book review: The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby by Michael Blanding

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 5/5

Thank you PublicAffairs for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

Born in 1980, right when evangelical support ushered Reagan into office, I have felt my life punctuated by the evolution of American evangelicalism. My childhood cartoons and The Price is Right viewings were routinely interjected with Billy Graham’s specials and Tammy Faye’s tear-streaked please for money. My teens were defined by True Love Waits, Promise Keepers, The Left Behind Novels, and The Passion of the Christ. In my professional life, working retail in Florida meant navigating a polarized landscape where choosing between “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas” carried real consequences, all while driving past oddities like Dinosaur World and the Holy Land Experience. Now, what should be the best years of my life are marred by the chaos of radical Christian Nationalists and money-backed politicians. I doubt evangelicals realize how a lifetime of witnessing their double standards and corruption pushes away people who grew up close to God.

This ongoing chaos forced me to scrutinize where my money goes, ensuring my dollars do not fund agendas actively fighting against my well-being. Wanting to make an educated decision about a major corporation, I turned to Michael Blanding’s The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby. It delivered exactly what I needed, and more.

At first glance, using profits and tax breaks to fund a mission to share the Bible globally sounds noble. However, their hypocrisy is maddening. The Greens forcefully impose their ideas on others while turning a blind eye to the greed, corruption, fraud, sexual misconduct allegations, theft, scams, hate, and violence tied to themselves and the prominent figures they bankroll. Alongside the family history, the book masterfully details biblical history, the separation of church and state, religious antiquities, and complex judicial proceedings. It is incredibly fast-paced and engrossing for non-fiction, compiled seamlessly from countless sources without an ounce of fluff. My only wish is that it were fiction, rather than a true story of real people damaging innocent bystanders.

What struck me most is how the Green family and other evangelical leaders view themselves as God’s chosen stewards. They claim the Bible is inerrant and that only their interpretation is correct, dismissing all others. Yet, history shows everyone manipulates scripture to fit their own agenda. The book notes they worry about their legacy 50 years from now—a bizarre concern if their work is truly strictly for God.

I commend Blanding for his impartial, matter-of-fact presentation. Nearly every sentence is sourced, completely free of editorial opinion. The facts are so compelling that they require no authorial bias; the story indicts itself. Because of its logical, research-driven presentation, I hope people of all viewpoints read it. As for me, my stance is clear.

READ SHOP - ATLANTA, GA

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed a day of exploring with Christina Kwan from Tide & Bloom.  Part of our adventure took us just north of Atlanta to Vinings Jubilee.  We halted in our tracks when happening upon Read Shop..."What is this adorable place?!!," we said.  No surprise, it happens to be from the same visionary behind The Merchant, one of my favorite shops in Atlanta.  

With dark navy walls, leather seating, antique tables, and ladders for reaching top shelf books, Read Shop feels as if you've stumbled into a friends library.  Filled with a curated assortment of owner Dan Collier's favorite books, hand-picked selections, and NY Times best sellers, alongside a few thoughtful giftables and greeting cards, the shop evokes the same love for paper goods as The Merchant and Archer Paper Goods, while remaining its own delightful concept all the same.

The bookstore also boasts a coffee shop brewing Stumptown Coffee, an amazing company that supports coffee producers by forming partnerships with them through regular visits, implementing new techniques, identifying and investing in future producers, and paying a fair wage (you can read their story here).

What Dan Collier concept isn't complete without branded cups I'd love to buy in bulk?

Above the seating area is an inventive "chandelier" of books.

Owner Dan Collier has over 20 years experience as a wholesaler at the AmericasMart with the Daniel Richards showroom (which has recently expanded) and successful retail locations including The Merchant (on both the Westside and at Krog Street Market), Collier Candy Company, and Archer Paper Goods (both at Ponce City Market).  Dan is truly an inspirational entrepreneur and so I reached out to him to ask a few questions, which he so graciously answered.

Where do you glean inspiration to keep your assortments fresh and unique both in your retail locations and established showroom at the mart?

In truth we/I get inspiration from everywhere - social media, print mags, tv, word of mouth, and trade shows.  I question and listen to what our employees have to say about trends and I look to our manufacturers to set new trends.  And finally, my intuition speaks to me about what is trending up and down and I go with that most often.

With so many different facets of your business, what are some of your favorite tools to stay organized?

I'm old school by keeping things organized.  I have one of our assistant managers come into my office every couple of weeks and he files all of our orders, paperwork, etc.... And, I like to make piles of paperwork and catalogs, leads, etc.  Then, I go through and edit what I don't really need.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to a budding entrepreneur?

Owning your own business is all consuming.  You have to be willing to work, work, work.  I built this business on 14 hour work days, weeks without a day off, and making our business the single most important thing I do everyday.  Sometimes, I do take a day off and I do go on holiday...but because I'm more interested in producing, being away from work is not a priority.  I take great joy in working, and I love the people that I work with, It's fun for me.

