Fields: Hobby Lobby Continues War On Chanukah!
BY SAM FIELDS
“We don’t cater to you people” was the explanation offered to a Jew looking for Chanukah candles at a New Jersey Hobby Lobby store that was filled to the gills with Christmas items.
Reacting, CEO Steve Green assured the public that he didn’t hate Jews and regularly gave to Jewish charities like Yad Vashem. He further promised the Jewish community that he would reconsider the lack of Chanukah tchotchkes based on the local market demand.
That was in 2013.
Never heard of Hobby Lobby?
It’s an arts and crafts chain with 572 outlets and 23,000 employees.
A Southern Baptist whose $3.3 billion company is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Green is a religious fanatic. He says his company is run on Biblical beliefs and it has four minister on the payroll.
Green went to the Supreme Court to avoid insurance coverage for female birth control because of his belief that the Bible is against abortion. The good news for men is that Hobby Lobby insurance still covers boner pills and penis enlargements.
Meanwhile, he is building a huge Bible museum near the Capitol in Washington.
Hobby Lobby recently opened a store in Davie. I thought I would check it out after seeing daily newspaper ads that promoted Christmas items with zippo about Chanukah.
There are over a half a million Jews in South Florida. With snowbirds Broward has over 200,000. I expected to see at least an isle of menorahs, candles and dreidles, etc. After all, Mr. Green assured the public the market would control Hobby Lobby.
This morning, the first day of Chanukah, the picture below is all they had.
(Photo: Sam Fields)
A few measly shelves at the end of an aisle that did not even include candles. Bizarrely, the Chanukah display included a sign announcing 50% off for “Christmas décor”.
Were the Hobby Lobby folks trying to convert us with deep discounts figuring there is no better way to attract the Jews? Or was that a not too subtle sign of contempt?
December 19th, 2014 at 8:04 am
I’m curious what insurance pays for penis enlargement. I find it extremely funny that to democrats the insurance companies are the perpetual boogeymen. We are supposed to believe that these evil corporations are systematically denying routine procedures to save a few nickels, but then are just frivolous and wasteful by covering penis enlargement surgery. It seems like if I was an insurance exec in that would be the first coverage to cut back on to lower rates!
December 19th, 2014 at 8:22 am
There are less Jews than Christians. So probably stores should not stock as much Chanukah stuff as Christmas stuff. Also, but on the day after Christmas, I doubt there will be much left on the shelves either.
Sure, the owner is a bible nutcase, but it’s not illegal to run your business anyway you want it. He doesn’t have to stock ANY Chanukah stuff. Totally his call.
As far as the insurance situation, he needs to follow the minimum of what the law requires. If that means paying for birth control, then he needs to be forced to do that. The boner pills, again, his call. If he wants to supply that in his insurance, he can.
December 19th, 2014 at 8:25 am
As a one-man-business owner and someone who was stupid enough to have lost a testicle to cancer, up until Obamacare, I could not get insurance at any price. I was denied due to my pre-existing condition. Before ObamaCare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida denied a little under 10% of those who applied.
I didn’t want free insurance, didn’t want a subsidy, didn’t want a discount.
I just wanted insurance.
That, my friends, is part of the price of living the so-called ‘Murican dream.
Sure, penis enlargements make for a great story (no need for that here, in fact, I might qualify for a dick reduction), but the simple fact exists, there are parts of ObamaCare that work.
PS Sam, did you happen to notice if there was a row filled full of Festivus Pole supplies? Perhaps another end-cap offering Satanic items for sale?
It’s not just the Jews who are discriminated against these days. Try finding a good pentagram at a reasonable price… Don’t even bother looking for infernal hoodies, ritual robes, or ceremonial cloaks.
I mean, what’s one the difference between one fake religion and another? Impossible to tell the difference these days.
December 19th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Sammy,
This is what is called “FREEDOM” you should have driven a little further South on University Dr and made your Chanukah purchases at a Jewish owned mom & pop establishment.
December 19th, 2014 at 8:57 am
Let’s assume Sam’s numbers are correct and there are 200,000 Jews in Broward County (although he admits this is inflated with snowbirds). The US Census Bureau estimates the 2013 population as 1,838,844. Using simple math, that means Jews make up 10.87% (we will call it 11%) of Broward’s population. This is one of the most Jewish areas of the country. Now I’m not saying that photo is an 11% representation of the store, but is it unreasonable to say there is much more market demand for Christmas goods?
Also, going in the day of Hanukkah when people should already have their goods is like Bill O’Reilly going into Walgreens the Sunday after Christmas, seeing the leftover candy on sale and declaring a “War on Christmas” because they only have fruit candy canes left.
