Hobby Lobby, not just exemption from birth control mandate

[jimrtex]

Based on the comments from the retail level managers, the owner's spokesperson, the ENTIRELY consistant history of HL's owner inserting his evangelist views into company management decisions, and the apparent potential market for such products in a nearby town with a large Jewish population, it's abundantly clear the absence of such products on HL shelves has far less to do with supply and demand than with anti-semitism.

You are reading a lot into the the story based on your own prejudices.

There is no evidence that the store employee in New Jersey was a manager.  If someone asked about Hannakuh stuff, and was told that they didn't have any, and then got in the employee's face about why not, etc.  They might be dismissed with we don't cater to you people.  Maybe the shopper was complaining about the stores being closed on Sunday, but open on Saturday.  What most people might consider to be rude, probably is not considered rude in New Jersey or New York.

It sounds like the first person that was contacted at the corporate office was saying that goods carried in local stores are a local decision.   Even if J% of the population in an area are Jewish, they are not likely to spend as much per capita as is spent by X% of the population that celebrates Christmas.  Was the customer looking for a 15 foot high inflatable Menorah?  Probably not.

If J% of the population is significant, there are likely stores in the area that do cater to that niche market.

[jimrtex]

Did EVERYONE miss the quote from CORPORATE office spokesperson advising the reasons for not selling Jewish items was that "[the owner] is Christian and those are his values"? Does anyone REALLY need a map drawn between that statement of the OWNER'S values, the statement from the local employee, and the owner's firm intrusion of fundamentalist views into his company's governance?!?? It's clearly ideology that's blinding people as to the reality of the situation, not creating the problem.

Here is the original blog entry.

WHY I WILL NEVER EVER PATRONIZE HOBBY LOBBY

Mr. Berwitz claims he called THE MARLBORO STORE and was told, "Because Mr. Green is the owner of the company, he's a Christian, and those are his values."  It was YOUR INFERENCE based on your prejudices that because a radio station interviewed him and he said he heard it "with his own ears" that it was a discussion with the "corporate" office.

The "we don't cater to you people" was a 2nd hand (or possibly 3rd hand) from a friend of Berwitz's wife, and was actually in reference to the lack of Bar Mitzvah cards.  Who knows how that conversation actually went?   Did she say something along the lines of "I see you cater to Gentiles", in a disapproving voice?  People in New Jersey are not noted for their civility.

Some follow ups.

HOBBY LOBBY: ANSWERING THE COMMENTERS

MY CONVERSATION WITH STEVE GREEN

The last was after the son of the owner had called and explained that Hobby Lobby carries the same 70,000 items in all their stores, but was looking into the possibility of customizing their offerings more.

They may or may not.  You have more leverage when offering to buy something that will be sold in 500 stores vs. in 5 stores, and it may be a distraction for buyers.

[jimrtex]

Hobby Lobby's attitude may be further gauged by Mart Green's (one of the heirs to the company) financial support of an anti-Israeli and possibly anti-Jewish film.  The company that made the film is located in Hobby Lobby's Oklahoma office complex:

http://www.fighthatred.com/profiles-in-hate/religious-figures/941-mart-green-millionaire-american-christian-who-supports-the-accusation-that-israel-is-racist

Note that the very conservative Christian news-gathering organization World News Daily broke the story.

From your URL.

"Most American evangelical Christians are known to be strongly supportive of Israel’s right to all of its land, including Judea and Samaria ... This is not the position of Mart Green."

Is Barack Obama known to be strongly supportive of Israel's right to all of its land, including Judea and Samaria?  Is Obama possibly anti-Semitic?