New deal spices up day of rest in N.Y.

 

Bloody Marys at 10 a.m. on Sunday add to long erosion of state’s blue laws

By SAM ROBERTS The New York Times

This article was published June 19, 2016 at 3:22 a.m.




NEW YORK -- Legend has it that in 1789, George Washington, the nation's newly elected president, was riding on horseback from Connecticut to New York when he was detained by a local official for violating the Sunday "blue law" ban against traveling. The president supposedly got off with just a reprimand after explaining that he was on his way to church.

Under a bill that the New York Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have agreed to, instead of attending services, Washington could have headed to Manhattan and legally had a Bloody Mary for brunch. Alcohol sales at restaurants and bars, now banned from 4 a.m. until noon Sundays, would be allowed, beginning at 10 a.m.

Once again, the Almighty Dollar has intruded on a worshipful tradition that dates from at least A.D. 321, when Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, proclaimed that "all judges, city people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun."

The Puritans in Virginia and New England transplanted the Sabbatarian tradition to America (they bound their religious laws in blue books, which might account for the blue law label).

To bolster churchgoing, the otherwise indifferent Dutch burgomasters followed suit in New Amsterdam in 1656. The British incorporated the constraints on commerce and recreation on Sundays into the colonial laws of New York.

"There shall be no traveling, servile laboring and working, shooting, fishing, sporting, playing, horse racing, hunting, or frequenting of tippling houses," a 1695 statute declared, "or the use of any other unlawful exercises or pastimes, by any of the inhabitants or sojourners within this province, or by any of their slaves or servants, on the Lord's Day."

Violators were subject to a 6-shilling fine or three hours, comparable to the length of a religious service, in the stocks. (Virginia, though, provided for the death penalty for third offenders.)

Dominated by Republican Protestants from upstate, New York's Legislature fancied itself the enforcer of morality against New York City and its wards overflowing with poor immigrants who were prone to vice and happened to vote Democratic.

The state's Penal Code sternly declared, "The first day of the week being by general consent set apart for rest and religious uses, the law prohibits the doing on that day of certain acts hereinafter specified, which are serious interruptions of the repose and religious liberty of the community." Later, bowing to Judaism and other religions, a Sabbath violator was permitted to escape prosecution if he regularly kept "another day of the week as holy time and does not labor on that day."

What better way to temper behavior than to deprive the mob of the devil's brew -- leaving no alternative on hot summer Sundays but "warm Croton water," as William Steinway, the piano magnate, complained on behalf of his fellow German-Americans.

But from the beginning, blue laws were honored more in the breach than the observance.

Even Constantine's were promulgated with an exception for countrymen tending to agriculture. If farmers were the first special interests to successfully lobby for an exemption, popular cafes serving brunch and bars broadcasting soccer from abroad on Sunday mornings are merely the latest.

In 1907, Assemblyman Alfred Smith of Manhattan, seeking to legalize Sunday baseball, argued that it was more ennobling for young men to watch a game at an open-air ballpark than to "be driven to places where they play 'Waltz Me Around Again, Willie.'"

By 1919, baseball was permitted by local option. In 1937, bowling was allowed. In 1949, the Legislature decriminalized football, basketball and soccer after 2 p.m. In 1952, bans on stock car racing, circuses, hunting and golf were lifted. In 1973, Sunday horse racing was legalized.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Sunday closing laws in principle, ruling that a common day of rest could be considered in the public interest. But while labor unions and mom-and-pop retail stores opposed Sunday openings, big chain stores and customers seemed amenable. (Bergen County, N.J., remains the sole major holdout in the country.)

Absent specific complaints, in 1971 the New York City police stopped enforcing the blue laws altogether. The number of summonses plunged from 25,000 in 1970 to fewer than 2,000 in 1972.

Now that state lawmakers have begun legalizing gambling, justifying blue laws as an inducement to churchgoing has become more difficult. Everyone agrees that New Yorkers deserve a rest on Sunday, but, as Mayor Fiorello La Guardia said, they could define it for themselves. He advocated that they enjoy the freedom "to attend church if they so desire and to occupy themselves during the remainder of the day in the lawful recreation best suited to afford them the most complete rest possible."

