David Sloan “The wisdom that comes from above is, first, pure, then
peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,
without uncertainty or insincerity.” – James 3:17
By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
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. The government has exempted thousands of companies
from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won’t
exempt them for reasons of religious belief.
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.
http://www.sfaw.org/newswire/2013/03/01/hobby-lobby-may-close/
