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The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

meghanboilard.substack.com

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Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#51

Post by Beestie »

Beestie wrote: post #12

Unclear as to the intent of the word "Heist" in the title. Seems they are paying top dollar if not more for collections sometimes not even authenticating them. As long as they make everything available to the public and to researchers, I don't see anything wrong with it. Also unclear on why this is a two-part story. Is there some big shoe to drop? Trying to avoid the impression that the author is not terribly fond of…

Appreciate the informative replies and citations. So, I'm a bit of a n00b in such matters so will politely ask how this situation (how to get ill-gotten artifacts of great anthropological value back into the public domain) typically gets resolved.

The idea cited in a reply that such purchases are funding ISIS (chilling to say the least) kind of implies that ISIS (or a stooge acting on their behalf) is the seller so a trace on the transaction should lead investigators to their door where the items can be confiscated and returned to the museum or public collection from which they were plundered.

I'm probably being too naive about how all this works. But I certainly understand the article much better now thanks to the informative replies.

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#52

Post by michaelsbradley »

flocciput wrote: post #50

Is it just me or has HN as a whole become... more Christian lately? A lot more defensive comments here than I would've expected, and I've seen in other threads people actually openly recommending religion/Christianity specifically as something that solved their problems. What's the deal here? I would've thought this would be a relatively atheist/agnostic community, if not one that eschews discussion of religion entir…

> I would've thought this would be a relatively atheist/agnostic community, if not one that eschews discussion of religion entirely.

Briefly, why?

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#53

Post by patrickmay »

hackable_sand wrote: post #35
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree. I think the author's tone in this article, in a nutshell, exemplifies what was a huge driving force of so many evangelical's in the US now being firmly in the MAGA camp, even though that seems paradoxical to many of us. For a long time now, many people who's religious values are deeply important to them have felt disrespected and looked down upon by "the left" (yes, I'm obviously painting with a bro…

Atheists and fundamentalists are two sides of the same coin.

https://xkcd.com/774

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#54

Post by MrMcCall »

doug_durham wrote: post #41
smithkl42 wrote: post #7

I wish the author was a little less over-wrought in her descriptions of the Green family's religious commitments. I've heard complaints before about the Green's artifact acquisition process, and they've had to return some manuscripts: it's a story worth investigating and telling. But it distracts from the author's main point when she's making snide comments about their faith. Yes, they're Christians who are successfu…

It goes deeper than their "faith". These are the people who took away healthcare benefits from all Americans because they didn't personally want to fund birth control and women's health. It's reductive to say that the author looks negatively on the family because of their faith alone.

[flagged]

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#55

Post by MrMcCall »

dfedbeef wrote: post #39
mock-possum wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the hobby lobby crew also notoriously queer bashers? I would think the issue is not so much that they’re Christian, it’s that they’re hypocrites who use Christianity as a smokescreen for bigotry. (The relevance being, they’re using Christianity as cover for capitalism in a way that Jesus himself, as depicted in the Bible, would certainly never have sanctioned.)

Yep

BINGO!

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#56

Post by alabastervlog »

themaninthedark wrote: post #42
duped wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly do you find "snide" or "sarcastic?" The thesis of TFA is that their faith motivated the crimes. You can't tell the story without talking about how they choose to practice their faith.

Aside from what I called out in my sibling comment these two are pretty snide: "A fortune built on the sales of sewing notions and glitter has paid for many of the country’s most influential megachurches and scriptures delivered to the most remote corners of the world. A careful calculation of potential proselytized souls drives every financial decision." "Perhaps the Greens, in their inexperience, did not understand…

Well. Those sure are incredibly mild.

This entire thread is among the most bizarre things I've ever seen on HN.

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#58

Post by washadjeffmad »

smithkl42 wrote: post #7

I wish the author was a little less over-wrought in her descriptions of the Green family's religious commitments. I've heard complaints before about the Green's artifact acquisition process, and they've had to return some manuscripts: it's a story worth investigating and telling. But it distracts from the author's main point when she's making snide comments about their faith. Yes, they're Christians who are successfu…

I'd hesitate to write off the severity of their difference to any Christianity you might recognize.

The Green family wields a personal antinomianist doctrine reserved for the rich and powerful. Under their brand of Creationism, God has given them literal dominion over the world (Genesis 1:26-31), and not exercising that, whether or not in defiance of conflicting secular laws, would be a denial of the mission of their faith.

I remember my first time hearing them called "Wahabbi Lobby" in the mid-2000s after the FBI had "spoken to them" about ISIL targeting early (pre-)Christian sites to plunder artifacts, knowing the Greens had a taste for them.

Consider the implications. What would have happened if your local church had sent money or took a secret mission trip to aid Al-Qaeda?

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#59

Post by bloomingeek »

kumbayamysdog wrote: post #48
smithkl42 wrote: post #7

I wish the author was a little less over-wrought in her descriptions of the Green family's religious commitments. I've heard complaints before about the Green's artifact acquisition process, and they've had to return some manuscripts: it's a story worth investigating and telling. But it distracts from the author's main point when she's making snide comments about their faith. Yes, they're Christians who are successfu…

[flagged]

The subject of the word "evil" hasn't been given enough importance in recent modern times, IMO. It's as if the church and almost everyone else is afraid of discussing it. It is an uncomfortable subject for sure, but to ignore evil is to suffer it's results.

Re: The great Hobby Lobby artifact heist

#60

Post by KPGv2 »

duped wrote: post #18
smithkl42 wrote: post #7

I wish the author was a little less over-wrought in her descriptions of the Green family's religious commitments. I've heard complaints before about the Green's artifact acquisition process, and they've had to return some manuscripts: it's a story worth investigating and telling. But it distracts from the author's main point when she's making snide comments about their faith. Yes, they're Christians who are successfu…

What exactly do you find "snide" or "sarcastic?" The thesis of TFA is that their faith motivated the crimes. You can't tell the story without talking about how they choose to practice their faith.

> What exactly do you find "snide" or "sarcastic?"

I haven't read the article, but certainly the phrase "whose entire schtick" doesn't belong in journalism that purports not to be sarcastic or snide. That's the kind of thing that goes in a Tumblr post.

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