God and Guns: Why Did We Give Hobby Lobby a Free Pass with the NRA?
Walk into any Hobby Lobby store across the country, and you’ll know instantly it’s owned by a Christian family. Maybe it’s the racks of Christian books that greet you in the entryway. Or maybe it’s the barrage of Bible scripture wall-hangings littered throughout the store, amongst an array of craft supplies, Jesus mugs, and candles. Or maybe, it’s the huge pile of gun paraphernalia.
Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool February 14, the public clamored for major U.S. companies to stand up against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its refusal to support common sense gun laws in the United States. But Hobby Lobby — with 800 Christian stores and 32,000 employees nationwide — was never called to the challenge. Why?
Jesus + Guns = Big Business
Conservative Christians. The Religious Right. Guns and Jesus. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Right? Perhaps that’s why Hobby Lobby skated under the political radar in avoiding pressure to give the NRA some shade. If their customers don’t mind, why should they?
The thing is: there is no such thing as a Conservative Christian. Although politicians and lobbyists will tell you there are, the fact remains that nothing about Christianity — at least, if you’re teaching it the way Jesus taught it — is conservative. Christ turned the world on its head. He favored the poor and hurting over the rich. He called out hypocrisy in the church. He stood up for women when they were tossed to the gutter. JESUS WOULD NEVER CHOOSE MONEY OR POLITICS OVER PEOPLE. There is no such thing as a “Religious Right” that follows Christ. We need to stop associating Jesus with conservative politics. If that’s what Hobby Lobby has done, I have news for them: they don’t get a free pass with God — or the American public — just by saying they are Christian. You don’t get to be “Christian” and promote gun violence.
Jesus’ Ultimate Message: Protect the Second Amendment?
One of things that disappointed Jesus most: hypocrites. Yet, if Hobby Lobby owner David Green prides himself on paying a living wage, honoring the sabbath, and refusing birth control, shouldn’t he also promote Jesus’ ultimate message: love one another as I have loved you. Heal each other. Help each other. Find a better way to resolve conflict. Let love be the ultimate solution.
Even lay corporations like Target wouldn’t be caught selling these gun-related products. Christian organizations supporting the NRA should be held to the same — if not higher standards — than other major companies who are severing ties with them. As Jesus also said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6).
Hobby Lobby: by selling NRA and gun merchandise in your store, you are perpetuating both 1) the fallacy that Christians support gun ownership and violence and 2) that making money is more important than taking a stand. Neither of these are values I want to teach to my children.
David Green: I’ve seen you speak at our church worship center. I bought your book because your philosophy on philanthropy inspired me. You may be generous. You may have a good benefits package. You may even sell really cute merchandise, especially at Christmas. But I assure you of this: As long as you sell products in your store that promote or romanticize gun violence, you are not following Jesus. And I, for one, will not be shopping at your stores.