[StBernard] Hobby Lobby

[Westley Annis]

I pray that the Lord will uphold this company and many more of us that feel
the same way.

	 

Column: Christian companies can't bow to sinful mandate
By David Green

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.

David Green is the CEO and founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.