What is your favorite travel destination, either for relaxation or creative insight?

London is my favorite place to go for both.  I go in September every year for Top Drawer and it's a great escape.

The Merchant, Read Shop, Archer Paper Goods, and Collier Candy Company all have a vintage feel.  Can you share a little about the direction for the Collier Department Store planned at the urban renewal project on Memorial Drive?

The department store will look and feel like nothing else we have done.  There will be no vintage, it will not have the same lines that our other stores have, it will have totally new offerings that we have not dabbled in the past.

Are there any future plans to create an online storefront?

We have just recently beefed up our online presence.  You can find our online store at shopthemerchant.com.  We are adding new product everyday!!

Read Shop is located at 4300 Paces Ferry Road SE Suite 125, Atlanta, GA 30339.  Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 7am - 6 pm and Sunday 8am - 5pm, Contact: 678.742.7853.  You can also visit a "mini" version of Read Shop at Krog Street Market near the front entrance.  Follow Read Shop on instagram here.

*The urban renewal project at the old Atlanta Dairies Cooperative at 777 Memorial Drive is a mix of shopping, dining, office space, apartments, music venue (from the owners of the Georgia Theatre and Variety Playhouse), as well as "The Yard," over an acre of outdoor space for events and to relax, set to open late 2017.  Collier's Department Store is anticipated to be 10,000 sf with "a focus on everyday conveniences like cosmetics and personal care, baby and kids, furniture, denim and workfare for men and women, home decor, confections, stationery, and books" (from What Now Atlanta).  We can't wait!

THE STORY OF OUR FOUNDING...

Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, I explored 40 acres of field and woods, played store with my two sisters, and sewed and crafted with my mom. The fort & field name grew out of this lifelong love of the home and garden... "fort" for home and "field" for garden. 

While the roots of fort & field started when I was just a child, the business I had always dreamed of was formed in 2004. 

During the holidays of that year in a small paper store, I saw a ball of traditional red and white striped bakers twine and fell in love. In the meantime while I started the exhaustive search to find the source, I measured and rolled red and white striped yarn I found in the seasonal section of the craft store into balls and it sold like hot cakes. The manufacturer of the twine I had seen at that paper store had sadly gone out of business, but I was later able to find a supplier to bakeries of 2 pound rolls in a rainbow of colors. A few years later, many companies joined the marketplace and the twine was used in everything from crafting to party planning!

While my intention had been to start a business with home and garden products, around this time the initial seeds of the do-it-yourself party planning movement had just begun to be planted and I was thoroughly inspired. There were only a handful of the blogs and websites we are lucky enough to have now so I spent hours pouring over vintage craft books at the library, the Martha Stewart crafts website, and anything else I stumbled upon. 

"Down the rabbit hole" as my early days on the internet were called, I frequently ended up on sites in England, Australia, and New Zealand. The English, I discovered, used small colorful striped paper bags to package small items purchased at gift and candy stores. It's hard to believe now, but here in the US at the time there were very few, if any, patterned paper bags available for sale. So, I started importing the bags from England. Because there was such a void in the marketplace for such a bag (and also because of the high shipping costs to import the bags), they originally sold for $80/100 bags! Year after year, as more options became available through both small shops and large retailers, the prices went down and there are currently a plethora of options available. 

Shortly after, I added colored and square paper doilies to the shop, a variation from the typical white round paper doily. In a long search one afternoon for new doily styles, I landed on a seafood restaurant supplier site. While visiting a new site, I often clicked through the other sections to see if I could spot a fantastic restaurant supply product that could translate to the party arena. On this afternoon, I saw a black and white pencil drawing of striped paper straws. I had never seen a paper straw, let alone a patterned straw in my life, but they certainly seemed interesting! So, I ordered a box of solid white and a box of red & white striped. I figured "what the heck, I'll try them out!"... and the rest is history! These original straws were still manufactured in the same process I believe as in the 50's and 60's, very lightweight and a waxy paper that was prone to unraveling. Now many years later, striped straws have become (quite literally) a must-have staple for every party and wedding. The manufacturing process was perfected and every pattern and color of paper straw is now at arms reach!

I spent the next 13 years sourcing and bringing to the marketplace other unique and hard to find party and packaging supplies, selling directly to individuals and wholesale around the world. Below is the stack of boxes ready to be shipped out to some of my very first customers, my version of saving the first dollar earned in this digital world we live in. Such a wonderful and exciting time as the DIY craft and small business movement was starting to inspire so many!

I was honored to have fort & field featured in Real Simple Magazine, Family Circle Magazine, Southern Weddings Magazine, Eco Beautiful Weddings Magazine, and Wedding Style Guide. fort & field has continued to offer essentials for any event. And, in recent years expanded to include carefully curated pieces for home, garden, gifts, and fashion; the lifestyle company I envisioned at fort & field's inception so many years ago. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me on this journey and in all that is yet to come!