It has been around a week since the Supreme Court handed down their ruling in the Hobby Lobby case and since that time everyone from George Takei to websites like The Daily Beast and Jezebel are weighing in on the case, slamming Hobby Lobby along the way.
The main thrust of the complaints is the fact that, once again, SCOTUS has elevated the rights of a FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION over those of actual human beings.
As George Takei notes in the subtitle of an article on his blog about the ruling:
“Religious Freedom” Run Amok: How The U.S Supreme Court Believes Corporations Are People, Yet Treats Women Inhumanely“
Writing for Jezebel, Erin Gloria Ryan writes:
“Corporations are people, my friend. Women? Not so much. […] If corporations are people then why can’t I punch one in the f*cking face?“
Sally Kohn reported that conservatives have been given ample reason to gloat in a recent piece for The Daily Beast, writing:
In one fell swoop, the Supreme Court has constrained government power, expanded corporate rights, and protected religious tyranny. That individual rights were also destroyed doesn’t seem to bother conservatives very much, as the rights in question mainly concern women who have sex for reasons other than procreation.”
Kohn goes on to slams conservatives, shredding their lies about the case, writing of them:
But rather than quietly crawling back to their smoke-filled rooms and peyote-perfumed pews to celebrate, conservatives have remained on the attack, spreading overt misinformation about the ruling and its implications and smearing women’s health advocates who dare to argue.”
Even evangelicals are weighing in against Hobby Lobby with Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, writing:
First, supporters of Hobby Lobby think they are helping the Christian faith but are actually harming it. In fact, a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby weakens religious freedom.
When anyone can use religion to claim an exemption on anything, religion loses meaning. Rather than a personal belief embedded in our souls, faith would become a set of arbitrary rules any corporation could choose from to skirt the law.”
So what do we do about all this? George Takei is calling on the power of the boycott:
While we work to overturn this decision by legislation, people of good conscience should BOYCOTT any for-profit business, including Hobby Lobby, which 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. I won’t be shopping there, and women everywhere should exercise their right of protest and refuse to shop there as well.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login