Hobby Lobby, keep your religious convictions in your pants.
And by “your pants,” I mean out of MY pants.
The debate on Hobby Lobby’s refusal to provide certain birth control methods to its employees has been raging for months now, but I’m more than happy to break it down.
Let’s start with Hobby Lobby’s insistence on exemption from providing complete health care due to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The RFRA states that the “government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.”
Well, that’s fine and dandy.
David Green, CEO of Hobby Lobby, should in no way be forced to use an IUD or a Plan B contraceptive if he doesn’t want to.
Honestly, I’m not even sure where he might ask to have an IUD placed.But I’m rambling.
The RFRA is clearly a protection of the first amendment’s religious clause, but the spirit of the law was not designed to allow anyone (person, corporation or otherwise) to oppress or restrict the rights of another.
Some have argued that paying for a health plan (that may or may not provide the “illicit” and above-mentioned contraceptives) goes against the religious convictions of Hobby Lobby.
I would argue that if I payed someone to fix my car and they used the proceeds to buy a gun, which they used to kill their mother, I am in no way culpable for their actions.
Regardless of who provided the funding in the first place, what people choose to do with their own bodies is their own business.
However, it would seem that Hobby Lobby really only cares about how women choose to exercise their constitutional freedom.
Last week, Mother Jones magazine uncovered that Hobby Lobby’s 401(k) employee retirement plans invested at least $73 million in pharmaceutical companies that produce these contraceptives and abortion drugs.
It would seem that turning a profit on the devil’s work is OK, as long as you keep choice out of the hands of women.
Honestly, I have a hard time believing that Hobby Lobby is as devout as they profess. I’ve been a biblical scholar for a number of years and certain passages come to mind when I read of Green’s exploits and legal defenses.
Proverbs 22:16, “He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.”
I can’t think of anyone much poorer than those who have been surprised by children they weren’t ready for.
There isn’t much that the general population can do at this point. Well, other than not shopping at Hobby Lobby (even religious convictions have a bottom line to meet).
However, when you see somebody actively infringing on somebody else’s freedom of choice while claiming freedom of religion – that person just might be a part of the oppression.