Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, the case in which a craft store chain is claiming the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate violates its religious beliefs…. Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit is a thinly veiled attack on Obama’s healthcare law as a whole, disguised as an assertion of religious rights. See, the craft store claims it is a corporation founded on biblical principles…. Hobby Lobby believes that as a private company, it deserves the same religious freedom as a church or individual, and that the ACA’s demand it provide contraception coverage to its employees violates that freedom. Because Hobby Lobby is an exceptionally pious corporation. “There would never be a case emanating from that other craft store, Michaels,” Stewart said. “For god’s sake, that place is a godless fuck palace with yarn.”
That Hobby Lobby is a company run by hyper-Christian self-righteous God Squadders isn’t exactly a secret. Nor is it revelatory that CEO and Founder David Green believes that because Hobby Lobby is run by “Christian” principles it should have the right to do what it chooses in whatever manner it chooses. This also means that Big Godless Liberal Government should take its repressive laws elsewhere. Hobby Lobby answers to God, which certainly beats being accountable to shareholders.
I suppose the next logical step is for Green to claim that because his company is run by Christian principles, it should be tax-exempt in the same way churches are. Given the absurdity of the argument behind Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, a reasonable person could be forgiven for thinking that Green would want his stores to be treated like places of worship. Knit one, purl two, pray three….
I’ll refrain from using the “Jesus chasing the money changers from the Temple” analogy. ‘Twould be way too easy, don’tchathink?
Green’s incensed that the Affordable Care Act would force his church’s company’s insurance policy to provide birth control to female employees at no charge. In a twist of logic only he fully understands, Green manages to define the mandate as impinging on the “Christian principles” that are at the very core of Hobby Lobby’s mission.
(We’re still waiting for Green’s pronouncement on the righteousness of paying for Viagra prescriptions for his male employees.)
“What would a biblically-based insurance plan even cover?” Stewart asked.
Senior Legal Analyst Jordan Klepper had the answer: Along with leprosy, a plan would cover “stoning-related injury, flood damage. It’s a great pre-modern medicine, first-century, biblically-based health plan that covers you from birth through your elderly years, which I believe is up to 36 years on this plan.”
That there’s no compelling theological argument (never mind Scripture) to back up Green’s self-righteous hyper-religiosity is self-evident. What should be of greatest concern, however, is the potential precedent that Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores could set. If Green’s argument is upheld by the Supreme Court, it could open the floodgates for all manner of similar protests.
What if a company’s owners:
….believe that it’s God’s will that the role of women is to be subordinate to men and that this “Christian principle” should allow them to discriminate against women in the workplace?
….believe that the minimum wage, or paying overtime, or workplace safety regulations, or consumer protection laws, or any number of other laws and regulations run counter to their “Christian principles?”
If David Green is successful, it may well be that in time all a businessman will have to do to justify greed, repression, or all manner of other execrable and egregious behaviors is to claim that he’s running his business on Biblical principles. The ensuing chaos, lawlessness, and unshackled greed and employee abuse (justified by a businessman’s “religious freedom”) could well set back (or completely destroy) efforts to protect workers and consumers.
I’d certainly defend Green’s right to his religious beliefs, however twisted and based on greed and self-interest they may be. The issue at hand in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores isn’t Green’s right to run his business based on his “Christian principles.” It’s whether or not Green, and ultimately other business owners, should be allowed to exercise control over the private lives of their employees. In an America in which workers’ rights are being steadily and aggressively eroded, should business owners be allowed to act like modern-day plantation owners?
There’s little argument but that Green’s case is absurd in the extreme, but what’s disturbing is that the Supreme Court as currently constituted may well be sympathetic to his views. If he wins, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores may well set off a raft load of unintended consequences, few of which will accrue to the benefits of workers. We could well see the clock turned back on years of hard-won rights and protections…all in the name of “religious freedom.”
It’s What Jesus Would Do, don’tchaknow??
