Why I won't shop at Hobby Lobby and why I hope you won't, too

This is not a blog post about travel. There are no pictures here. But this is a topic I feel very strongly about, and this is my avenue for speaking up. 

If you and I are friends you know by now that I don't like Hobby Lobby. I didn't like the idea of them opening a store in my town, and I speak out whenever someone brings up their name. I frequently get asked why I don't like Hobby Lobby.  I will explain why.

Hobby Lobby is a "family owned" company that sells crafty stuff that people use to create things like Mason Jar candles that they saw on Pinterest. If by "family owned" you mean a company that has 578 stores, employs 23,000 people, and generates $3.3 BILLION in revenues. They are as much of a family owned business is Wal Mart, Comcast, and Ford Motor are. Don't believe that this is just some cute little mom and pop business. It's a mega corporation. A powerful one. They are also a corporation run by a family of devout Christians. Christians with a very defined agenda. In fact they are so rich, and so Christian, that they are building an $800 million Bible Museum in Washington. 

But because Hobby Lobby identifies themselves as a family business they were able to effectively sue  for the right to deny women that work for them insurance coverage for 4 out of 20 forms of birth control provided under the Affordable Care Act. Their reasoning? They are a "family business" owned by Christians who believe abortion is a sin, so they shouldn't have to provide coverage for things they deem to be "abortifactants". It would be against their "Christian values". There are a few problems with that, however. 

1. The forms of birth control they don't want to cover DO NOT, scientifically or medically speaking, cause abortions. 
2. Allowing the uber rich heads of a $3.3 billion company to decide what medical coverage to provide employees based on their personal religious beliefs is damn scary. 
3. It's hugely hypocritical.

Why is it hypocritical, you ask? Here's the clincher. While Hobby Lobby feels so strongly against providing options for it's female employees like IUDs and Plan B because they are "pro life", it has no problem profiting via share holding and investing in the same exact companies who make these things. Hobby Lobby has $73 Million invested in funds with stakes in contraception manufacturers.  This includes Pfizer, the company who makes the drug Cytotec which actually does induce abortions. 

In short this means that a cashier working at Hobby Lobby who goes to the ER after being raped won't have the Plan B (Emergency contraceptive pill) that the Dr will order for her to prevent her from getting pregnant covered by her insurance, but a CEO will be able to have a nice retirement with money made from investing in Teva, the company that makes Plan B. 

Also hypocritical? Most of the products you can buy at Hobby Lobby are made in China. Generally in Chinese sweat shops where people work in terrible conditions. And China has more abortions yearly than any other country in the world. But somehow the Green family thinks that it can overlook that fact, so they can provide you with cheaply made ribbon for your Mason Jar Candle. 

Still want to shop there?

Here's where it hits home for me. Literally. 

Hobby Lobby spends a huge amount of money funding ultra conservative Christian foundations that promote and work directly to create anti gay and lesbian legislation.  in 2012, Forbes Magazine sited David Green (the co-head of Hobby Lobby) as the single largest individual donor to evangelical causes in America. 

Remember that little piece of legislation that came up in Arizona earlier this year? SB 1062? That's the bill that would have essentially made it legal for companies and businesses to deny rights and service to others based on their personal religious beliefs. Basically it would have made it legal for a restaurant to refuse to serve Lindsay and I because we are a couple, if that restaurants owner believed that being gay is a sin. Guess who helped fund that legislation. If you guessed Hobby Lobby, you are correct. 

Hobby Lobby donates MILLIONS to a foundation called the National Christian Charitable Foundation that provides grants to causes including climate science denial, charter schools, free market and pro-life advocacy. And anti gay legislation. 

Hobby Lobby CEOs have an agenda. A Ultra Conservative Right Wing Evangelical Christian agenda that doesn't involve allowing people like Lindsay and I to marry. To walk into a business freely as a couple. To live our lives just like everyone else. Every time someone spends money in Hobby Lobby they are helping to further that agenda. 

Still want to shop there? I understand. Pinterest is addicting and Hobby Lobby sells cheap stuff to make those Mason Jar candles. I won't berate you. I won't unfriend you on Facebook. But please know that when you chose to shop at Hobby Lobby instead of driving to AC Moore or Michaels, that this is the company you are supporting.