Two Viewpoints

((...while I don't agree with this gentleman on some of his beliefs, but he is still entitled to hold them.  I'm sure not everyone agrees with all of my views and feelings either.  I am, however, becoming increasingly frustrated with the extent of government surveillance and privacy violations we are seeing these days.  This perspective likely has the government observing my communications (or more) more closely than some, and I guess that can be price of free speech these days.  I am not anti-USA or even anti-government, though it may appear that way from much of the things I post here.  What I am is a believer in the things that made this country great, and I see a downward spiral of the precious freedoms and liberties that we once had...alexis))

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE UNITED STATES. 
We spend most of our money fighting other country's wars free of charge, paying 
interest to CHINA for all the DEBT created by our destructive government 
failures. 


Hobby Lobby Founder-May Close ALL Stores 

Hobby Lobby May Close. 
David Sloan “The wisdom that comes from above is, first, pure, then peaceable, 
gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or 
insincerity.” – James 3:17 By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby 
Stores, Inc. 

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 theweek’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 to all 
your contacts. 


Sincerely,
David Green
CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.