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 toall your contacts. Sincerely,
David Green
CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/hobbylobby.asp TRUE!
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