Shops open 24/7? Save us, oh Lord!
Further to my last post on Easter, it seems some people are having trouble coming to terms with the death of religion. Link to news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4911750.stm Quoth Mr Breed: "I don't think they should be trying to steam-roller over every single aspect of our lives and we don't want them to squeeze out any more of the smaller shops. I see this campaign by the supermarkets to increase, yet again, their trading hours on a Sunday, as just a further erosion. They just want to get to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter what the religious holidays are."
So, could someone explain to me what the problem here is? Supermarkets want to be open 24/7? Oh no! It’s the end of the world! Why, this would mean that people who don’t work a Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 job would be able to go shopping at a time that is convenient to them! THE HORROR!
Ok, sarcasm aside, what is the problem? This country is home to people of many different religions. If we are to be fair, surely we should give equal treatment to all religious festivals? Of course, that would probably mean you’d be lucky to find a day when you COULD work. So the fairest approach is to acknowledge that religion is a private thing that should not be the basis for public holidays any more.
Of course, what really irritates me with this is the assumption that we’re all Christian, and that we don’t work Sundays already. I’m not a Christian. I’m an agnostic. I’m pretty sure that, if there is a god, he/she/it wouldn’t be offended by me doing some shopping on a certain day. So why am I, who doesn’t believe Sunday is different from any other day, still stuck with crappy opening hours on that day? And a total lack of shopping opportunities on Easter Sunday? If you are a Christian and want to observe that day, great. You go for it. But why am I forced to observe it?
And then there are the social issues. That’s just so much crap. At the moment, there are people working any day of the week, and at any time of day. And yet we still have this “oh my god, we can’t have supermarkets open at night or on Easter Sunday” rubbish. Now, I have had jobs where I worked weekends. And what really got on my nerves was that if I needed to get some food in on a Sunday when I got home, I’d have to go to the local over-priced shop instead of the supermarket. This, in the words of Peter Griffin, really grinds my gears.
Folks, we live in the 21st Century. It’s time to keep your religion to yourself, and let the rest of us get on with living our lives as smoothly as possible. Let’s stop having laws based on a religion that a minority of people believe in, and start basing them on logic.
So, could someone explain to me what the problem here is? Supermarkets want to be open 24/7? Oh no! It’s the end of the world! Why, this would mean that people who don’t work a Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 job would be able to go shopping at a time that is convenient to them! THE HORROR!
Ok, sarcasm aside, what is the problem? This country is home to people of many different religions. If we are to be fair, surely we should give equal treatment to all religious festivals? Of course, that would probably mean you’d be lucky to find a day when you COULD work. So the fairest approach is to acknowledge that religion is a private thing that should not be the basis for public holidays any more.
Of course, what really irritates me with this is the assumption that we’re all Christian, and that we don’t work Sundays already. I’m not a Christian. I’m an agnostic. I’m pretty sure that, if there is a god, he/she/it wouldn’t be offended by me doing some shopping on a certain day. So why am I, who doesn’t believe Sunday is different from any other day, still stuck with crappy opening hours on that day? And a total lack of shopping opportunities on Easter Sunday? If you are a Christian and want to observe that day, great. You go for it. But why am I forced to observe it?
And then there are the social issues. That’s just so much crap. At the moment, there are people working any day of the week, and at any time of day. And yet we still have this “oh my god, we can’t have supermarkets open at night or on Easter Sunday” rubbish. Now, I have had jobs where I worked weekends. And what really got on my nerves was that if I needed to get some food in on a Sunday when I got home, I’d have to go to the local over-priced shop instead of the supermarket. This, in the words of Peter Griffin, really grinds my gears.
