I just heard that a Hobby Lobby opened up in a plaza that is a 20 minute drive from my house. I am currently on a yarn diet (necessitated by not having the cash.. meh) Tell me what awesomeness I can expect when the dread moratorium is lifted.. I would love to know what I have to look forward to.I got some lovely responses about the yarn and the selection etc etc.. all these things you would expect from fellow fiber freaks like myself. Then someone mentioned this little factoid:
Also, so you know, Hobby Lobby is NOT open on Sundays. It’s corporate policy.Did you hear that sound? Yah, that's the warning bell going off. A caveat: I don't give a rats patootie what Religion you follow or what your faith is. Really, I don't... Just don't be an asshat and we're cool. Seriously. I spent too much time trying to get my head around things that don't compute and I finally just said "eh.. to each their own". After all, people think I'm bonkers because I talk to dead people.. whatev. But closing on Sunday? I smell some thinly veiled fanaticism which usually might just mean there some of that "you are going to hell if you don't toe the line" kinda crap floating around. So I poked around... and YUP.. there it was. Hobby Lobby Partners with organizations working to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the world . blerg... um... okay. Okay fine.. spread whatever you want.. just keep it away from my house. And then.. I saw this (click to embiggen)
A quote from the Alliance Defense Funds's website
The homosexual legal agenda is one of the greatest threats to religious freedom in America today. For decades, radical activists, led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its allies, have tried to divorce America from its Christian heritage and values
Evidently, it's only religious freedom if it applies to THEIR religion. Everyone else needs to STFU.
Now, I realize that there are a lot of people out there who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.. fine. And there are people who believe that the United States was founded on Christian principals, I don't care. But until there is a law that states I need to subscribe to all tenets of the Christian Church, you all need to keep your nose out of my bedroom. Believe what you want, but stop butting into my life. I'm not hurting you. Stop trying to hurt me.
Hobby Lobby is not getting one single dollar from me. Ever. I have built a life with my partner of the past 10 years. None of the "automatic" protections that married persons get are there for us. And there are a lot. 1,324 to be exact.
Do yourself a favor. Research before you buy. You never know what mad crazy thing you are feeding. Take a few minutes and poke around a company website. See who they support. Do you want your dollars going there? It's a small thing but in the long run, it might not be that small.
(oh and incidentally, the Human Rights Campaign has a great rating system for companies and workplace diversity.)
[Blogging] Hobby Lobby can suck it – http://www.kicknknit.com/2011/02/23/hobb…
@kicknknit read the blog. CREEPY! Don’t have the stores here in SF but now I know never to walk through their doors. Thank you.
@knitkatsumi thank you.. I appreciate the support!
Wow…….
I occasionally wondered, what about observant Jews who need to take Saturdays off… would they not hire them, OR would they get fired for wanting Saturdays off?
That said, I’ve been to HL for art supplies, which are “okay” (I love their store brand watercolor sketchbook better than Moleskines) and felt “meh” about their yarns…same with Joanns about yarn (and Joanns doesn’t have the art supplies I want)…
Now I need to go see if Michaels has a good art supply section as I’m not comfortable with the organizations that HL supports… :/ Thanks for enlightening me to them!
I wonder if they would even get hired in the first place.
I’ve only been to one before (down south), but it made me feel weird in there. My office is right near the new one here in town, but I believe I’ll be sticking to Joanns, Michaels and Walmart for my crafting needs.
Have you tried any of the local yarn shops? I’ve not had much luck but if you want something special, there is some neat stuff out there.
Wow. I had no idea that Hobby Lobby was supporting an anti-gay agenda. Thank you for the heads up.
I was surprised too!
I’m local too and know about Hobby Lobby’s practices from living near one before. I walked through their store and saw their store yarns that I’d never seen in person before, then went to AC Moore practically next door and spent as much money as I could. Voting with my money and spreading the word!
Thank you!
Funny. I saw the sign on the door last week Sunday at one near here. If they said they closed on Sundays for people to spend time with their families, that’s fine. But it started off talking about worship.
Now that I see this, I know that I’ll never step foot in one. Although I might get out a protest sign and state we don’t want companies like that in this country.
As for those nut jobs that say the US was founded on christian principles, they need to be shot down and shot down hard, or we’ll have more companies like Hobby Lobby closed on Sundays, and police rounding us up and tossing us in jail for being Atheists. The first doesn’t just defend religions it prevents them from being shoved down our throats. (My opinion).
And it’s not right that people get treated as two different classes of people, because of who they chose to love.
Thank you for this. I wish more people understood that.
I think you’ll find more people do believe this, but are shouted down by the Minority who don’t, because we’ve been taught to be polite and non-confrontational.
Remember, prop h8 only happened because of out of state money from a “church”
Ah… the case of the “squeeky wheel”
Our county was founded by a group of FREE MASONS who ere ambivalent about religion. They are part of the same org that these wackoffs thinks is pat of the satanic Illuminati conspiracy tying to destroy Christianity. After seeing these and many other jesus filled people in action, I have to ask where is conspiracy and how can I join up?
I get an updated directory from the Human Rights Campaign, and do my best to use it when I make purchasing decisions.
Thanks to this post, I won’t even bother with this place.
Meh. I don’t need any hobby crap anyway.
Tell ya what, though? If Chick-fil-a comes to town, I’m afraid I can’t get your back on that one. That there is some good eatin’.
-gen
heh, well you do what you can.
