Hobby Lobby advocates for a Christian-run government in Independence Day ads placed in many national newspapers

On Independence Day, Hobby Lobby ran an advertisement in many newspapers across the country that advocated for a Christian-run government.

The ad, under the title “One Nation Under God,” included the biblical verse: “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the lord.”

Images of the advertisement were published on the company’s site and social media.

The full-page ad featured three columns that quote former US presidents and other historical figures, as well as Supreme Court rulings about Christianity.

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor,” the ad reads in part, quoting George Washington.

In a Holiday message posted on their website, Hobby Lobby said they’d been placing holiday advertisements since founder David Greene felt “commissioned” by God to make them after he saw advertisements during the 1995 Christmas season.

“Before long, Hobby Lobby was placing beautiful full-page ads celebrating the real meaning of Christmas, Easter, and Independence Day in newspapers across the country. The impact and relevancy of these messages is ongoing,” the message said.

Some who saw the ad were upset at the call for combining Church and State.

“A full-page ad by @HobbyLobby in newspapers today ignoring the separation of church and state. I never will set foot in a ⁦@HobbyLobby⁩, which believes America should be a theocracy,” commentator Terry Blount wrote on Twitter.

An Oregon resident who saw the ad in the Register-Guard called it “absolutely frightening,” and encouraged people not to shop at Hobby Lobby.

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Hobby Lobby has been entangled in a number of controversies recently. In April 2020, it closed all of its stores nationwide and furloughed employees after it was caught defying coronavirus-related state lockdown and quietly reopened stores across the country.

In September, shoppers called for a boycott against the company after an image showed a display of decorative letters arranged to read “USA Vote Trump,” inside a store went viral.

It’s not clear how many newspapers the advertisement ran in or how much the ad cost. Hobby Lobby did not respond to Insider’s request for comment at the time of publication.

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