Posted on 07/18/2014 6:24:14 PM PDT by Kaslin
Should people with strong religious convictions prepare to violate their beliefs or steer clear of corporate activity in the United States?
Should Hobby Lobby, owned by evangelical Christians who opposed having to pay for coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, have shut down its 575 outlets across the U.S. rather than challenging the federal government’s contraception mandate in court?
Absurd as it sounds, Senator Chuck Schumer seems to be proposing just that. Schumer was one of the backers of a bill, mercifully blocked in the Senate for now, that would have overridden the Supreme Court’s protection of Hobby Lobby’s religious freedom.
Some commentators have summed up what Schumer said after the Hobby Lobby ruling this way: your faith or your company. Unfortunately, that synopsis of what the senator said is neither flip nor off base.
"We wouldn’t tell the owners of Hobby Lobby to convert to a different religion or disobey their religion," the New York Democrat said. "But we don’t say that they have to open up a company. And go sell toys, or hobby kits.” For good measure, Schumer added, “We don’t have any [Hobby Lobby outlets] in New York, so I don’t know exactly what they sell.”
So is this religious liberty in the United States circa 2014, as seen by one of the most prominent members of the political class: you don't have to convert (hey, thanks!) but nor should you count on being able to conduct your businesses in accordance with your consciences? Like the English Catholics who were precluded from going to universities or engaging in certain activities, including serving in Parliament, evangelicals and other devout religious citizens in the U.S. should, as Schumer sees it, not be able to undertake certain economic activities unless they do so with the knowledge that they may have to sell out or compromise on the matter of their religious liberty if the government comes up with some new regulation.
Schumer is a denizen of the secular Northeast where evangelical Christians are in some spots as exotic as crepe paper and other hobby supplies, but one would hope that even sophisticated Manhattanites would recognize that this puts our country on a troubling path, in which the government has the right to make it difficult for the devout to fully participate in our society while observing their religious views.
Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that Hobby Lobby, unable to get a hearing before the Supreme Court, simply had stopped selling toys and hobby kits rather than doing something that its owners, the Green family, believe to be profoundly morally culpable. Stranger things have happened.
If Hobby Lobby had followed the Schumer Diktat and shut down it’s $3 billion dollar enterprise, 23,000 Hobby Lobby employees would have lost their jobs. Being unemployed, especially in this economy, is arguably a more dire situation than being without free access to one of the four contraception drugs that the Greens objected to providing (they have no problem with the other sixteen on the FDA-approved list for insurance coverage).
Let loose into the current economy, many of Hobby Lobby's employees might have a hard time replacing their lost jobs. That's because, in part on account of the Green family’s religious convictions, a gig at Hobby Lobby pays better than many of the jobs the Obama administration brags about adding whenever there is the slightest uptick in a jobs report. In 2013, Hobby Lobby raised its lowest wage to $14 for full-time employees and $9.50 for part-time employees. Around 16,000 Hobby Lobby employees are full-time.
Unlike all too many other businesses, Hobby Lobby is growing. It expects to add new locations—and with these new locations new jobs—this year. No one is compelled to work for the company of course, but many workers are not only attracted to these higher-than-typical wages, but also with the comparatively generous benefit package Hobby Lobby offers. Though they lack the full complement of contraceptive coverage, full-time Hobby Lobby employees are eligible to enroll in a generous benefit plan that includes medical, dental, prescription drugs, plus with long-term disability and life insurance.
Hobby Lobby offers a 401(k) plan with a generous match from the company. The headquarters boasts an on-site health clinic open to all full-time employees and family members who are covered under the company’s health insurance plan.
It wouldn’t just be those out-of-work former Hobby Lobby employees affected by the closing of the company. The company’s suppliers would also feel an impact. Since Hobby Lobby stocks around 65,000 items, we can assume quite a few of the company’s vendors would suffer, too.
Schumer, of course, is probably bluffing—he figures that people like the Greens will come to their senses and buckle before doing anything as drastic as going out of business for the sake of their consciences. He shouldn’t be so sure. Some business people would see the wisdom of bending to regulations they originally opposed; but others would not. Religious conviction has a way of confounding the secular.
Religious liberty is a bedrock of American tradition, and there is simply no need to close the doors of the economy to religious employers. Rather than cavalierly suggesting that corporations such as Hobby Lobby have no place in the United States, Schumer could better serve his constituents by trying to lure a Hobby Lobby into New York. I’m told the city could use some new businesses.
“Why would anyone listen to Chuckie Schumer?”
Why would anyone vote for him?
People, who don’t know what’s going on, should not vote.
NY State should be able to dump NYC, and let all the loonies stay in the NYC side of the state.
My apologies to my in-laws, and others, in NYC who are conservatives.
‘Schumer added, “We don’t have any [Hobby Lobby outlets] in New York, so I don’t know exactly what they sell.”’
Schumer is wrong. There are two Hobby Lobbys within an hour from where I live - one in Latham, NY, and one in Queensbury, NY. There might be more in NY State that I’m not aware of.