SundayMonday on 06/19/2016

Print Headline: New deal spices up day of rest in N.Y.


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The strange and sad death of the traditional Irish Sunday

Cormac MacConnell @irishcentral

June 08,2016 05:25 AM





She was the "Sunday in every week", the poet Austin Clarke called a beautiful looking woman. Back then Sundays were very different though.

All is changed, changed utterly, as the poet said, and has not been replaced by a terrible beauty in Ireland. If you were born in Ireland 20 years ago or thereabouts, and if you are returning on vacation soon, do not expect to relive again the suited, sated, somnolence of the kinda sacred Sundays of your youth.

A friend and I talked about the Saturday night scrubbings and shoe polishing and shirt ironing in preparation for Sunday Mass in the morning in the high pomp heydays of the Catholic Church. We both recalled the huge occasion that First Communion was then, and being taught that it was actually sinful to bite the wafer that was placed on your tongue at the climax of the ceremony.

And we both remembered the way the wafer seemed to adhere to the tongue forever before you could swallow it down and relax.

Did that happen to any of ye? I am quite certain it did.

It was our opinion that the popularity of Saturday evening Masses in the years after Vatican Two was the dagger in the throat of the old ritual Sundays. That and the fact that, for a host of reasons we need not detail here, the level of churchgoing by individuals and families has so sharply declined in the last 20 years especially.

Before then it was forbidden to work on Sundays, except for necessary farmwork like milking the cows, for example.

Many countrymen, I recalled, wore their Sunday suits, collar and tie, all day to show they were not working. My friend McAvinney said that much the same happened in his town. And about everywhere else for that matter.

The GAA football matches, both at club and county level were also a huge element of the enjoyment of the traditional Sundays. In fairness, due to the continuing popularity of the GAA the games still draw huge crowds during the championship season and are still family affairs. But it is the commercial backdrop that is so totally different.

Gone are the days when folk could not work on Sundays. They are now one of the busiest and most bustling days of the week. Everything is open and trading away, tills are jangling, supermarkets are full.

The consequences of the tourism industry and the necessity to cope with it together with Irish lifestyle changes means that Sunday is no longer a day of rest. It is far from it.

The fact that both parents of a typical family are now in the workplace means that major shopping expeditions are now more easily feasible on Sundays. The family can be together, really, for the only time of the working week, and the footfall in the malls reflects this. Cafés and pubs and hotel dining rooms benefit.

The trading situation has so totally changed that McAvinney was not one bit surprised when I told him that Mondays are commonly like the old Sundays nowadays because it is then that many traders close their doors for a rest after the Sunday rush!

In a nutshell then, if you arrive here on vacation soon, rest easy that you will not find this old Republic closed down totally on what used be properly called the Sabbath day.

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Save our Sundays: If people must work on Sunday, they deserve penalty pay

June 10, 2016 - 9:45PM

People who regularly work weekends have their capacity to be involved in communal activities compromised.

By PETER CATTI remember the days when all the shops except the local milk bar were closed on a Sunday. The newsagent and one of the bakeries opened for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning so people could get the paper and buy some bread. Our neighbourhood store opened for a few hours in the afternoon and sometimes we would join the queue to get a Paddle Pop.

My family did not attend church but Sunday was a day with a particular flavour.

It was the day we went to the beach in summer and as a family supported the surf life saving movement. My brother and I were in Nippers and later played our part in patrols and surf carnivals. My dad was a branch official, and one of my sisters was among the first girls to be allowed to join surf patrols.AdvertisementMany of my friends belonged to church-going families and it was widely accepted that Sunday was special and set aside for church-going. I remember people talking about keeping the sabbath but I had no idea what it meant. I was to learn later that Sunday, as the Sabbath, was a day of rest for the good of humans and a day for Christian religious observance.

For some of my friends who had to "keep the Sabbath" Sunday was a drag because their particular expression of Christianity did not allow them to have fun on that day. But for most of us, church-goer and unchurched alike, it was a positive day, a day of freedom. A side-benefit of the day set aside for worship was a day without work, a day for family, sport and community.

