GOOD FOR
THEM!!!! HOPE THEY GET THIS MANDATE
STOPPED.
A
Letter from Hobby Lobby Stores
CEO
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 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. 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 covered in any of the liberal
media, pass this on to all your
contacts.
David
Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores,
Inc.
