On Saturday, January 5th – THOUSANDS of Americans to Support Hobby Lobby & Religious Freedom

From Thegatewaypundit.com <--VISIT LINK

I'm sharing this story word for word because it is too important not to tell.  We must support our liberty.  We must stand for ourselves and not give in to this over reaching government.  They have no right violating our right to religious liberty.

Thousands to Join Hobby Lobby Appreciation Day Over Mandate Fight

Stand With Hobby Lobby–

** Find a Hobby Lobby near you.
The Saturday hours are 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
The plan:
On Saturday, January 5th, all Americans who value freedom of religion and oppose the HHS Mandate’s unfair impositions upon religious individuals and corporate entities are called upon to show their support for Hobby Lobby by shopping either at their local retail Hobby Lobby store or online.

PLEASE SHARE THIS EVENT WIDELY!

The story until now:
• September 12, 2012: Hobby Lobby files suit against Kathleen Sabelius and the US Department of Health and Human Services in US District Court for Western District of Oklahoma. They are represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

• November 19, 2012: District Judge Joe Heaton rules that privately owned companies such as Hobby Lobby are not exempt from the HHS Mandate on religious grounds because these enterprises do not possess the same religious rights as individuals and religious organizations do.

• December 20, 2012: The US Court of Appeals in Denver rules against Hobby Lobby on the same grounds as the lower court; the Green family vows to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

• December 26, 2012: Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejects an emergency request for injunction that would allow Hobby Lobby temporary exemption from the HHS Mandate pending the hearing of their full case before the high court.

• December 27, 2012: Hobby Lobby’s attorneys announce that the chain plans to defy the Mandate which will take effect January 1st, potentially costing the chain (which employs 13,000) hundreds of millions of dollars in fines by the time their case is finally decided.

The letter from Hobby Lobby CEO David Green that LifeNews received follows:

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God‘s word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It’s not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it’s the same for everybody. But that’s not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won’t exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby – and my family – are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don’t like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

Please support this great company and this great cause.

Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow!