Hobby Lobby Faces Atheist Backlash for ‘One Nation Under God’ Ad
By: Tre Goins Phillips
It is absolutely ludicrous and beyond ridiculous that a privately held company is attacked for putting up a patriotic ad that includes part of the pledge of allegiance and quotes from the founding fathers along with a beautiful American flag. The nut jobs at FFRF reacted as if it were the government that placed the ad or something.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Hobby Lobby Faces Atheist Backlash for ‘One Nation Under God’ Ad
The Christian-owned retailer Hobby Lobby faced atheist scorn this week over its Independence Day ad, which ran in newspapers nationwide.
Featured prominently on the advertisement — which depicted a child running with an American flag — were the words, “One nation under God,” alongside a reference to Psalm 33:12, which states, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
The full-page ad includes a series of quotes from American founders, U.S. lawmakers, and Supreme Court justices, most of the reflections pointing to the country’s religious roots and its ties to Scripture.
At the bottom of the ad, Hobby Lobby included a prompt for those interested in learning more about becoming a Christian.
“If you would like to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, visit Need Him Ministry at www.chataboutjesus.com,” it states. “To download a free Bible for your phone, go to www.mardel.com/bible.”
The retailer also shared the ad to its social media channels.
The atheist advocacy organization the Freedom From Religion Foundation launched its own rebuttal site , condemning Hobby Lobby’s ad. The title page of its site states: “In Hobby Lobby We Don’t Trust.”
“Do these quotes prove we are a Christian nation? Click them to find out,” wrote the FFRF, which calls for a strict separation of church and state.
One former Republican turned left-leaning Democrat said Hobby Lobby should be ashamed of its newspaper advertisement while another critic condemned it as “dominionist propaganda.”
Faithwire reached out to Hobby Lobby for comment. If a representative for the company responds, this story will be updated.
The Rev. Franklin Graham came to the brand’s defense.
In a Facebook post of his own, the humanitarian said Hobby Lobby “is being attacked for running some beautiful full-page newspaper ads on July 4.”
“These positive advertisements have outraged enemies of God’s Word such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation,” wrote Graham. “I hope this exposure for their ads, even though it was intended for harm, will actually allow even more people to read the message and appreciate what Hobby Lobby’s owners, the Green family stand for.”
“I thank God for the Green family, their Christian-run business, and their strong public stand for the Word of God and biblical values,” he added.
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Proselytizing again eh, XX?
Unbunch those panties. What is absolutely ludicrous and beyond ridiculous is to declare evolution to be a worldwide conspiracy of godless scientists who are conspiring against creationist religious beliefs. This, in contrast, is simply free speech.
I personally do not have any problem in principle with a private sector company offering ads that include references to our cultural beliefs in God. But people who do take issue with this have the right to rebut the ad and its message. Especially when the ad ends with an attempt to recruit people to the faith.
Believe it or not, not everyone believes in the Christian God. Not everyone holds the same beliefs as the decision makers of Hobby Lobby. Those who find prostelyzation within an ad to be offensive or misguided have the right to explain their positions. That is not ludicrous and beyond ridiculous, it is a rebuttal to an unsubstantiated claim that is based solely on faith sans credible evidence.
Free speech works both ways.
What is absolutely ludicrous and beyond ridiculous is to declare evolution to be a worldwide conspiracy of godless scientists who are conspiring against creationist religious beliefs.
I don't see any such claim in the article. I think the larger question TiG, is why those twisted panty atheists can't leave people of faith ALONE.
That would include bakers of cakes, florists, photographers, etc...of whom the customer has multiple choices to patronize. Harassment and punishment seems to have become the norm
Very well stated.
I was addressing XX. That is one of his oft repeated claims. It was an example chosen to help him understand my point.
You ask a question that I answered for you in my comment. Read my comment:
See, Greg, those who disagree with Hobby Lobby could make the claim that Hobby Lobby should keep their religious views private. It works both ways. If Hobby Lobby wants to integrate religious beliefs with their marketing they can do so but they should recognize that their free speech is also available to those who take issue with their views.
A, Our civil rights are accorded to all equally. That's the whole point, not to make exceptions.
B, the above advertising is a violation of the US Flag code, ironically in an ad promoting both the flag and religion.
From the Flag Shirt company no less.
You evade the issue, as usual.
And others religious rights are trampled and spat upon when numerous options are available.There is no justification for the ongoing harassment of Jack Phillips and others, other than the evil intentions of assholes.
Absolutely ironic. Projection.
I addressed your comment directly and, since you apparently have no rebuttal, you evade by declaring that I was being evasive.
