My Opera
Can you believe the US Government wants to destroy Christian owned businesses?
Thursday, December 6, 2012 4:34:50 AM
Is it the White House, the Courts, or Congress that can't stand Christianity?
Dear Friends,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.
Sincerely,
David Green,
CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
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Unregistered user # Saturday, December 22, 2012 12:01:27 AM