A Jan. 6 press release by Hobby Lobby announced the opening of the craft store’s newest location in Keene’s West Street Shopping Center. Local controversy followed soon after.
According to the Cheshire County Register of Deeds website, a Jan. 18 lease filing for the store’s Keene storefront shows a requirement that the store is the only business in the plaza to primarily carry “art supplies, craft supplies, fabrics, photo frames, frames, framed art, wall art, and wall decor.”
In Nov. 2022, The Keene Sentinel reported that a Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts location in the plaza would close its doors in January just as the Keene Hobby Lobby would open. The move seems directly correlated with the language in the leasing agreement, and it’s a strikingly anti-competitive clause that puts a bad taste in my mouth. Evidently, it’s unsurprising that Hobby Lobby is anti-choice in regards to competing stores, and they’re also anti-choice in regards to women’s reproductive rights. According to CNN, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby was a controversial 2014 Supreme Court case in which the court delivered a 5-4 decision in favor of Hobby Lobby, striking down a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that required all employers to cover certain contraceptives to their employees. The court’s majority opinion, penned by Justice Samuel Alito, cited the 1994 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which Alito argued prevented the government from taking action on Hobby Lobby, as the family who owns and operates the business are outwardly religious.
The Keene store’s recent opening feels especially egregious considering the fact that just last year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that gave women nationwide the right to an abortion.
According to Hobby Lobby’s ‘Our Story’ page on its website, they are committed to “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.”
I have no problem with CEOs’ or founders’ religious beliefs, but when those beliefs start having real effects on their employees and customers, then I start to have a problem.
According to Inside Philanthropy, the founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green, has given over $100 million in the past to the National Christian Foundation (NCF), a donor-advised fund that funnels money to nonprofits. The issue with NCF doesn’t lie within its purported Christian values, but with the nonprofits that it gives its contributions to.
A report by Sludge writer Alex Kotch found that between 2015 and 2017, NCF had given over $56 million to various nonprofit groups deemed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to be hate groups. SPLC identified the list of groups as anti-LGBTQ, anti Muslim, and anti-immigrant. The list includes over $49 million to the Alliance Defending Freedom and over $5 million to the Family Research Council, both identified as anti-LGBTQ organizations. My question is, what message does this send to the citizens of Keene who may be a part of, or an ally to, these marginalized groups? For those who choose to shop at the store, are they implicitly endorsing a hateful agenda?
Anyone, including LGBTQ people, Muslims, and immigrants, can enjoy arts and crafts, but with the Green family’s extensive history of funding discriminatory groups, how can one feel comfortable shopping at their stores knowing where their money is going?
Personally, I am going to be avoiding the store entirely. I prefer to shop at local stores where the owners don’t make it their hobby to lobby in hate.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
