Church Congregation Hands Out Birth Control To Protest Hobby

[doggie]

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/07/03 ... bby-lobby/

To protest Hobby Lobby’s overbearing decision to keep birth control out of the hands of its employees, an Illinois church got together with representatives of Planned Parenthood, drove to the nearest one and began handing out condoms and materials on where to get affordable birth control in the parking lot.

Recently, the Supreme Court sided with the Christian-owned craft store, Hobby Lobby by ruling that it and other small companies didn’t have to provide their employees with insurance that included birth control. Like many people, the congregation of the First Congregational UCC of Naperville, Illinois were dismayed at the bald-faced injection of religion into the workplace.

Church leader, Rev. Mark Winters said the idea started out as a joke. After being outraged by the SCOTUS decision, Winters took to Facebook and wrote that he was going to start handing out condoms in front of the store. The reception was overwhelming and almost universally along the lines of “Yes, please do this!â€

Sensing he was on to something, Winters got into contact with Planned Parenthood and made arrangement to visit a Hobby Lobby in Aurora.

While staging the protest/free condom giveaway, Winters spoke with the Daily Harald about what he thought the heart of the issue was.

“You can make the religious freedom argument, you can make the argument about contraception, but ultimately, for me, this is about power,†he said. “And the powerful ones, the employers, their rights were protected at the expense of the rights of the employees – the less powerful.â€

Turning to his faith, Winters added: “I don’t know what Jesus thought about contraceptives, he didn’t talk about it, but he talked a lot about power. He did not like the powerful people taking advantage of their power at the expense of the powerless.â€

Other religious leaders also attended the protest. One of which was former minister of the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher.

“I’m just hoping that (people who see the demonstration) realize that this opinion (of Hobby Lobby’s owners) is not the opinion of religious people as a broad spectrum, but that religious people have many different opinions,†she said.

The group of protesters stood outside the store for several hours handing out condoms and other materials to people entering or exiting the store. From the video posted above, it’s clear that many people took them up on their offer. According to Winters, demonstrators did not approach anyone with children.

The group hopes that the event let people know that not all Christians are like the ones who run Hobby Lobby. Winters’ church for example is very progressive. On its Facebook page, you can find they post regularly in support of gay marriage, Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the importance of helping the less fortunate.

Winters and his fellow Aurora protesters aren’t the only religious organizations speaking out against Hobby Lobby in the days since the decision. Critics point out that Hobby Lobby, like many US businesses, relies on cheap imported goods from China to stock its stores. China, of course, being a country which is known for its brutal, mandatory enforcement of abortions to combat population growth. Since the one-child policy was implemented 40 years ago, the country has performed over 330 million abortions – oftentimes forced onto families who do not want them. But hey, who needs moral consistency when you need to turn a profit?

So far Hobby Lobby has remained conspicuously silent on its dealings with China or its rationale for the hypocrisy.

Author: Jameson Parker

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[Peas n carrots]

Wish I had known I would have considered joining them!

[Rebelwife]

That's awesome! Good for that church.

[Jana814]

That's awesome! Good for that church.

Agree!!

[keen23]

UCC Churches are pretty awesome in general. My parents belong to a UCC church in MA that was among the first in the country to vote as a congregation to hold same-sex marriages in the church. Overwhelmingly voted in favor of it, like 96% of the congregation.

[RachelB]

UCC Churches are pretty awesome in general. My parents belong to a UCC church in MA that was among the first in the country to vote as a congregation to hold same-sex marriages in the church. Overwhelmingly voted in favor of it, like 96% of the congregation.

My parents had a (UCC) seminary classmate in the late 1960s who was gay and out. I don't remember when the first commitment ceremony Mom officiated was.

Growing up in the UCC means that I am constantly baffled by all the stuff that some of my fellow Christians treat as a Hell-Courting Big Deal. Because I grew up in a church that strove to be inclusive, and somehow the sky didn't fall on anyone.

[DGayle]

What is UCC? I like what I've heard.

[Jana814]

What is UCC? I like what I've heard.

I'm wondering the same thing.

[Tesseract]

United Church of Christ *not* to be confused with Church of Christ (COC). :shifty-kitty:

[RachelB]

What Tesseract said-- every year or two a very confused Church of Christer showed up at the United Church of Christ where my parents worked before their retirement. They never stayed for coffee.

I generally describe the UCC as trinitarian protestants who are politically liberal and/or really excited about maintaining the separation of church and state.

One of the denominations that eventually merged to form the UCC was responsible for the Salem witch trials. The people I grew up around saw violence and atrocity as being the logical end of the church and the state getting too cozy with each other.

The weird thing is, we share a common religious heritage with Rushdoony-loving Calvinists. We just took exactly opposite lessons from that history.

[keen23]

I don't know if this is true of all UCC Churches, or just my parents, but they have some very pleasant theological ideas.

For example, Heaven & Hell being essentially the same place that everyone goes to, the conditions are just not as pleasant for those "in hell." And Hell isn't permanent, you can improve yourself and move on to Heaven. That way even if you were a horrible person, the people who love you won't miss out on seeing you, because that would be hell for them.

The Bible isn't the literal word of God. It's more of a collection of stories that people should use as a guide and learn from. I remember being in a confirmation class and having the Reverend ask us why the bible jumps from Jesus in the Temple to Jesus in his 30s. Because teenage Jesus was just like everyone else. He went out and partied and got into trouble.

[Hane]

I generally describe the UCC as trinitarian protestants who are politically liberal and/or really excited about maintaining the separation of church and state.

One of the denominations that eventually merged to form the UCC was responsible for the Salem witch trials. The people I grew up around saw violence and atrocity as being the logical end of the church and the state getting too cozy with each other.

The weird thing is, we share a common religious heritage with Rushdoony-loving Calvinists. We just took exactly opposite lessons from that history.

Some interesting things I've learned about the UCC at my UU church:

In early New England, church (the early Congregational Church, from which today's UCC descended) and state were intertwined both politically and financially. This concept was known as "establishmentarianism." When people started working for a clearly defined demarcation between church and state, it was called "disestablishmentarianism." Opposition to the separation of the institutional church and state was called "antidisestablishmentarianism."

Long story short: The UCC consists of Christians who have learned from the past and are working for the best possible present and future.

In some ways, the Unitarian-Universalist church shares ancestors with the UCC. Some American Unitarians were Congregationalists who rejected the concept of the Trinity (such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcotts).

The UCC and UU have partnered on many social justice issues.