The executives who run Hobby Lobby have many more hobbies than knitting and scrapbooking. Among them are antigay, “Christian” activism and good old-fashioned plundering.
The company’s 2014 win in the Supreme Court opened the door for corporations to discriminate against women and, by Hobby Lobby’s logic, LGBTQ people under the so-called ‘religious freedom’ banner.
The same year, the company acquired the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a 3,500 year-old clay tablet that was looted from an Iraqi museum 30 years ago. On Thursday, the artifact will be returned as part of a group of roughly 17,000 artifacts looted from Iraq.
“By returning these illegally acquired objects, the authorities here in the United States and in Iraq are allowing the Iraqi people to reconnect with a page in their history,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
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NPR reports the object “features inscriptions in Sumerian, the language of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The text includes a section of the epic of Gilgamesh, a poem believed to have been written at least 4,000 years ago.”
Hobby Lobby purchased it from Christie’s at a London auction for $16.7 million. They displayed the stolen, 5×6 inch tablet in the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. — surely what Jesus would have wanted. The company’s owners are also the museum founders.
Both Christie’s and Hobby Lobby claim they weren’t aware the item was stolen, but this is hardly the first time Hobby Lobby has acquired looted artifacts. In 2017, the company paid a $3 million fine to the Justice Department over its sketchy acquisitions and agreed to return thousands of illegally imported clay tablets.
And in March of 2020, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green agreed to return 11,500 objects to Egypt and Iraq.
On the discrimination front, last month an Illinois court determined the company violated state anti-discrimination law when it denied a transgender employee access to the women’s restroom. Transgender rights advocates hope the case has national implications.
Heywood Jablowme
It’s surprising they’d even be interested in the notoriously homoerotic Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s one of the oldest books there is, and I remember it does mention Noah (of Ark fame) who was a mythical figure all over the Middle East, but it’s not like it’s a lost Old Testament book. Too gay for that!
GrizzleyMichael
When are they going to learn you can’t be a Christian and be a hateful bitch too
Jer
If they wake up after dying it might dawn on them.
You know “Uh, this doesn’t look much like I expected Heaven to be!”
russell_harris
The leadership of this company along with the power its money is able to wield, is trying to dictate what it is to be Judeo-Christian. If this company were truly Christian, they could find better ways to use the money in ways Christ would have used it. This company is not about Christianity. It is about money and power and influence.
Matthewnow
You said it perfectly. Blessings to you.
Mister P
What they are doing is not freely practicing religion. They are wielding it like a weapon.
barryaksarben
stealing artifacts is a sin and they can be racist enough to think the places they are looting arent taking care of them so they try to justify their STEALING. disgusting American Taliban assholes
Marco
Re: discrimination ruling. The IL 2nd Dist App court opinion [https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/sommerville_il_20210816_opinion] is a real bench slap to Hobby Lobby, who lost every aspect of every argument, and was called out for some sleazy, contradictory moves.
It’s a good read, if your into that kind of stuff. Wins this good are few and far between.
Celtic
The owners and employees of Hobby Lobby are fake Christians. Their in-your-face heresy, their hypocrisy and their apostacy are a slam dunk win for Satanism.
Essie
I had never heard of Hobby Lobby until I started watching interior design/decorating shows on YouTube. Some of those women WORSHIP Hobby Lobby and I’ve never understood why because everything looks like total junk. Now I think I know why? Some of these women are conservative “christians” and Hobby Lobby is probably their vahalla. I have deleted every woman who even mentions this place. (Sure frees up a lot of time for me to find other stuff on YouTube.)
Heywood Jablowme
The rival chain is Michael’s, which is better in every respect, and better for employees too.
Jim
Apparently Hobby Lobby doesn’t believe in the Ten Commandments, Especially, thou shall not steal.
joeboyle49
I HAVEN’T BEEN IN THERE STORES IN 16 YEARS! I VOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!