“When you come to the edge of all the light you have known and are about to step out into the darkness, faith is knowing one of two things will happen…there will be something to stand on you will be taught how to fly.”*
Hobby Lobby, the retail arts and crafts giant, is in a fight against the Obama administration’s HHS mandate that defies their freedom of religion and forces them to provide abortifacients to employees. Hobby Lobby does pay for birth control for their staff members, yet objects to funding the morning-after pill and week-after pill, both of which can end an unborn child’s life.
The CEO of Hobby Lobby, David Green, wrote a heart-rending letter about the loss of religious freedom in America, saying, in part,
“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…
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…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…A new government health care 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…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…We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.
…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…
Sincerely,
David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.”
More than 30,000 people have signed up to take part in supporting Hobby Lobby today, January 5th, by shopping at the store nearest them.
Here’s a link to a 40% off coupon to use at Hobby Lobby today. Let’s shower this organization with support, help them raise money under the threat of the fines they face, and, most importantly, pray for them!
* Author Unknown
Philosophies of Strawberry Shortcake 
Thanks for sharing this. I wish there were some other way to show support since I’m not sure that shopping there for one day will make any difference with the HHS mandate. Saw the Mike Huckabee is supporting the shopping effort for today also. Very disturbing that we are starting to lose the freedoms on which our country was founded.
Yes, I wish there was more we could do as well, Lynn.
While shopping there won’t do anything about the mandate, what it can do is ease the financial burden of the $1.3 million per day in fines that they are threatened with.
A friend suggested we pray for them to raise an extra $475 million in profits today, and I agree. We can pray for Hobby Lobby’s success against the unconstitutional mandate, and we can help to support them financially through the crunch they are facing while honoring God.