern culture.

CS Lewis noted our tendency to discard certain truths because of what he called “chronological snobbery.” The condition is expressed when we assume that traditional, or ancient, truth is always superseded by progressive, or newer, truth. The fact of the matter is that newer is not necessarily better. All truth is not equal. In order to establish and ordain the legitimacy of our preferred values, we must argue for a foundational norm that informs and defines our current argument. Advocates of today’s progressive culture insist on tolerance and diversity as the supreme values upon which our society must rest. In other words, all truth is equal truth, they insist, unless it interferes with the deity of pluralism.

The real chickens in this debate are the ones who refuse to acknowledge any transcendent truth, especially any truth that demands behavior or perspective contrary to their current lifestyle or mindset. For these truth-o-phobes clinging to the idols of personal preference and cultural diversity, all uncomfortable truth must be jettisoned and ridiculed, and its proponents labeled as bigots.

There are broken people on both sides of this dispute. I’m one of them. In spite of my flawed, outrageous condition, I’m leaving now to go to Chick-fil-a and marvel at the impact of this week’s social media conflict. I’m not sure if I’ll order anything off the menu, but I plan on kissing my beautiful wife.