At Hobby Lobby, you can buy all kinds of crosses. There's the Blessed Girls cross that looks like Hello Kitty could be crucified on it. That one says, "Giggle" on the top because that's obviously what Jesus did as nails were being hammered into him. There's a cross with crosses on it to show that you love Christ more than anyone else. There're blue, red, or yellow crosses; a cross made of horseshoes; and even a cross with zebra stripes. There're more than 150 different kinds of crosses you can buy from Hobby Lobby, and that's not even getting into all the other things that have crosses on them as decoration.
Why do they have so many crosses? Because the founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green, loves Jesus. He loves Jesus with all his heart and soul. He loves Jesus so fucking much that he thinks he is betraying the words of Jesus if he provides health insurance to employees that allows them to get four methods of birth control that, despite all science to the opposite, he believes cause abortions. Indeed, Green himself said that they are "what I believe are abortion-causing drugs." In other words, part of the Affordable Care Act might be changed because David Green thinks the morning-after pill does something it does not. So the case is not just about what his particular invisible sky wizard wants. It's about how he doesn't care what facts are.
He would rather not provide health insurance than be forced to provide insurance that covers those birth control methods. The case was just heard in the Supreme Court, and, despite the best efforts of the female justices, the male justices sure seemed to side with David Green, especially about the morning after pill and IUDs being abortifacents.
But let's get back to the crosses, shall we?
Chances are that most of those crosses are made in China. Indeed, chances are that most of Hobby Lobby's goods are made in China. They are made in large factories by companies that pay taxes and fees to the Chinese government. Hobby Lobby pays the Chinese corporations, they pay the government, and the government uses the money to fund its operations. That's the way it works. One of the things the Chinese government, especially on the provincial and local levels, uses its funds for is to propagate and enforce a one-child policy. Enforcement of this policy leads to forced abortions, sterilization, and infanticide. This is what actually happens; these abortions are real, not what anyone "believes," like the supposed abortions caused by the morning-after pill.
Now, the Rude Pundit is far from the first person to point out the hypocrisy of Hobby Lobby indirectly funding abortions in China while wanting to deny access to some of the most effective means of preventing abortion to its employees. He may not be the first person to say that if anti-choice lawmakers really gave a damn about abortion, they would try to ban American companies from doing business with China until it changed its policy. But he would like to be the first person to say this:
When you buy a cross at Hobby Lobby, you are helping to pay for abortions in China.
Hobby Lobby says on its website that it is committed to "Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles." Apparently, those principles end at the borders of the United States. And that gives the game away, doesn't it? That all David Green and his supporters really care about is controlling the bodies of American women?
There are two sentences, one after another, on that same "Our Company" page that provide an amazing juxtaposition. First, we're told, "We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, and we trust Him for our future." And then, immediately after, we're reminded, "Hobby Lobby is THE place to shop with everyday Super Selections and Super Savings!" Yes, we all remember that biblical passage that said, "Acquire all ye can as ye may of earthly goods manufactured by disposable and cheap labor so that ye may get discounts great and deep on all your scrapbooking needs." That was in Paul's Letter to the Bargain Hunters, right?
Still, no matter which way the Supreme Court case goes (and it's not looking good for people who believe "religious liberty" means "liberated from your religion"), you can always tell your mom or your neighbor that the next time they spend money at Hobby Lobby, to buy a cross or a wooden dowel or some ribbon, they are supporting abortion. Thank them for helping to keep the population down, just like their allies, the Chinese government, would.
