Not content with a Supreme Court decision that has the potential to set back LGBT progress for years, the family behind the Hobby Lobby store chain have a new project in mind. They’d like to build a giant museum dedicated to the Bible just two blocks from the National Mall in D.C., where such venerable institutions as the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art reside.
Needless to say, this won’t be just any old tribute to religion. It will be a monument to a particular interpretation of the Bible. Steve Green, the president of Hobby Lobby, has called the Bible “a reliable historical document,” and, in connection with the museum, plans a curriculum to “reintroduce this book to this nation.”
You don’t have to read between the lines there. Given the Green family’s political activism and ties to the Christian right, the emphasis isn’t going to be on feeding and clothing the poor. “This nation is in danger because of its ignorance of what God has taught,” Green has said. “There are lessons from the past that we can learn from, the dangers of ignorance of this book. We need to know it. If we don’t know it, our future is going to be very scary.”
Between the Supreme Court decision and the museum, we’d agree.
Moreover, the choice of D.C. as the location of the 400,00 square-foot museum gives the Greens a permanent base from which to target legislation. The museum is going to cost $800 million, and the Greens are going to want something to show for their investment. “My instincts would tell me that they are choosing Washington, D.C., because they intend to influence Congress,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, a co-president of Freedom From Religion Foundation.
So if you think the Supreme Court decision was a singular event, think again. It looks like the Hobby Lobby family are only just getting started.
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