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Here's Why George Takei Wants You to Boycott Hobby Lobby
Here's Why George Takei Wants You to Boycott Hobby Lobby
As usual, Takei is right on. Plus: other places you may want to boycott.
Leave it to George Takei to provide devastatingly brilliant, spot-on commentary on any subject -- and issue an electrifying call to action.
His topic of the moment is the Supreme Court's ruling in Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius, which allows many employers to deny insurance coverage for certain types of contraception. "The ruling elevates the rights of a FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION over those of its women employees and opens the door to all manner of claims that a company can refuse services based on its owner's religion," Takei writes in a Tuesday blog post.
"Once the law starts permitting exceptions based on 'sincerely held religious beliefs' there's no end to the mischief and discrimination that will ensue," warns the gay actor and activist. "Indeed, this is the same logic that certain restaurants and hotels have been trying to deploy to allow proprietors to refuse service to gay couples."
He notes that the American way is to keep one's beliefs "out of other people's business -- and bedrooms." He issues a call for "people of good conscience" to boycott Hobby Lobby and any other business that "chooses to impose its religious beliefs on its employees."
"The only way such companies ever learn to treat people with decency and tolerance is to hit them where it counts -- in their pocketbooks," he concludes.
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast has compiled a list of more than 80 other employers that have sued to challenge the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage mandate that served as the subject of the Hobby Lobby case. The courts where these cases are pending will likely apply the Hobby Lobby precedent to them, or the employers may go ahead and exempt themselves from the mandate without court action.
The list includes many Catholic or evangelical Christian institutions, including affiliated colleges and publishing houses, as well as some large for-profit companies. Take a look here, and you might reconsider buying organic and macrobiotic edibles produced by Eden Foods, getting a residential mortgage through Cherry Creek Mortgage Co., or attending Notre Dame football games this fall.
