THE O’REILLY FACTOR

When the New York Post puts a fast-food chicken franchise on page one, you know some feathers have been ruffled, so to speak. And, indeed, the Chick-fil-A outfit can forget about catering any gay marriage receptions, because the company’s president, Dan Cathy, recently told an Atlanta radio station that by supporting gay nuptials, America is “inviting God’s wrath.”

While that remains to be seen, the wrath of pro-gay marriage advocates is vividly on display. The mayors of Boston and Chicago, playing to their liberal bases, both came out against having any Chick-fil-A restaurants in their cities. In the case of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, his condemnation of the fast-food chain came just days before Chicago was named the most dangerous city on Earth by a local TV news station.

Maybe some good chicken would calm things down in the Windy City.

Anyway, the attacks on Chick-fil- A are un-American, and here’s why. Gay marriage is not a civil right in the U.S., and until the Supreme Court rules that it is, there is no bias case to be made against those who, in good conscience, oppose it. Cathy and millions of other Americans believe in the sanctity of man-woman marriage based upon religious tenets. Some secularists even oppose homosexual nuptials because they believe nature dictates that marriage and procreation go together, that it is a societal stabilizer.

To brand someone a hater or a bigot because he or she opposes an expansion of traditional marriage to one selected group is unfair and narrow minded.

The converse is true, as well. If someone sincerely believes that socalled “marriage equality” is the fair and just thing to do, that belief should be respected.

What is truly disturbing are the threats. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee recently tweeted: “Closest Chick-fil- A to San Francisco is 40 miles away and I strongly recommend they not try to come any closer.”

You strongly recommend, Mr. Mayor? Why? Might something happen to a Chick-fil-A business that opens in your town? Are you sanctioning threats?

That’s the crux of this matter: Lee’s belief that he has a right to punish those with whom he disagrees.

Hey, Mr. Mayor, the vast majority of black preachers publicly oppose gay marriage. Are you going to tell them not to set up shop in your town?

Bet he won’t.

The Chick-fil-A deal is basically a grandstand play by some politically correct leftwing zealots. But it has backfired big time. All across the country, thousands of folks stood in long lines this week to buy chicken from Chick-fil-A. They are making an important statement: Don’t mess with freedom of expression.

That is one foul thing to do.

Veteran TV news anchor Bill O’Reilly is host of the Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor and author of the book “Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama.”