#david green

[tomorrowusa]

Drew McCoy, whose YouTube channel Genetically Modified Skeptic is excellent, did an episode on multibillionaires who concoct religious beliefs which coincidentally justify their avarice and lust for wealth.

Peter Thiel is particularly obsessed with the Antichrist and he knows that people think this obsession is weird.

If such people really do have a religion, it's the Cult of Mammon.

[robinboardman]

Seeing the light Hove, England Photograph: David Green

[semioticapocalypse]

Julie Higgonbotham. David Green in Prahran College of Advanced Education lecture theatre. 1973

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[charnel-grounds]

Carol Lynley in The Shuttered Room (1967)

[never-was-has-been]

‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Ads for Jesus Flagged by Fans Criticizing Company Funding Them

A controversial company paid $20 million to air two commercials promoting Jesus.

[anonknows]

Just another David sketch page that looks exactly like every other David sketch page I've done here... Look he's fun to draw okay?

[vintagecamping]

A Pacific Crest Odyssey: Walking the Trail from Mexico to Canada

Published 1979

[sarcasticcynic]

Yes, THAT Hobby Lobby

Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images, via Business Insider

In God He Trusts

David Green, founder and CEO of the Hobby Lobby retail chain, has always been proud of his devout Christianity. On March 19, 2020, while non-essential businesses around the country were closing, Green issued a memo to his employees informing them that God had told his wife how he should handle the coronavirus pandemic:

“In her quiet prayer time this past week, the Lord put on Barbara’s heart three profound words to remind us that He’s in control. Guide, Guard, and Groom. We serve a God who will Guide us through this storm, who will Guard us as we travel to places never seen before, and who, as a result of this experience, will Groom us to be better than we could have ever thought possible before now. ...

“While we do not know for certain what the future holds, or how long this disruption will last, we can all rest in knowing that God is in control. The Company’s Leaders are doing all they can to balance the need to keep the Company strong and the needs of employees. To help ensure our Company remains strong and prepared to prosper once again when this passes, we may all have to ‘tighten our belts’ over the near future.”

Some of Green’s language understandably alarmed his employees. It sure sounded as if Green was saying God told him to keep his stores open; moreover, given that Green’s net worth is $6.2 billion (down from $7.4 billion a couple of months ago, due to the recent crash), some wondered exactly who would be tightening whose belts.

Business As Usual

It didn’t take long to confirm that Green was not closing his stores. On March 23, Hobby Lobby sent a memo to all store managers affirming that the company “is going to make every effort to continue working the employees.”

“The district manager has said that our stores will remain open until the National Guard comes in and physically shuts the buildings down.”

As for the belt-tightening: Hobby Lobby does not provide paid sick leave for its thousands of hourly employees. So the memo also reminded everyone that any employee who actually became sick would be required to use personal paid time off and vacation pay, or take an “unpaid leave of absence until further notice.” The same would apply if the government shut down the stores: employees would be required to use “all available paid time off benefits” before receiving any other compensation.

Or Not

Within a few days, most states had ordered Hobby Lobby to shut down its stores anyway. Hobby Lobby complied... and promptly started firing employees and cutting pay for those who remained.

“This layoff is permanent, and I encourage you to file for state unemployment benefits. ... I genuinely hope you know that my prayers are with you and your family.”

And that’ll mean something just as soon as banks and landlords start accepting “prayers” for mortgage and rent payments.