Hobby Lobby Doesn’t Like Jewish Customers

On his blog Hopelessly Partisan, activist Ken Berwitz wrote about his friends’ recent experience at a new Hobby Lobby store in the town of Marlboro, New Jersey, which has a large Jewish population. He said that his friends, who were visiting the craft and home decor store, were told, “We don’t cater to you people” when they inquired about bar mitzvah cards. They also noted a glaring absence of Hanukkah-related crafts and decorations in the sea of Christmas-kitsch that dominates every Hobby Lobby after Labor Day. The New Jersey sales associate attributed the lack of Jewish merchandise to the company’s notorious fundamentalist CEO, David Green.

Over the course of the last few days, word has spread about the company’s refusal to carry products related to Jewish holidays, sparking a boycott. This led to Hobby Lobby releasing an official statement: “Alleged comments made by employees are currently being investigated and will be addressed accordingly. These comments are in no way indicative of Hobby Lobby culture, the owners and the operators.”

Okay, that’s fair—and, since you can’t always take what you read on someone’s blog at face value, I decided to do a little research of my own. First I went to my nearest local Hobby Lobby, in Hixson, Tennessee, and, sure enough, there was nary a menorah to be found among all the tacky Christmas stuff the company had on their shelves. I politely spoke to a young sales associate and asked her if it was true that Hobby Lobby did not carry any merchandise related to Jewish holidays. She looked at me like a deer in the headlights and said, “We’re a Christian company. I’d—it’s nothing personal. If it were up to me, you know…”

Well, as we say here in the South, bless her heart. I’m not about to hold it against one individual sales associate that the CEO is an anti-Semite.

Shortly after leaving, I gave the store a call and spoke to the manager, Duwane. He stated, “I have not heard anything about it. Never heard anything about that.”

“So, can you either confirm or deny that it’s Hobby Lobby’s policy not to carry merchandise for Jewish holidays?” I asked.

“I don’t know anything about it,” he repeated.

Next, I decided to call the company’s customer service line. The number has been suspiciously removed from their website in the last 48 hours, but I managed to track it down. I left a message with the assurance that it would be returned promptly, but did not receive a response. Next step: I, along with thousands of others, posted on the  company’s Facebook page asking why Hobby Lobby doesn’t carry Hanukkah merchandise. My comment was deleted within seconds. I imagine they’ve got somebody staffing their Facebook page hitting the “delete” button like they’re destroying asteroids in an 80s video game.

Hobby Lobby Caters To Christians Only

I guess it really comes down to this: Hobby Lobby really is a Christian company, and by that, they don’t just mean that they’re owned by a Christian. They mean that they only want Christian customers and that, if they were allowed, they would only have Christian employees. Their own mission statement requires that employees “honor the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.”

Well, I’m pretty sure Hobby Lobby’s employees and CEO are further removed from biblical principles than the customers they’re discriminating against. I have yet to meet a fundamentalist Christian who keeps kosher, and only a few who follow that “love thy neighbor” rule.

Yes, we live in a capitalist economy that gives Hobby Lobby the right to sell—or not sell—whatever they want. They’re also allowed to say that they want their employees to adhere to “biblical principles.” They’ve even been allowed to deny female employees the right to birth control. Luckily, that same economic structure also grants me the ability to say that they can kiss my feminist Jewish ass. If you’re not already boycotting Hobby Lobby for their misogyny, you might want to consider boycotting them for antisemitism. For me, it’s just one more reason to drive an extra mile and go to Michael’s instead.