This must be a New York liberal leadership infection. The Governor wants the Christians, conservatives, gun rights supporters, well, American citizens, to know they are not welcome in New York, and their senior senator wants the same types to know that if he had his way, they would not be welcome in America.
obvious 1st Amendment violation
He is the mouthpiece of the secular jihad on America.
“...at some time some of Mr. Schumer’s ancestors way back in the old country...”
Back in the “Old Days”, Chuckie would have been a prototypical Judenrat. His current shtik is some new & improved (/S) version not tailored to one faith. It’s “one size fits all”.
Hard to believe we have elections in about three months and the biggest issue is the latest issue that takes us out into the weeds. Meanwhile Chuck Schumer makes a chilling remark like this and you end up with a thread with no more than about 50 posts. They are all off arguing over whether we should fight Putin. Never mind our military is being decimated, the troops and vets abused, invaded by dependent illegals, cops acting like stormtroopers, citizens being snooped on, IRS totally out of control, the Constitution dumped in the trash bin.
And Americans are distracted by something that we are unequipped in every way to deal with. Anyone who wants a war with Obama at the helm is not facing reality. We need to take care of our own house first. The usual response by the Ukraine war mongers is that “we can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Well, so can the Obama regime. While those people are walking and chewing and waiting for the big O to do something, he is ordering, demanding and plotting the next freedom stripping order behind our backs.
| City | Address | Zip | Telephone | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blasdell | 3701 McKinley Parkway, Unit #1240 | 14219 | (716) 823-3592 | |||
| Buffalo | 6743 Transit Road | 14221 | (716) 630-5081 | |||
| Depew | 2090 George Urban Blvd. | 14043 | (716) 686-0114 | |||
| Elmira | 830 County Route 64, Suite 4 | 14903 | (607) 739-3848 | |||
| Fayetteville | 6797 East Genesee Street | 13066 | (315) 446-4936 | |||
| Ithaca | 744 S. Meadow Street | 14850 | (607) 272-1823 | |||
| Latham | 873 New Loudon Road, Suite 3 | 12110 | (518) 783-0653 | |||
| Liverpool | 3884 State Route 31 | 13090 | (315) 652-3894 | |||
| Middletown | 400 Route 211 East | 10940 | (845) 343-7884 | |||
| New Hartford | 4605 Commercial Drive | 13413 | (315) 736-3817 | |||
| Niagara Falls | 1560 Military Road | 14304 | (716) 297-2093 | |||
| Poughkeepsie | 1895 South Road | 12601 | (845) 298-3235 | |||
| Queensbury | 820 State Route 9 | 12804 | (518) 798-2814 | |||
| Webster | 900 Holt Road | 14580 | (585) 872-7570 |
 |
Freedom ≠ Free Stuff☭ |  |
| I, for one, welcome our new Cybernetic Overlords /. | ||
|
|
||
There are at least a dozen Hobby Lobby stores in New York State.
You probably don't know this, then... to anyone in New York City, the entire state of New York is merely NYC, plus some insignificant suburbs. They are incredibly elitist, and do not care one whit about "upstate"... which is mostly farm country, some really nice mountains, and a few apparently insignificant cities like Buffalo, Albany (the state capitol), Syracuse, Rochester, etc. To the Elite, "New York" only means the area between Staten Island, the Bronx, and Queens... if that much.
hey chuckie...... when you are led into the shower and hear the hiss of the gas, don’t whine “why me?”
He's been out of the limelight but in the news for some sickening policy statements. He bears watching because this Admin, and all of Evil, uses misdirection as a primary tactic.
Many yrs ago, there was a New Yorker cartoon based on that concept.
Walking and chewing gum at the same time is great but we still have to pay attention to our surroundings or we end up becoming the clown walking along playing with our phone as we fall into the fountain.
In this case, walking is dealing with our own problems and chewing gum should be diplomatically dealing with central and south America who are falling into chaos. The Russia thing is the surroundings we should pay attention to but don’t need to actively participate in.
Totally agree.
An horrific statement considering Schumer is Jewish. How long ago was it when 'your faith determines your fate.'
“Why would anyone vote for much less listen to Chuckie Schumer?”
Mr. Schumer is not an anomaly but only a reflection of his base and a large part of the population.
New York is the deepest of blue, with a governor whose approval ratings are high, who has said that conservatives are not welcome in New York.
IMHO
“Schumer would have made a good Nazi, but since the Nazis are largely out of business, he’s become a good Commie.”
It’s amazing that all the stops were pulled out to combat Nazis, yet when it came to Communists in the world, it was always considered unjust by the left to fight them.
Amazing.
IMHO
Veiled threats...by a wannabe Nazi..
Hobby Lobby if actually forced to, could drop their medical coverage and let their employees fend for themselves and not deal Obamacare...
They could give them a small allowance in lieu of company paid medical coverage
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.