Even in this second decade of the 21st-century Sunday retains a different feel to the rest of the week. This different feel is one of the cultural legacies provided by our Christian origins that our whole society continues to enjoy.

Other positive inheritances include the positive, joyful community dynamic that develops as Christmas approaches and the Easter long weekend with its hot cross buns and Easter eggs.

The fragmenting pressures of modern society have led to renewed interest in the idea of the Sabbath. Beyond its religious connotations the idea of Sabbath captures our need to have one day each week when we are free from work; a day to recharge. There is particular interest in the need for the Sabbath, the day of rest, to be done communally.

Increasingly it is becoming apparent that it is not enough for each person to have a day off. We also need to have that day off together. Humans are communal animals and so need the surety of a day when we can plan to be part of community activities. A family get-together can only occur if we have a common time available. And community organisations need to know that we can be reliably available to give time if they are to thrive and so add value to society.

Sporting teams also need a common day to be observed as the Sabbath so that players can be available to fulfil the commitment that is essential for teams to function.

The idea of a common Sabbath allows us to share in a time that is seen as being "after work" and recognises that such a time is essential for both individual and community flourishing.

People on 24/7 rosters and those who regularly work weekends have their capacity to be involved in communal activities compromised and so pay a significant social cost. Many cannot play team sports or give time to community organisations.

Many churches have parishioners who miss out on being part of Sunday community life and worship. These people often feel more isolated than those who can be part of the main church events. Weekday activities and groups are provided for these people but they are still often aware that they are missing out.

My understanding is that penalty rates recognise and compensate those who work on weekends and Sunday in particular for the cost they incur on our behalf.

In recognition of this when I go out for meal on a Sunday I expect to pay more as a way of thanking the wait staff and kitchen crew for the sacrifice they are making to make my day enjoyable.

As a priest I am obviously interested in providing people with the opportunity to get to church but I am also convinced that Sunday is much more than a day for church. It is the day that gives space for the things that make us human.

Peter Catt is Dean of St John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane. He is chair of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce and President of A Progressive Christian Voice (Australia).

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Jerusalem Post Editorial: Sunday’s beauty

By JPOST EDITORIAL
Mon, 16 May 2016, 01:11 PM


Every few years an MK or a minister, perhaps inspired by a trip abroad, proposes bringing to the Holy Land the pleasure of Sunday.

Photo by: INGIMAGE


Pleasant memories of leisurely Sundays have something to do with this paper’s principled position in favor of a five-day workweek. The editorial board, made up as it is of Anglo immigrants, shares the idiosyncrasies of the “old country” complete with regard for the amenities of a two-day weekend that includes a Sunday.

And if you are reading this editorial, chances are you are harboring similar fond memories of a day devoted entirely to – well, just hanging out.

Every few years an MK or a minister, perhaps inspired by a trip abroad, proposes bringing to the Holy Land the pleasure of Sunday.

Five years ago two Likud MKs – Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin – submitted “Sunday” bills. A decade before them our fellow Diaspora Jew Natan Sharansky put his weight behind the move to a five-day week with Sunday as a day off.

This time around it is Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon who is supporting legislation drafted by Eli Cohen, an MK from his Kulanu Party, and MK David Amsalem (Likud).

A watered-down version of a Sunday culture is being proposed.

Just once a month we would enjoy a bona fide Sunday, if their legislation passes. The missing day of work would be made up either that same week – when Friday would be a workday – or over the month, which means Friday would remain a quasi day off in addition to Saturday.

There are, admittedly, quite a few potential economic ramifications to importing Sundays to Israel. Labor costs will rise as thousands of employers will be forced to pay time-and-a-half to those who end up working on Sunday.

Small businesses are liable to be hit the hardest.

Also, most Israelis already have a two-day weekend: Friday and Saturday. Adding Sunday as well would shorten the workweek to just four days.

Manufacturers Association president Shraga Brosh argued that adding just one Sunday a month off would cost the economy NIS 1.5 billion a year in lost output.