December 19th, 2014 at 9:28 am
Dear Frank,
First of all, beyond basics, insurance coverage is based on negotiations between the employer and the insurance company.
Secondly, the attached website discusses how and when insurance companies will cover penis enlargement.
http://www.plasticsurgeons.com/go/plastic-surgery-body/article/will-insurance-pay-penis-enlargement-surgery.html.
Less than 3 1/2 inches is considered a deformity that might be covered.
I hope that helps you.
December 19th, 2014 at 10:49 am
Sam, the bigger question is why was there anything left on the shelves at the Davie Hobby Lobby store on the first day of Hanukkah?
Shouldn’t most of the half million potential customers you mentioned in South Florida have already prepared their homes for the holiday which started the night before?
Apparently, Hobby Lobby is not the place those potential customers turn to for their holiday decorations so perhaps the corporate office is more aware of their customers’ needs than you?
And for the record, my family regularly shops at Hobby Lobby but not for our holiday supplies.
I grew up in a northeastern suburban town which was a majority Jewish and most of the stores in that area did not stock Hanukkah supplies either.
Perhaps you have fallen into the common guilt trip that one has to celebrate the Festival of Lights in as glitzy of a manner as those that enjoy the commercialization of Christmas?
December 19th, 2014 at 11:05 am
What a bogus hit piece by some Malcontent Liberal! Major Spin. No “War” on Hanukah by Hobby Lobby. It’s a Christian Company. I don’t see a lot of Christmas stuff in my Local Jewish Deli or Judaica Shop. Pfft! Disappointing.
December 19th, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Friends;
Let us bow our heads in a moment of silence, remembering all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the War on Christmas.
December 19th, 2014 at 8:02 pm
To my critics:
I did not tell you everything. So let me add that a clerk in the store told me that this was their total Chanukah display.
If there was little Jewish interest in buying, it is that after last year Jews are wary of Mr. Green. Additionally, Hobby Lobby put up zero advertising for Chanukah…which is a message unto itself.
Mr. Green is a Christian fundamentalist which means that he holds that the Bible, including the all important eschatological message, The Book of Revelation, is the inerrant word of his god.
On the day of The Rapture, when he and his cohorts go to heaven, Jesus comes to town and slaughters the Jews. Call me crazy, but that sounds a bit anti-Semitic to me.
To achieve this Christian orgasm world war has to breakout in the Middle East which is why Green and his ilk oppose any Palestinian peace plan and support the fascist land pirates of the Israeli Right.
Yes, Judaica stores don’t sell Christmas trees. I’m pretty sure Christian bookstores don’t sell the works of Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. These are ideologically based stores. Hobby Lobby does not present itself to the public as a religious store. After all, Green buys most of his crap from China an atheistic dictatorship that still oppresses Christians who want to preach the Gospel. It seems that, push come to shove, the bottom line for Green is The Bottom Line…$$$$$.
Finally, I said nothing challenging his right to be a bigot. I was just pointing out the truth.
December 20th, 2014 at 6:57 am
I thought Fields was finished denigrating Christians. Now I see he was just waiting for the Holiday celebrating the most miraculous story in history. Hobby Lobby is a Christian store. They make no secret about that. They can sell whatever they like and have been very successful at it. Why is the atheist Fields celebrating Hanukkah? The Jews saved by God on Hanukkah. Fields should go back to what he is good at which is losing in court.
December 20th, 2014 at 9:18 am
Can you really ever say “one is done denigrating Christians.”
With their rich history of rape, incest, bestiality, slavery, and murder, Christianity deserves to be loathed and vilified at every possible opportunity.
5 to 2 odds Nevins nukes this comment.
December 20th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
As a self-employed individual with a family, I can certainly empathize with you about the whole health care issue. It was long overdue. But as I read your comment, I was intrigued by your phrase “someone who was stupid enough to have lost a testicle to cancer,”. When I looked up risk factors for testicular cancer, it said that a lot of it is genetic (which means you could not have been stupid enough to get it that way)and the other risk factor is HIV infection. ( which could indeed be a result of stupid behavior). If that is the case, I am glad you now have some insurance, because meds to control HIV I have heard are very expensive…let alone what HIV could lead to…
December 20th, 2014 at 2:48 pm
Look, I know Mr. Fields has a long history of fighting for the under privileged and trying to right society’s wrongs, but Christian Fundamentalism has not such religious writings about “slaughtering of Jews”. That is absolute total bullshit, and Mr. Fields, in this one blog, does himself no credit.
