My Unpopular Decision to Support Hobby Lobby
This is my blog – so the views here are obviously my own. I express my views because I want to and because I can – not to hurt the feelings of good friends and associates that have opposing views. The ability to speak my truth is a fundamental right that I hold dear and that I have no plans to forskake.
When your religious freedom has become compromised, it’s a violation of your soul. It’s as if someone is attempting to crawl into your head and your heart and tell you how to think. It can never work – no one can make you think a certain way or stop you from subscribing to your religious belief system.
In communist Bulgaria in the early 1900s, my Muslim family name was changed to a more communist sounding name. Qur’ans were outlawed. Religion was outlawed. Practicing faith was against the law. My grandfather was killed from stepping on a land mine as he attempted to cross the border. Twelve years later, my father risked his life crossing the border and escaping communist Bulgaria into Greece. He was not allowed to return for twenty years. That’s twenty years without seeing his mother, his sisters and numerous other family members. He gave up his beloved country and family so that he could practice his religion freely. So that he could speak his truth freely.
My family legacy is built upon the foundation of the ideal of religious freedom. Religious freedom is a fundamental civil right, a fundmental human right.
I’m stunned at the amount of backlash against the Green Family who are the owners of Hobby Lobby and the Supreme Court for the decision to grant them relief from being forced to purchase drugs for their employees against their religion. The “slippery slope” it creates, to many, is good enough reason to violate a family’s religious freedom. The fact that many people want these medications paid for by their employers, to many, is good enough reason to violate a family’s religious freedom.
Our healthcare crisis is not the job of our employers to fix. Our employer is not our healthcare sugar daddy. Our relationships with our employers is:
A) A consenting relationship between employee and employer
B) Is negotiable (compensation and benefits package)
C) Can be terminated by either party at any time.
D) Cannot be counted on for the long-term
Employers can choose not to provide benefits and pay a fine instead. You can personally choose not to have health coverage and accrue a fine on your tax records too. You can also choose to purchase one of the ObamaCare plans that are now available – and you cannot be turned away due to a pre-existing condition.
According to those outraged about the Hobby Lobby decision based on the onslaught of online feedback, NOT violating the religious freedom of the Green Family:
- is taking away the rights of women
- is a war on women
- is intermingling church and state
- is violating women’s rights
- is preventing women from access to 4 specific medications (that include the Morning After Pill and the IUD)
- is wrong because the Green family’s beliefs are “wrong”
- is an expression of “manspeak”
- is wrong because old men of SCOTUS are on Viagara
- is a violation because bosses don’t belong in our bedroom
- is a violation because next, sharia law will be thrust upon us
- is wrong because Hobby Lobby will continue to pay for Viagara
- is wrong because those that voted to protect the religious freedom of the Green family – have penises (and are old – and again, presumably, take Viagara)
- is obviously a mistake because this woman looks really pissed off, wrote a scathing (and we mean SCATHING!) dissent, has a vagina and presumably does NOT take Viagara
Hobby Lobby is a “closely held” corporation. They are essentially a private company whose shareholders are the owners, the Greens and their 3 children.
Not unlike other American companies, Hobby Lobby’s vision (printed on their website) is based on their Christian values:
At Hobby Lobby, we value our customers and employees and are committed to: “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.
Offering our customers exceptional selection and value in the crafts and home decor market.
Serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals and nurture families.
Providing a return on the owner’s investment, sharing the Lord’s blessings with our employees, and investing in our community.
We believe that it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, and we trust Him for our future.”
In case you’re unaware, Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday to recognize the Christian holy day – which costs them enormous amount of sales. They also close early in general so that their employees can be home with their families. This is part of their core, Christian belief system. Their starting salary is 90% above the minimum wage. Their benefits package is generous. And the healthcare plan they provide to their employees still covers 16 of the 20 types of birth control methods in existence – just not the ones they believe, according to their religious convictions, are life terminating.
If Hobby Lobby had say – 5 stores and employed say – 60 employees, would anyone give a crud if they fought for their religious freedom? Would anyone care if IUDs and Morning After Pills were aganst their religion?
Hobby Lobby has 576 nationwide stores and approximately 21,000 employees. (Still privately held though.) Do people think that violating religious freedom is okay if you are a private business and happen to be successful?
Would the same backlash happen if the private business were a bible belt bakery whose company was not as successful as Hobby Lobby and whose family members / owners seemed more Christian-like?
BUT THEY TOOK AWAY MY ACCESS TO BIRTH CONTROL COVERAGE!
Ummm yeahhhhh – no they didn’t.
If you don’t have health coverage or don’t like your employer’s benefits package,you can now purchase healthcare coverage through the The Official Website of the State Health Insurance Marketplace. ENROLL HERE! You cannot be turned away for a pre-existing condition any longer. And yeah – since it’s through the government, you are not violating anyone’s religious freedom by making demands of them.
If you want an idea of what the marketplace website is like, check out this video with help from an employee at the Department of Health & Human Services that explains it all in layman’s terms:
Don’t like your employer’s plan?
Don’t like your employer’s religion?
Don’t like your ObamaCare choices?
You can turn to places liked Planned Parenthood for assistance: FIND A CENTER NEAR YOU. CLICK HERE.
(You can also do what I did when my employer’s health insurance plan didn’t cover contraception. You can pay for it yourself.)
“Gasp! I can’t believe she said that!”
“I know! Right?”
If you don’t like the Affordable Health Care Act and how healthcare is managed in the United States, write to your Congress Person. Playing victim to a Christian family and back biting them and slandering them online and violating their religious freedom is not the answer to your healthcare emancipation.
About the Author
About the Author: I'm a Writer, Speaker and Muslim Activist. I'm a former Board Member of the #MyJihad Public Education Campaign.
Follow my blog at yasminareality.com or follow me on Twitter: @yasmina_reality. I'm also now on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YasminaReality
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