Still, it is not as though Israelis do not already work long hours. Israelis actually work many more hours on average than the OECD average. In 2014, Israelis worked 1,853 hours a year. Only in a few OECD countries such as Greece, South Korea, Mexico, Estonia, Poland, Russia and Costa Rica did workers work longer hours.

Productivity, not long working hours, is what guarantees economic strength and a higher standard of living.

Greece is perfect example of a state whose citizens work long hours – or at least punch into work early and punch out late – but are not particularly productive. In contrast, the length of workweeks has shortened significantly in the US and even more so in Europe since the mid-twentieth century, primarily due to increasing levels of productivity.

By raising GDP per capita, Israel could easily accommodate a shorter workweek without suffering a drop in total output.

That would mean implementing more efficient production methods, improving transportation infrastructure and using more effective management methods.

A Sunday devoted to leisure would also be a boon for recreation industries such as sports, music and domestic tourism.

The timing of the new initiative coincides with the impact of changing demographics – increasing numbers of religiously observant Israelis thanks to relatively higher birth rates – providing a fresh economic incentive for a Sunday that would encourage this sector to spend money on cultural activities, sporting events and at the malls.

Transforming Sunday into a day off would also alleviate religious tensions. Presently, Shabbat is the only full day Israelis do not work. For the traditional-minded who adhere to the strictures of Jewish law, there is no day that can be set aside for traveling, shopping, or recreation.

Secular Israelis, understandably, concentrate all of their consumer activities on the one day they have off, creating in the process a 24/7 consumer culture diametrically opposed to the religious and social ideal of a true day of rest for both rich and poor. Turning Sunday into a day off would make it easier to invest the Shabbat with the meaning envisioned by the Torah, the prophets and Jewish tradition, so befitting a Jewish state.

It is time to take steps toward a five-day work week, not just because a bunch of immigrants and numerous Israelis who have lived abroad for any length of time have brought to Israel blissful memories of leisurely Sundays spent with friends and family. Transforming Sunday into a second day of rest is also eminently feasible from an economic standpoint and conducive to alleviating religious tensions. We deserve to enjoy the beauty of Sunday.


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Mark of the beast: Vatican's Sunday law will be enforced soon! (3)

friendofYeshua

Published on May 15, 2016


FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

** Due to the prophetic significance of this topic, this video is a re-upload.

The Vatican - the first beast of Revelation 13 – and the Roman church - the whore of Babylon identified in Revelation 17 - will enforce its mark with the help of the United States.

Satan has used and will use governments to force people to break God's commandments. Notice how Daniel refused to break the first commandment and was thrown in the lion's den by king Darius. However, because of his obedience to God's commandments, God protected him.

Satan's masterpiece will be to convince the world -- through the Vatican -- to accept his mark...Sunday rest. Why? He knows that if you break willfully any of the Creator's commandments, you sin (1 John 3:4) and sin leads to death (Romans 6:23), which is the opposite to the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus. Satan wants you to die along with him since his fate is already known to him! The devil does not want you to have eternal life in Christ's kingdom. So he will use Sunday -- which is already known in today's so-called Christian world -- as his day of rest, and have it enforced, to make people sin and die!

This is what the Vatican beast, the first beast of Revelation 13, says about its mark:

"Sunday is our MARK of authority [...] The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact". — Catholic Record of London, Ontario. Sept. 1, 1923.

"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [from Sabbath to Sunday] was her act [...] and the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." (from the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H. F. Thomas, November 11, 1895).

NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT ACCEPT SUNDAY AS YOUR DAY OF REST WHEN SUNDAY LAWS ARE ENFORCED, REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME!!

Here's why:

From the King James Bible, Revelation 14:9-11, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark IN his forehead, or IN his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

NOTE: The mark will be applied IN one's mind where the decision-making process occurs or IN one's hand, which symbolizes work and labor.

The mark of the beast is NOT the RFID chip. The RFID chip will, in all likelihood, be used in the enforcement of the Vatican beast's mark, Sunday worship. Currently, Sunday laws are being added to nations' constitutions for its future implementation worldwide.

