<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFCC" text="#000000">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold">Column: Christian companies can't bow to
sinful mandate </span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold">By David Green </span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">When my
family and I started our company </span></font><font
color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/assets/pdf/40years/40years.pdf"
target="_blank">40
years ago</a></span></font><font color="black" face="Arial"
size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">, 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, </span></font><font color="#3333ff"
face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Hobby+Lobby"
target="_blank">Hobby
Lobby</a></span></font><font color="black" face="Arial"
size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> has
become one of
the nation's largest arts and crafts retailers, with more
than </span></font><font color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/stores.cfm"
target="_blank">500
locations in 41 states</a></span></font><font color="black"
face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">. Our
children grew up
into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby
together, as a family.
</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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 </span></font><font color="#3333ff"
face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/store_hours.cfm"
target="_blank">close
early</a></span></font><font color="black" face="Arial"
size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> so our
employees
can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on
Sundays, one of
the week's </span></font><font color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://timeuseinstitute.org/Grocery%20White%20Paper%202008.pdf"
target="_blank">biggest shopping days</a></span></font><font
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black">, 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 </span></font><font
color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.shoppingcenterbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=521:hobby-lobby-growing-with-purpose&catid=26:tenant-spotlight&Itemid=461"
target="_blank">added jobs</a></span></font><font
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> in
a weak economy, we've </span></font><font color="#3333ff"
face="Arial"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.shoppingcenterbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=521:hobby-lobby-growing-with-purpose&catid=26:tenant-spotlight&Itemid=461"
target="_blank">raised wages</a></span></font><font
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> for
the </span></font><font color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1236707216/Hobby-Lobby-has-raised-its-own-minimum-wage-by-1-an-hour-for-4-years"
target="_blank">past four years</a></span></font><font
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> in
a row. Our full-time employees start at </span></font><font
color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2012/04/16/hobby-lobby-increasing-the-minimum-pay.html"
target="_blank">80%</a></span></font><font color="black"
face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> above
minimum
wage. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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 </span></font><font color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-021.cfm"
target="_blank">abortion-causing
drugs</a></span></font><font color="black" face="Arial"
size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> 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 <i><span style="font-style:italic">per day </span></i> in
government
fines. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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 </span></font><font
color="#3333ff" face="Arial"><span
style="font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2010-10-07-healthlaw07_ST_N.htm"
target="_blank">exempted thousands of companies</a></span></font><font
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black"> 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. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font letterspacing="0" kerning="0"
color="#3333ff" face="Arial" size="3"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#3333FF"><a
href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Athletes/Auto+Racing/David+Green"
target="_blank"><i><span style="font-style:italic">David
Green</span></i></a></span></font><i><font color="black"
face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;font-style:italic"> is the CEO and founder of
Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc. </span></font></i></p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
“Socialized Medicine is the Keystone to the Arch of the Socialist State.”
--Vladimir Lenin</pre>
</body>
</html>