Following
our
God-given Conscience
whatever the
cost!
The Founder of Hobby Lobby chooses to
follow His Christian conscience rather than compromise his
faith! May we follow His example!
"The
wisdom that comes from above is, first, pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and
good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity." - James
3:17
By David Green, the founder and CEO
of Hobby Lobby Stores,
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.