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  • 2020-03-27 (xsd:date)
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  • Is Hobby Lobby Refusing To Close Stores Because of a Message from God? (en)
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  • In March 2020, as a number of non-essential businesses started to close in an attempt to help slow the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby seemingly bucked the trend and decided to keep many of its stores open. The company explained on its website that it was taking some precautionary measures, such as increasing the frequency of store cleanings. But a letter supposedly sent by Hobby Lobby CEO David Green to employees suggested the company had other ideas about what would keep employees safe. One posting of this letter, shared close to 40,000 times on Twitter, explained that Hobby Lobby stores would stay open in part because Green's wife Barbara had received a message from God: The crux of the rumor is based on the letter's third paragraph, which reads: Before we get to the origins of this letter, let's address the notion that Hobby Lobby is refusing to close its stores during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it's true that, as of this writing, Hobby Lobby is not voluntarily closing stores in cities or states that have thus far not issued shelter-in place orders, the company does appear to be following guidelines in places that have issued such orders. CBS News reports: As for the letter, the above-displayed image appears to have been first posted to the Atheism section of Reddit by a user who claimed to be a Hobby Lobby employee. That posting included a few brief sentences explaining that the letter was sent to the store's managers: The Reddit user who posted the letter responded to dozens of comments and questions in that thread. We reached out to the user directly for more information but have yet to receive a response. But we can say that we found no indication that this was a hoax. In fact, the user seemed personally impacted by this letter and offered additional information, such as details about the store's PTO policies, which leads us to believe that this letter is likely authentic. Furthermore, this is not the only photograph of this letter that we've come across. The day before the above-displayed image went viral, another Redditor posted an image showing the same letter allegedly sent by Hobby Lobby: We don't see any reason to doubt the veracity of this letter. Hobby Lobby CEO David Green and his family are vocal about their Evangelical Christian beliefs and the company has challenged laws in the past. However, we have not been able to definitively confirm that this letter was written and sent out by Green, nor has Hobby Lobby responded to our request for comment. (en)
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