Hobby
Lobby CEO, David Green’s Letter
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 also
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.
David
Green is the CEO and founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
