David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.,
has fought tooth and nail against the Obamacare mandate that his business must
pay for employee insurance that includes abortion-causing drugs. For the deeply
religious Green, this is a government intrusion in his faith, one that
manifestly violates the First Amendment’s promise that the federal government
will not interfere in people’s religious practices. Green has now published an
open letter explaining the threats his company is facing from the Obama
administration and the steps that Hobby Lobby is taking to protect its business
and its religious integrity:
Sept.23, 2013
When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were
working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture
frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living
rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according
to God’s word.
From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest
arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our
children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby
together, as a family.
We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian
principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1)
to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more
than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees
can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of
the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can
enjoy a day of rest.
We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has
endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in
a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our
full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.
But now, our government threatens to change all of that.
A new government healthcare mandate says that our family
business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our
health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause
abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the
morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life
after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most
important beliefs.
It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run
this company since day one.
If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in
government fines.
Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy.
Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages
four years running.
Our government threatens to fine a family for running its
business according to its beliefs. It’s not right. I know people will say we
ought to follow the rules; that it’s the same for everybody. But that’s not
true.
So, Hobby Lobby and my family are forced to make a choice. With
great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for
Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts
our business. We don’t like to go running into court, but we no longer have a
choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that
honoring God is more important than turning a profit.
My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue
growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but
the government is going to make that much more difficult.
The government is forcing us to choose between following our
faith and following the law. I say that’s a choice no American and no American
business should have to make.
The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against
your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies
but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic Church.
Since you will not see this in the liberal media, please pass
this on to all your contacts.
Sincerely,
David Green
CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
1 comment:
This is an interesting post Annie. Thanks for sharing. I think healthcare should be for health, and saving lives, and paying for medicines and necessary surgeries, etc. and leave out the abortion stuff and the morning after pills and the birth control, etc. etc. That is not health care. That is a personal choice, not a government responsibility or even an insurance company responsibility.
On another issue, I don't think employers should be forced to offer health care and be fined if they don't. They should not have to cut back employee jobs and hours in order to avoid it, which most are doing. If it were more affordable, many employers would be happy to offer it as a benefit. Not all, but many. If the government would put a cap on insurance premiums, it might help the problem. But...well...so many of these huge companies are campaign contributors...it's all politics. Nobody REALLY cares about the rest of us.
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