Hobby Lobby Faces Backlash Over Newspaper Ad Calling For Christian-Run Government

 Hobby Lobby is embroiled in another controversy after running a full-page advertisement in numerous newspapers throughout the United States on July 4 that appeared to advocate for a Christian-run government.

The arts and crafts giant’s ad, which ran in newspapers on Independence Day included the Bible verse “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord,” was titled “One Nation Under God” — the ad posted about its campaign on its social media pages.

Hobby Lobby included statements from previous presidents who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, including George Washington, in their campaign, however the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) said that the corporation changed the quotes without presenting the entire context.

In its ad, the company also appeared to quote former President John Adams saying: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.”

“Our Constitution was made only for religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Although Adams did utter those words, according to the FFRF, Hobby Lobby shuffled the position of the quotes around to make the phrases appear to follow one another, removing the context that the former president used “religious” and “moral” as synonyms throughout the said address being referenced.

Hobby Lobby also allegedly changed the arrangement of statements for Washington and claimed that it pulled sections of speeches for previous presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams out of context, according to FFRF, a non-profit group that works for atheists, agnostics, and non-theists.

The arts and craft company has been placing similar ads on US holidays since Hobby Lobby founder David Greene was “commissioned” by God to produce them in 1995,  according to reports.

“Before long, Hobby Lobby was placing beautiful full-page ads celebrating the real meaning of Christmas, Easter, and Independence Day in newspapers across the country. The impact and relevance of these messages is ongoing,” the company said of the practice.

Backlash on social media

But following its ad for the July 4 Independence Day, Hobby Lobby was met with backlash on social media after it tweeted about the ad, with some Twitter users noting the sacrifices of non-Christian Americans for the country.

“Shame on you @HobbyLobby. As an American Jew who served in the United States Army and took an oath to defend the Constitution; I find your statement that America should be led by Christians to be asinine and unconstitutional,” commented US Army veteran David Weissman.

Digimentors founder Sree Sreenivasan for his part wrote: “The full-page ad by @HobbyLobby is an attack on freedom of religion & the rights of religious minorities.”

“I’ve served as a pastor for over two decades,” said author and pastor John Pavolvitz. “Organizations like @HobbyLobby are why so many people believe all Christians are hateful, intolerant bigots. The rest of us apologize for them.”

Others defend Hobby Lobby

But some users also defended Hobby Lobby’s Fourth of July ad. 

“@HobbyLobby is being attacked for running newspaper ads on July 4 titled, “One Nation Under God” w/the Bible verse, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” These ads have outraged enemies of God’s Word like the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” wrote Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

“I hope this exposure for their ads will actually allow even more people to read the message & appreciate what @HobbyLobby’s owners, the Green family, stand for. I thank God for them, their Christian-run business, & their strong public stand for the Word of God & biblical values,” he added.

In July last year, Hobby Lobby was faced with calls for boycott after a photo of a display in one of its stores reading “USA vote Trump” went viral.