In all seriousness, different things are important to different people.. This is a very personal cause for me, for obvious reasons. I don’t expect everyone to follow my lead.. but I do think it’s important to be educated about purchases.
I can respect your point of view. “This is my opinion and it works for me. I hope it works for you, too.” That’s a mature and responsible way to put it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who feel that everyone must live like them. And they choose to do in the name of God, which, good intentions or no, is not really want God is about. So, then, the opposite side is all “hey, they’re trying to force something on us, let’s resist!” and you end up with foaming at the mouth atheists who can’t let it sit whenever someone says, “Hey, God is pretty cool.” End result…everyone is defensive and yelling at each other and completely missing the point of just trying to be a good folk makin’ their way in the world. The whole thing pisses me off.
I liked your blog. I don’t agree with most of your points 😉 but that doesn’t make em wrong or me right. But the fact that we can discuss it without getting all “OMG!” about it is pretty cool…
How boring life would be if we were all the same.
I now know that I will NEVER shop at Hobby Lobby, but like GenWar I really likes me some Chick-fil-a. I. Am. So. Torn. I can buy my fiber at my LYS but fast food, chickeny goodness. Yuuum. I might have to pretend I don’t have any political/moral beliefs just long enough to bolt down a sandwhich.
I don’t eat fast food so I have no such difficulty. 🙂
I thought about checking that place out when I stopped at AC Moore last Sunday, but obviously couldn’t. Now I’m glad I missed it!
Found you through the ravelry thread on this topic. I don’t shop at Hobby Lobby for various reasons. But, I just wanted to commend you for your diligence in seeking the whole story! It can be really hard to vote with your $$ but it makes me feel so much better in the long run.
In all fairness, if it wasn’t for Ravelry and the poster who clued me in, I’d be merrily shopping there.
This really irritates me. Its places like this that give religion a bad name. I am a Christian and I will never set foot in a HL. And for the USA beign founded on Christian principles, if that were true we would be fighting for love and not condemning with hate. If religion really did what it was made for there wouldnt be this much hatred and stupidity in the world. Places like HL should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to practice this crap… Religion is personal and should encourage love in whatever form!
Alex, thank you.. this is exactly what I think is missing. So many Christians are not acting as if they were Christians. I see so little of Christ’s teachings in their behavior. I was raised in a Catholic home and have several years of Catholic School in my past. I left the Church as a teen when I got tired of trying to understand the behaviors of my fellow church members.
I’d seen you’re original post on Ravelry and saw it revived and figured it was time for my own web-sleuthing. Thanks for the info. I am sorry I ever purchased something from them (i.e., gave my money to causes I’d never support in a bazillion years). I’ll not do that again – and I’ll be more careful where I do spend my money.
Thanks, again.
I’m sure that we have all supported positions that are contrary to our own beliefs. In spite of how I feel about the companies that Hobby Lobby is supporting, I commend them for being up front about it. Many companies are not so forthcoming.
Thanks for your information! I found you through the Ravelry post, also, and I commend you on doing your research.
My husband is Jewish and warned me about HL long ago so I never shop there.
I find their positions on all things just horrendous, but their inventory is crap anyway, so I wouldn’t be tempted to buy anything from them. It would be a cold day in hell….
For as much as I am completely confounded by the companies that they support, I’m very happy to live somewhere they companies CAN support whomever they wish. How does that saying go.. “I do not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. …”
I also found this on Ravelry. I knew their religious agenda because of the Sunday-closing and the insipid music that is LOUD at our local HL. I gave them a few bux for some cotton yarn a few weeks ago– but seeing this? They won’t be getting another penny of my hard-earned money. Thanks for sharing this information.
Yes, Hobby Lobby can suck it! Very well said!
Hobby Lobby freaks me out! It looks like they took down their link to ADF or, I’m just looking in the wrong place?
I haven’t looked in a while… so maybe
FWIW, I noticed they’ve taken down the link to the AllianceDefense Fund on their “groups we contribute to site”
Not sure if it means they are really no longer contributing, but I find the omission interesting.
http://www.hobbylobby.com/our_company/ministry.cfm
huh.. that is interesting.. I should probably amend this post.
I am SO glad you posted your findings on Hobby Lobby. When the whole chik fil a thing happened, it was the first i had heard about their donations to National Christian Federation and the support of Uganda’s attemot to pass a law allowing for the murders of homosexuals.
The day after feed your face day, I found myself in front of HL with the recollection they too are closed on Sundays. Christian business, no big deal. However, I began wondering if they too donated to causes to undermine the civil liberties of others. I bought a $3 heavy duty box to mail a gift, swearing I would buy there no more until I learned what they donate to. Thank you for doing the research for me.
While a straight gal, I support completely the equality for all and the separation of church and state. The real foundation of this county’s beginnings.
I agree with these people. Religion as was originally founded in this country bears no resemblance to today’s. Religion was originally mandatory, brooked no opposition, required harsh punishment for disobedience, practiced all marriage rituals, christenings, and home arrangements. The goodly minister could show up at your house at any hour, be expected to be invited in, wined and dined all the while spouting scriptures at will. So my religious friends your time has expired. Today you are a shadow of your former self such that you have been relegated to a minority position in your own land. What you have remaining is a tiny whisper barely audible in todays world. Every little thing you do today amounts to a last gasp; ——a frenetic whimper in the form of a HL closing on Sunday and trying to deny women the right to planned parenthood. These tiny little gestures loom large for the companies. HL and Chicken Sandwich takes the traditional business model and supplants with proselytizing at the front door and may suffer at the bottom line.