Converting the Bottom Line

(photo credit: Brian Kaylor)

With the Supreme Court set to rule within days on Hobby Lobby's lawsuit challenging Obamacare, some attention has arisen lately regarding Hobby Lobby's claim to be "Christian." Can a business actually claim religious rights? I criticized Hobby Lobby's arguments in March. At that time, I raised this warning for Hobby Lobby:

Can a company be a Christian? The owners of Hobby Lobby might not want to go down that road since Jesus's teachings are much clearer on issues of finances than contraception. It would probably be better for their bottom line to just be a for-profit business and not a Christian entity!

Turns out that issue is leading others to question Hobby Lobby's claim to be a Christian business.

Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced he secured a $220,000 settlement from Hobby Lobby in his investigation into "deceptive advertising practices." Basically, Hobby Lobby called things "on sale" that were always on sale and therefore not really on sale. So much for not lying, which is mentioned in the Bible much more than contraception. Author Jonathan Merritt also critiqued Hobby Lobby's Christian claims as he noted the craft store sells a lot of items made in China where workers are not paid well and often exploited. He also noted the hypocrisy of Hobby Lobby's owners claiming their pro-life beliefs mean they must challenge Obamacare (even though the health care reform did not actually fund abortion) but not similarly challenge China's policies that actually promote abortion. And given comments by Jesus about the rich entering Heaven, perhaps Hobby Lobby founder David Green should be worried since Forbes lists his wealth at $5 billion. Hopefully the Supreme Court will reject Hobby Lobby's bad legal arguments and hopefully its owners will have a bit of a business conversion to live up better to Christian principles.