Hmm...as a non-Christian, I have no problem with people buying alcohol on Sundays. The trouble with these blue laws is that they apply to everyone, but are based on the Christian (mostly) idea that Sunday is the Sabbath.
For non-Christians, that idea has no relevance. Even for some Christians, like Seventh Day Adventists and Messianic Christians, it is also silly, since they celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday.
The bottom line is that Christians who feel that buying alcohol on Sundays is wrong should not buy alcohol on Sundays. That's simple enough, I think.
not to be confused with GeorgiaDawg32..:-)
Jesus was a bootlegger. He made wine and I assume did not pay the required tax.
I can't believe the reply of most of the FReepers here. Look, if a person can't go one day out of seven without buying alcohol, they surely have problems.
Blue Laws are BAD no matter what for.
If Kansas, home of the Women's Christian Temeperance Union, can sell liquor on Sunday then I guess anyone can.
"While I am a believer of seperation of church and state, I also believe in keeping the Sabbath holy....can this be reconciled?"
Yes. If your belief in keeping the Sabbath holy includes not buying or consuming alcohol, I suggest that you don't buy or consume alcohol on Sunday. Surely the mere ability to buy booze on Sunday doesn't keep you from keeping the Sabbath?
I grew up in New Orleans. One of the grocery stores sold beer on the tap as you walked in 7 days a week...so perhaps I have a view shaped by where I grew up.
But why single out alcohol? if you allow other sales on Sunday, why not?
Selective blue laws never did make sense to me...either have a day off where commerce is not allowed so everybody gets a mandantory day off or allow it all.
"moderation" is the key
only problem...most folks who drink too much can't even spell moderation, much less know the meaning & practice it. :-]
of course I remember the days when even grocery stores, department stores etc. weren't open on Sundays...
Let me ask this question. Why stop at laws that only prohibit alcohol? Why not shut down ALL businesses on the Sabbath? Surely, people running off to retail sales, sporting events, or dining in fancy restaurants or other non-religious activities aren't necessarily keeping the Sabbath, are they?
If it is legal on Monday it should be legal on Sunday. On the other hand when I was a kid stores were not open on Sunday anyway so even if it had been legal there would have been few places to buy liquor. Many places,including markets closed at noon on Saturday and a market open until 5PM was cause for a banner out front.
The Blue Laws were great for business in Arcade when I was going to school in Athens. We paid an obscene amount for a case of beer and a fifth of bootleg burbon on Sundays.
People buying and selling goods and services violates none of the actual rights of people, thus, such laws are a form of tyranny, and should be opposed by those in a free society.
The only people I know who supported the blue laws were retail workers who wanted a guaranteed day off... religion didn't enter into it at all. It'd certainly explain why the secular Northeast has been a holdout in that regard.
There's nothing inherently non-Christian about drinking alcohol so why single out alcohol? In fact, because Blue Laws are based on religion, they shouldn't exist at all.
In New York, liquor stores are now allowed to open on Sundays, and I can't think of any problems that have resulted.
I don't mind blue laws because I've been in the position of having to work on Sunday and it was no fun at all.
Out here, you can't sell cars on Sunday and the liquors stores are all closed. Whenever a group tries to repeal the laws, they are always shot down by a wide margin. Dealerships and liquor store owners don't want to pay for the increased labor and overhead; they don't believe that sales would justify it.
I can always buy a car or a beer on Saturday. I think people like being with their families on Sunday.
Does the proposed regulation or law require everyone to purchase alcohol on Sunday or is the decision up to the individual. If the choice to purchase is wholly discretionary, what business is it for you or me to impose our beliefs on others?