Christian-owned craft chain Hobby Lobby got itself in hot water with atheists and other leftists earlier this week after it ran a Bible-based Independence Day ad in newspapers nationwide, Faithwire reported.
What did the ad say?
The ad image featured a child running with an American flag on green grass under a blue sky with the words “One nation under God” superimposed on the image along with a reference to Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” – Psalm 33:12 https://t.co/wxCmPuRq1D https://t.co/yIoZU7326z — Official Hobby Lobby (@Official Hobby Lobby) 1625422981.0
Faithwire said the full-page ad included quotes from American founders, U.S. lawmakers, and Supreme Court justices — and that most of the quotes point to America’s religious roots and ties to Scripture.
In addition, there’s a small-print message at the bottom of the ad offering an invitation to interested readers to become Christians.
“If you would like to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, visit Need Him Ministry at www.chataboutjesus.com,” the message states. “To download a free Bible for your phone, go to www.mardel.com/bible.”
Faithwire said Hobby Lobby also shared the ad across its social media channels.
Atheist group pushes back
But upon catching wind of the newspaper advertisement, atheist activist group Freedom From Religion Foundation actually created a rebuttal web page blasting Hobby Lobby’s ad. The web page is titled, “In Hobby Lobby We DON’T Trust.”
The FFRF web page appears to use the quotes seen on the Hobby Lobby ad and then lets readers click on the quotes to read rebuttals.
“Do these quotes prove we are a Christian nation? Click them to find out,” the FFRF instructions state.
‘Dominionist propaganda’
As you might imagine, the FFRF wasn’t alone in its criticism of the ad.
Faithwire pointed to a tweet from David Weisman — a U.S. Army veteran who is a “former Republican” and “former Trump supporter” and current “liberal Democrat” — that reads, “I find your statement of [sic] America should be lead [sic] by Christians to be asinine and unconstitutional. Shame on you.”
The outlet also noted a tweet from another critic who called Hobby Lobby’s ad “dominionist propaganda”:
Faithwire said it reached out to Hobby Lobby for comment and will update its story if a representative responds.
Rev. Franklin Graham has his say
But the Rev. Franklin Graham on Tuesday defended the chain in a Facebook post:
Graham’s message of support has attracted about 31,000 comments as of Friday afternoon. One of them reads, “Thank you, Hobby Lobby! I stand with you as we stand with God!”
*story by The Blaze