Who do you think is stupid enough to fall for your obvious bullshit tactic?
People disagree. Your question is akin to: 'why can't we all just keep our disagreements private'? That is childishly naïve . Most adults understand that disagreements routinely occur and people with opposing views are going to speak out. You should understand that by simply observing that dynamic in the NT microcosm.
Show me in the Constitution where "numerous options" was delineated by the the sacred Founding Fathers
as a fucking exception to the Constitution, Please.
That is the bottom line here.
What pisses me off is them acting like the founding fathers cement their cause and they are the true patriots because of God.
Bullshit.
If the atheists have a problem with a private company like Hobby Lobby running Christian based ads, atheists and progressive liberals are welcome to run their own adds elsewhere and leave Hobby Lobby alone. Fair is fair and it's still a free country.
They're also free to not leave Hobby Lobby alone. Free country, and all that. Hobby Lobby is not protected from criticism.
… and they are free to be publically critical. Free speech for all; fairness.
I agree and never said otherwise. Just offered a alternative.
Sure, it's an alternative. But it's an alternative which doesn't serve the purpose of those who object to the ads, which is to call attention to Hobby Lobby's questionable messaging and morality.
Agreed, but this seed is whining that some organization dared complain about the business practices (advertising) of Hobby Lobby. This seed, by its existence, ignores that freedom of speech even applies to those whose message one does not like.
So, personally, I do not deny Hobby Lobby the right to advertise as they see fit and I likewise do not deny the right of other organizations to publicly express their opposition.
The fact that some object to others using their free speech rights to advertise their business as they see fit is reason enough to double down on it and do it again because they they did.
Straw man. Nobody here objects to them using their free speech rights. We are simply exercising our free speech rights in calling them out as insincere and pandering. They're free to pander, and we're free to call them out for pandering.
No one is saying they can’t run whatever ads they want, of course they can, and anyone else can shit talk those ads if they want. Free speech all the way around.
As Tig stated, opponents to the ads also have free speech rights to object to the ads too.
Childish and counterproductive.
[deleted] would get angry at or feel a desire to go after Hobby Lobby for expressing their opinion of our country in an advertisement.
So when is Hobby Lobby going to stop importing most of the crap they sell from China which is a world capital of abortions? Hobby Lobby's hypocrisy runs deeper than the Mariana Trench.
Lol, you know these Christians, their morals are inextricably linked to their profit margins.
Personally I have never even been inside a hobby lobby nor have I even see a commercial for them. Everyone knows their reputation, so a Jesus ad isn’t a surprise. My reaction… whatever.
Same here, as I noted @2, I have no issue in principle with a private sector company including its religious views. But those who do take issue have every right to object because they too have free speech.
They are Christians, that is the proof. But specifically they do carry a ton of shit made in China and China is the abortion Capitol of the world. So clearly abortion isn’t a big thing if it reduces costs.
True story. They can definitely put their views out there, and everyone can give their 2 cents.
And that's pretty much what happened. Now some theists are giving their 2 cents on others 2 cents.
That’s right. Atheists go after a patriotic ad with articles and comments and now Christians are responding to said comments and articles by our opponents. One can be a Christian and love America openly without being either a white nationalist or a Christian dominionist.
Whining. If you have a problem with criticism then rebut it. Don't whine that people criticize your views.
A typical childish response of "they did it first."
Since I said nothing about white nationalism or dominionism, what's your point? Other than an attempt at a Strawman that is?
[deleted]
If I said the sky was blue you’d argue about it, I’m not wasting the effort.
Uh huh, whatever you have to tell yourself.
Sure buddy, sure.
I’ll do as I want and feel and will never ever be dictated to by you on anything at all. A general rule to follow is you say it; do the opposite.
Childish petulance.
Well that is an entirely foolish way to operate. The smarter approach is to think for yourself. Doing the opposite of an individual does not leave any room for reasoning ... it is simply negating the decisions of another. So if I am right on a point you will blindly do the opposite and be wrong.
For example, I declare that Trump lost the election and Biden is the legitimate PotUS.
You do the opposite and declare that Trump is the legitimate PotUS.
You are, in this example, blindly wrong.
Some people clearly do not want to think for themselves. Or they're incapable of doing so. So they latch on to and blindly follow whichever political, religious, ect., figure holds the greatest emotional appeal. After all, why think for yourself when someone can tell you what to think.
It is so much easier to just believe whatever a trusted source tells you and blindly follow.
My most recent disappointment with our fellow citizens is the demonstration of this concept with Trump. No matter how much evidence Trump provides to demonstrate that he is a malignant narcissist and pathological liar, millions continue to buy this guy's demonstrable bullshit and sycophantically follow him.
It is amazing how many people are so willing to let religious and/or political 'authority' figures do their thinking for them.
It's like I always say, never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.
I think that's a lot of the objection. Hobby Lobby has a habit of playing holier-than-thou, with its objections to contraception misconstrued as abortion, while doing quite a bit of business in a country with forced abortions performed in living memory, and dealing in stolen goods.
It's not the religion that's a problem; it's the hypocrisy. Real followers of Christ know that he preached against hypocrisy.
I doubt there are any real followers. Only those who think/believe they follow.
Yes, but I'd say religion is part of the problem too.
Indeed. The ad in question can also be construed as such too.
[Deleted]
Once is fine, 3 times is Spam.
Yeah, it's turned into proselytizing.
Do you have some point to make? Or are you just spamming?
It was included in an article related to the seeded article. This is their actual tweet. It is not holier than though. It was the legitimate expression of what the advertising company believes. Some must hate their real meaning of Christmas and Easter ads as well. God Bless America!
At this point you've posted it more times than Hobbled Knob has.
And now you will see it on every article and seed I post as my avatar. Congrats!
That’s the problem most people have I think, that hobby lobby only seems to have moral values when it doesn’t impact their profit margins. Of course that is the problem any business will have when they try to take some moral stand on an issue.
I'm sorry but no we won't. You are not allowed to promote a company without my permission, and you do not have it. I have made a change of your avatar to the default one you have on your homepage.
There is no mention of their name in the photo. No one not knowing the issue would have any idea it was an ad at all. There are a lot of generic patriotic memes very similar to that one.
They worship the all mighty dollar and little more.
If they really were true Christians, they would not use their God in their advertisements to make a buck for themselves. Nor would true Christians applaud them for doing so. But, CINO's have no issue with people making a buck off their God.
That they witness as to Who and what they believe in through their advertising that doesn’t even promote a specific product of theirs is to their eternal credit. That they promote our country and their beliefs regarding it on our Independence Day is a huge plus.
Have you not read Marshall McLuhan? You son are the product.
[Deleted]
I know whose theme song that is...
hobby lobby is an over priced crap dealership whose owners utilize it's profits for unamerican and criminal activities.
Hobby Lobby can have ads that says what they want (nothing that would be illegal) it's their right. But it is also the right of anyone else to criticize them for doing it.
Seems like a lot of whining over something that our constitution protects. If HL doesn't like the feedback they certainly have choices.
1. Don't post the ad.
2. Suck it up and quit whining
3. Ignore the blowback.
As a point of information A few years back Hobby Lobby was caught importing artifacts from the ME that were illegal and had to return the articles and pay a large fine.
Let us be honest. This is the proverbial "Tempest in a Teapot". It is a manufactured controversy probably created by Hobby Lobby's own public relations company to garner free press and to stir up the poor persecuted fundamentalist Christians to rush out to Hobby Lobby's defense with their wallets wide open. Chik-Fil-A has pulled the same crap and they all fall for it every time...
Cha-Ching!!!
Quite the Q like conspiracy theory you’ve got going here…
hobby Q lobby has a nice ring to it.
Q is nothing other than a democrat construct and creation.
Holy cow dude...
I think your Gab Social friends would beg to differ...
Nothing says Christian values like smuggling antiquities.
They are suing those that misrepresented said items to them. As they should.
Hahaha...Uh huh.
those antiquities were still illegally imported, knowingly...
The case your talking about is totally different and once again HL is in the center of illegal antiquities dealing.
Hobby Lobby hired their own antiquities expert who told HL NOT TO PURCHASE the artifacts and they bought them anyway. They had to return over 10,000 pieces and pay a $3 million dollar fine plus they lost the money they paid for them.
Seems that the Green family has difficulty with keeping thing honest.
But as long as HL continues to advertise lip service to believers, then they will get a free pass for any transgressions committed by said believers. After all, a company that professes "godliness" cannot be bad or can do no wrong, right? >sarc<
Post the ad.
Stand by it regardless of what others say and vocally defend it.
take the blowback on head on and give the blowbackers blow back of their own.
Stand by the ad and promise more of the same and even more boldly in the face of critics and blowback.
thumpers must testify...
And quit whining.
I will do as I please when I please irregardless of any input from your side of the aisle.
Testify to what?
If you want to keep whining feel free, it's kinda like an ongoing joke on NT.
I think TiG says it best in his post 2.3.10.