Hobby Lobby has another option

Hobby Lobby has another option

In the Thursday, Dec. 27, business section it was reported the Supreme Court denied a petition by Hobby Lobby. The petition asked the court to block a provision of the health care law requiring Hobby Lobby to provide birth control and the morning after pill in violation of the owners’ faith.

As of Jan. 1, Hobby Lobby either violates its faith or pays a daily $1.3 million fine.

There is a third option available to Hobby Lobby. They can close their business. When I conduct business I follow the law and I certainly do not engage in behavior contrary to my core beliefs. Although it would be a shame to lose the jobs Hobby Lobby creates, on Jan. 1 Hobby Lobby either renders unto Caesar what is Caesar’s or closes shop. Any other course reveals that this petition was a shamefully hypocritical effort to maximize corporate profits utilizing a proclamation of faith.

Patrick McNamara’s letter, on the same subject, appears in the Jan. 16 Fencepost. The flaw in his logic is that although Hobby Lobby is privately owned, it employs, operates and profits in the public sphere and is subject to law. The health care law is not a violation of The First Amendment. It would be a violation to allow exemptions favoring certain religions. I suggest reading the Federalist Papers, the Detached Memorandum, and more by James Madison, the father of the constitution, to see the intent of The First Amendment.

I also find it ironic that a corporation with vast female patronage is usurping what should be a woman’s private reproductive choice.

Walter Naaf

Pingree Grove