SocraticGadfly: Snooty hypocrisy from Hobby Lobby; are AIDS and gays next?

February 10, 2013

Snooty hypocrisy from Hobby Lobby; are AIDS and gays next?

The claim of its CEO, David Green, that "we run our business on Christian principles," in fighting Obamacare is hypocrisy of a high order.

Green is insinuating that opposition to contraception is a Christian principle. Even more so when combined with opposition to abortion AND opposition to welfare, which I presume he also opposes.

Apparently, he expects women to keep their legs crossed, judging by his company officially being tasked to put stickers over the boobs of Botticelli Venus pix in catalogues. (Somebody should sue him over that.)

No, this isn't about "Christian principles," it's about the principles of one subset of Christians. Imagine if  Southern Christians had trotted that out after Jan. 31, 1865.

"Nope, the Bible doesn't talk about getting rid of slavery, and we support it, so it's a Christian principle."

And therefore, contra Bill Keller, I feel no sympathy for Green's "moral dilemma."

Rather, I feel outrage at his attempt to impose moral diktats.

Besides, Obama doesn't let me opt out of paying taxes because I think his drone wars are morally wrong as well as unconstitutional.

Further proof that Green's Christian principles are selective is right here:
“If an employer can craft a benefits system around his religious beliefs, that’s a slippery slope,” said Marci Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a critic of religious exemptions. “Can you deny treatment of AIDS victims because your religion disapproves of homosexuals? What if your for-profit employer is a Jehovah’s Witness, who doesn’t believe in blood transfusions?”
Not to note that giving in to him would be to open a whole bag of worms.

And, with that AIDS and gays angle ... yeah, surprised that one's not already been raised.

Given that there is no official "Christian principle" on contraception, for Obama to give in further would violate the First Amendment, rather than him holding his ground.

And, keep up the $1 million a day fines; if Green wants to bankrupt Hobby Lobby over his attempt to impose his minority Christian views on the country's health care needs, bankrupt him.

Of course, given that this is the stance of the man Dear Leader asked to deliver the invocation at his first inauguration:
But Laycock’s is a lonely voice among advocates of religious exemptions. More typical is Rick Warren, the evangelical megachurch pastor, who says the battle to preserve religious liberty “in all areas of life” may be “the civil rights movement of this decade.” Warren goes on to say — I am not making this up — that “Hobby Lobby’s courageous stand, in the face of enormous pressure and fines,” is the equivalent of the Birmingham bus boycott.
Obama may cave like a cheap pack of cards.

No comments: