Will we stand for liberty?

There is a battle raging in this country against people of faith. The Housing and Human Services (HHS) mandate in Obamacare calls for all employers to offer healthcare insurance that covers free abortifacients and contraception. Hobby Lobby Stores along with Catholic Institutions have come out against this mandate as an assault on their first amendment right to freedom of religion. Hobby Lobby is wholly owned by the Green family, who are evangelical Christians. Hobby Lobby submitted a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction against this mandate, but were denied Wednesday by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts-and-crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day.

The mission statement of Hobby Lobby includes the following:

The foundation of our business has been, and will continue to be strong values, and honoring the Lord in a manner consistent with Biblical principles. 

Jeannie DeAngelis of The American Thinker says this about the decision to defy the mandate:

Despite facing millions in fines, the non-compliant Hobby Lobby and Mardel Inc. CEO and founder David Green refuses to surrender the companies' religious convictions. Green has said he'd rather abandon the business. A $2.2 billion-a-year company that is willing to close its doors rather than compromise its core principles? Now that's impressive.

This is a test - Are we willing to fight for religious liberty?

Regardless of our personal beliefs regarding contraception and abortion, this behavior by our federal government should give every liberty-loving American pause. If we allow the government to force businesses to act against their religious beliefs in this one case, where will it end? Isn't this precisely the reason we have the religious liberty protections afforded to us in the Bill of Rights?

It is hard to communicate these religious principles to abortion-advocates, but I will attempt to make it easier for those who are confused about the Hobby Lobby stance to understand how the Greens and other people of faith are so unwilling to subsidize abortifacients.

Imagine a law being passed that you must pay for your employees to kill their children. That you must not only condone the killing of these children, but you must actively participate in their killing by providing the weapons (free of charge) to facilitate the killing. Imagine that you are being forced to provide these weapons by federal mandate.. and if you deny that mandate, you will be forced into bankruptcy.

The Greens believe that abortifacients are killing instruments. Whether or not you share this belief, should we not tolerate this belief in America? Nearly 55 million abortions have taken place legally in America since 1973.  People of faith who believe abortion is murder have been forced to live in a society that condones the practice of abortion. Now they are being forced to participate by providing abortifacients to their employees?

Now is the time for every liberty loving American, regardless of their personal stance on abortion, to stand up against this tyranny. This over-reach of the federal government is a gross violation of their Constitutional authority. If we don't take a stand now, we can be sure that more unconstitutional federal mandates will follow.

Take a stand with Hobby Lobby on January 5th 

by participating in the Hobby Lobby shopping day.

Write your senators and representatives voicing outrage 

over this unconstitutional over-reach:

Addresses for Senators and Representatives

Educate your friends and family about this issue by sharing this blog post and other articles explaining the Hobby Lobby story.

We must not rest until this is made right. If Hobby Lobby is forced out of business by the federal government, other businesses owned by people of faith are sure to be targeted next. Don't stand by as our liberties are being destroyed. Stand up and fight to preserve the rights of American citizens and businesses. Our rights come from God; it is our government's duty to honor and protect those rights. When our government fails to secure our rights, we are obligated to stand up against it.