Joseph Slaughter

2020 Charlotte, North Carolina

Abstract: Few modern Supreme Court decisions have generated as much controversy as Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), where a narrow 5-4 majority ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 applied to closely-held, for-profit corporations seeking religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent from Burwell v. Hobby Lobby argues that “history is not on the side” of the majority’s hesitancy to draw a clear line between the religious character of non-profit versus for-profit entities. Ginsburg’s dissent reflects a common sentiment in America today that for-profit corporations are inherently secular, serve a secular purpose, and exist within an inherently secular marketplace. The case elevated the profile of the national craft chain, Hobby Lobby, established by the conservative evangelical Green family. Recent scholarship, notably works such as Bethany Moreton’s To Serve God and Wal- Mart, has detailed the rise of CBE in the second half of the twentieth century. While insightful and raising important questions about the relationship between corporations and religion in American life, the thrust of these works collectively suggests this is something new in American history. In fact, Hobby Lobby is just one of many twenty-first century Christian Business Enterprises (CBEs), businesses “infused with religion” – one of which just rose to the number three chain of fast food restaurants, despite its long-standing religiously-driven policy of closing on Sundays. In fact, CBEs date to the Early Republic U.S., where many proprietors formed businesses to propagate their religious values, often to the consternation of the rest of their community. Understanding their story helps us comprehend the many ways in which CBEs have been an important part of the American marketplace.

2023 Detroit, MI, United States

Abstract: Today, the Colt name is synonymous with technological innovation and American mythology – specifically, the circumstances by which the Western U.S. was “won” and “tamed.” Samuel Colt’s revolver helped create the American cowboy myth, further burnishing the ethos of the country’s gun culture. Much of this was thanks to his wife Elizabeth’s work after his death in 1862, as she actively shaped how Sam was remembered through stone memorials, charitable foundations, and literary works. This included building a grand gothic church near his Hartford, Connecticut factories in 1866, the Church of the Good Shepherd. It was a curious way to memorialize a man who few would consider religious. While the church is certainly noteworthy for how it incorporates gun iconography into its exterior (including intertwining with crosses), inside, astute visitors will notice that the Colt Memorial Window depicts Joseph of the biblical book, Genesis. In the window, Joseph is shown dispensing grain in his position as pharaoh’s right-hand man, fulfilling the claim of Genesis 50:20, God had his hand on Joseph, guiding him through many trials into a position of power to “accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Especially informed onlookers will realize that Joseph resembles Sam Colt. It is quite a statement by Elizabeth – that the deceased Sam was like the ancient Hebrew, saving lives as a part of God’s grand plan. It certainly fit her effort to paint Sam Colt as a Protestant American hero, and in so doing she not only baptized the products of Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, but also laid the groundwork for the “God and Guns” culture of the twentieth century that views Christianity and gun ownership as not only as inseparable, but intrinsic to what it means to be a true American.