Saturday, March 29, is Hobby Lobby Appreciation day—an opportunity for Americans to support the Green family and their arts-and-crafts chain’s fight to preserve religious freedom from the coercive Obamacare mandate.
Over 20,000 individuals have joined a Facebook event, pledging to shop at one of Hobby Lobby’s more than 500 stores or online on Saturday in support of the Green family’s stance.
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Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Hobby Lobby has grown from one 300-square-foot garage to over 500 stores in 41 states, employing more than 16,000 individuals.
The Greens’ faith is integral to how they operate their family business. Hobby Lobby stores close on Sundays and are open only 66 hours a week, thereby allowing employees to spend more time with their families. Indeed, this faith influences not only the Green’s relationship with their employees, but their investment in local communities as well—Hobby Lobby operates a number of partnerships with Christian ministries.
Yet, under the Obamacare mandate, the government is forcing families like the Greens to violate their beliefs by funding coverage of potentially life-ending drugs and devices or face crippling fines—up to $1.3 million per day in the case of Hobby Lobby. Even if the business were forced to drop employee health care coverage to avoid the mandate, it would still face a fine of $2,000 per employee per year.
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“We believe that the principles that are taught scripturally are what we should operate our lives by, so that naturally flows over into the business,” explains Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby.
This week, the Green family joined fellow plaintiffs the Hahn family at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in their cases challenging the coercive mandate.
Those unable to make it to a Hobby Lobby store this Saturday can use a website set up by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Greens, to send thank you notes to the family and encourage them to remain resilient in their brave stance against the mandate.