Slaughtering of Jews, actually of Christians accused of being secret Jews was done by Monks, so-called preaching Monks, and the institution of the Inquisition. Both, except for the Spanish and later Portugese and limited Mexican and Southern Italian periods of the late 15th and 16th centuries were no authorized by the Holy See or come out of “religious books”, i.e. The Bible. Mr. Fields is taking one thing from here, another from there, and making a goulash that is not very tasty or accurate.
As for Hobby Lobby, I am a hobbyist and never visited the place or plan to. Why would anyone care what they do or don’t do. I think Mr. Fields has too much time on his hands.
December 20th, 2014 at 7:12 pm
Ahhh…
I see that my sarcasm was lost upon you, and trolling kudos for suggesting I am at a higher risk for HIV!
Whether that is the case or not, at least I’m getting some.
December 21st, 2014 at 9:04 am
I am going to Hobby Lobby.
December 21st, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Hey old man, you must be having a senior moment. You are a relatively smart guy, surely you did not misunderstand me. I said one of the RISK factors for testicular cancer is HIV. That means that testicular cancer would be the RESULT of HIV, not the cause of it. So, you would not be at a higher risk, you would have already had it.
And, if you are “getting some” and believe you may be at higher risk for HIV, then I can only imagine where it is that you are “getting some”.
December 21st, 2014 at 10:53 pm
Dear Gussie – there’s enough to be concerned about than who sells what!
Prickly people are a pain. Live and let live and shop where you want.
Debbie Wasserman Schulz has abused her position in attacking Hobby Lobby and Chickfila. She’s the biggest problem I’m ashamed to be a Democrat with people like her in office!
December 22nd, 2014 at 9:21 am
Mr. Fields:
You obviously have an issue w/some variations of the Christian Perspective. The prejudice You Demonstrate is Crystal Clear. “Orgasm” Really? I would submit that your credibility is dubious at best. Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas 2 All who Celebrate either or both.
December 22nd, 2014 at 10:41 am
Dear Chud,
Revelations 7:3 makes it clear that in the End of Times only 144,000 Jews survive the. The remainder go to Hell for rejecting Jesus. That’s 12,000 from each of the 12 tribe, [Notwithstanding the Mormons, The Fukawi Tribe is not one of them.]
For Fundamentalist Protestants, Revelation is the most important book of the Bible. Watch TV preachers like Jack Van Impe or John Hagee. Locally check out First Presbyterian.
Ever heard of the Left Behind books by Tim Lahaye? Thirteen volumes based on End Times. Only the Harry Potter series exceeds it in sales. They have also been made into 4 movies. The most recent with Nicolas Cage.
Christianity’s relationship with the Jews is always the same. When conversion fails it is time to slaughter us. Think Inquisition or Martin Luther.
Luther started out trying to convert us. When that failed he went medieval. My late wife was Lutheran. She did not have a clue about how Luther viewed the Jews until I showed her his 1525 book: “The Jews and Their Lies”.
Hitler would have told him to tone it down.
December 22nd, 2014 at 2:31 pm
Sam;
I’m actually a big early 1500s history buff.
Give a read about the town of Münster, Germany and the Anabaptists… The Anabaptists make the modern day Quakers seem ultra-liberal.
Look into a wanker by the name of Jan Matthys, along the lines of David Korresh.
He spoke directly to God. And God commanded those Anabaptists still alive (they were under siege) to partake in open-marriages.
****
About Luther…
Luther was lucky enough to have rich friends, and smart enough not to suggest his rich friends give up their wealth.
He wasn’t the first to suggest this… Thomas Müntzer comes to mind.
And while you are at it, see why Luther came about in the first place (the hedonistic behavior 1300 and 1400 Catholic Popes in particular).
One gruesome footnote. Torture was relevant, state sponsored, and highly regulated.
They often sheered the flesh off from folks, keeping them alive for no longer than the legal allotted time of an hour.
Isn’t god (whatever one you worship) grand? He’ll let you murder another person, torture the fuck out of them, but won’t allow you to marry someone of your own gender…
December 23rd, 2014 at 11:11 pm
So, after making the WashPo, Daily Show, Time, Rachel Maddow, Bill O’Reilly, The New Yorker, and scads of other pubs, did I leave anything out?
Oh yeah, today’s article in the Wall Street Journal.
The display is one of several irreverent decorations aimed at countering a Nativity scene in the Capitol. Others include a pile of noodles from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and a stack of beer cans by blogger Chaz Stevens honoring the parody holiday Festivus from the TV show “Seinfeld.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/dueling-displays-in-capitals-1419381751?KEYWORDS=festivus
December 24th, 2014 at 9:23 pm
Who cares besides you Chaz?