Folks, we live in the 21st Century. It’s time to keep your religion to yourself, and let the rest of us get on with living our lives as smoothly as possible. Let’s stop having laws based on a religion that a minority of people believe in, and start basing them on logic.
posted by Sledge @ 14:47
8 Comments:
At 5:31 pm,
Anonymous said…
Just as a point Sledge we don't all try and force our beliefs on other people. As you probably know from reading the Arnies I am a rather strong Christian but I don't try to force my opinions on anyone else (nor do I hav a problem with Sunday opening), and thats the same with most Christians. Its just unfortunately we get loudmouthed people who do try to force their opinions on people and turn the public against us.
More on topic though, there is no real reason, religeosly speaking, with Sunday opening hours, it does say in the old Testement that working on the day of rest is a sin*, however this is countered in the new testement (which kind of over-rides the Old Testement) so it is alright.
However, non religiosly speaking, it does seem to be a good idea to have national holidays every so often when people don't have to work (becuse these people working in supermarkets do have to come into work while every body else has the day off) as I know plenty of non christian familys in my area spent easter with each other because no one had to work. So why not tie in these national holidays with religious festivals and keep people happy)
*Notably it also says not to eat pigs so 'meh'.
At 3:14 pm,
Anonymous said…
It says not to eat pigs meat in the old testament.....big difference between Old Testement laws and New Testement laws. Jesus dieing on the cross and being resurrected three days later changed a few things about our relationship with God.
Couple things as this blog seems to be essentially blowing off steam about "seperation of church and state" (this wording is found nowhere in the constitution).
Few history facts for ya:
-6 of the origiginal 13 states had state-supported churches "establishments of religion" (constitutional wording)
-Other states required those seeking elected office to be Christians
-The Continental Congress routinely designated days of fasting and prayer and other religious observances
-Congressional sessions to this day open in prayer
Our country was founded by Christians and the constitution was written by them.
Oh and btw, saturday is the actual sabbath day (day of rest, now observed on sunday). And desolation is correct in saying that after Jesus died (the new testement) it was no longer a sin to work on the sabbath (day of rest). But I happen to like my day or rest :)
At 5:39 am,
Anonymous said…
Sledge ftw!
At 12:05 pm,
Anonymous said…
errr sorry to sink your boat koz but sledge is a brit (me too) so what your constitution says and what ours does is quite different, to the point of the queen being the head of the Church of England and that church being an arm of the state
At 4:48 pm,
Anonymous said…
Well, I'm assuming that you are of voting age here:
You elected the current government (whether you voted for them or not - we live in a democracy so it's your responsibility) and the current government has deemed it right that thec ountry should continue to be Church of England.
Therefore everyone in England who is not another religion (such as sikh or muslim - not agnostic, that's not a religion - just a case of ignoring all available evidence IMO) is presumed to be Church of England and therefore, Christian.
It is then presumed that, being a Christian, you don't want to work on a Sunday. So next time you want to complain about it, vote for a party that wants to change the state religion of England, OK?
At 8:09 pm,
Sledge said…
Sadly, that's not relevant. At the last general election, 36% OF THOSE WHO VOTED voted for our present dictatorship. Therefore, we can conclude that our beloved Fuhrer does not in fact have over whelming support.
Oh, and find me a party that says it'll change the status quo vis a vis religion and I'll be interested. And leave your name in future, or be cursed for a coward.
At 8:16 pm,
Sledge said…
The criticsim of someone who doesn't leave their name is beneath my concern. Especially from someone who doesn't seem to understand the concept of capital letters. I wonder which numpty who got banned off Arnie's this is?
At 10:37 am,
Anonymous said…
Funny thing is we live in what could be seen as a Christian Nation. 72% of Britons indentify themselves as 'Christian'and as such not shutting things down for easter would just be pandering to the minority PC brigade. Also the last time I checked the British Head of State is also the head of a religion. There isn't really a seperation of church and state in the UK, you just need to look at why some members of the house of lords have their positions.
Hey if you want to go to work on easte sunday go for it, i will be quite happy to have the day off. If you still don't like it leave the country and let the 72% + who want easter kept work free enjoy their country.
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