Keep the 7th day Sabbath, which is the Creator's holy day, as per the commandment (Exodus 20:8-11; Isaiah 58:13-14). The Sabbath is to be remembered and kept holy from Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset. By observing the 7th day Sabbath as per the commandment, we honor and obey Jesus Christ as the Creator who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is.

However, if we work on the Sabbath or do our own pleasure or personal business (Isaiah 58:13-14), we sin (1 John 3:4) and sin, if not repented of, leads to death (Romans 6:23). The commandments of the Most High stand forever (Psalm 89:34; Hebrews 10:16). The saints are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of His Son (Revelation 14:12). It is they who make it home to heaven (Revelation 22:14).

For more information and videos on Christian beliefs and Bible prophecy, please visit www.remnantofgod.org; www.theseventhdayremnantchurch.org along with SDRMinistries.org and NicholasPoGM on YouTube.

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Bible silent on claims Sunday should be kept as day of rest

People may be fighting to keep Sunday as a day off but are they fighting for the wrong day?


05 May, 2016 00:59


Noel McCune writes (April 19) concerning the issue of Sunday trading citing the fact that he is an evangelical Christian, which would seem to emphasise his reason for the upkeep of current Sunday legislation is due to his belief in God. Despite the claimed benefits for families etc to spend time together on a Sunday, the claim for Sunday to be kept as a holy day or a day of rest is nowhere found in the Bible.

If any Christian anywhere can quote one Scripture verse where God, Jesus or any of the Apostles commanded Sunday, or the first day of the working week (according to the Bible), to be observed in any special fashion I would be most interested to learn of it. The only day cited clearly in Scripture to be remembered and kept holy, was the day sanctified by God at Creation, before the laws given at Sinai, when He rested on the seventh day, which He named ‘Shabbat’ or Sabbath, which means ‘rest’. This was further ratified in the Ten Commandments, being the longest of all the Commandments in its detail describing exactly the day and why it should be kept.

Many people fight within the ranks of the Church to ‘keep Sunday special’ when in fact it is the Sabbath (on Saturday) which is the Lord’s Day. It is the only day in the Bible which is given the title “of the Lord” – this is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Sunday is often referred to as the ‘Lord’s Day’ with ‘Lord’ in small letters denoting Jesus, whereas ‘LORD’ in capital letters in the Bible denotes God the Father, or YHVH, (Yahweh, Jehovah, the Hebrew Name of God).

However, Sunday is nowhere called ‘the Lord’s Day’ in Scripture, and the one verse where a tenuous link is claimed in Revelation 1:10 where the aged John the Apostle, the Disciple whom Jesus loved, said: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Nowhere does it say this was Sunday, or the first day of the week, or any other day. Some say it could be the Day of the LORD, the prophetic time before the return of the Lord, but the term is ‘Lord’s day’ not ‘Day of the LORD’, which appears elsewhere in both old and new testaments, but “Lord’s day” appears only this once, but most likely to be the one day which John would have observed as a Christian Jew, namely, the Sabbath of the LORD.

People may be fighting to keep Sunday as a day off but are they fighting for the wrong day?

COLIN NEVIN
Bangor, Co Down

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Private sector umbrella union plans walkout on May 8

NEWS 20.04.2016 : 20:37




The General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) has called for a 24-hour nationwide strike on Sunday, May 8 to coincide with the opening of shops.

The union said it “was completely opposed” to the bailout-inspired introduction of Sunday shopping hours (eight Sundays a year) “since it will lead to the end of the Sunday rest day and because the measure works in the interest of multi-nationals, leading smaller businesses to closure.”

The strike will be staged as part of wider activities the union plans to stage on the occasion of the Labor Day public holiday, which was transferred to Tuesday, May 3 instead of May 1 because it coincided with Easter Sunday.

GSEE said the strike is not connected to the 48-hour work stoppage it plans to call for when the government submits it pension reform bill to parliament.

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Teammates, immortals back Bulldogs star Will Hopoate’s decision to not play on Sundays

MARCH 28, 201611:40AM


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Hopoate won't play Sundays

PHIL ROTHFIELD
The Daily Telegraph


CANTERBURY Bulldogs star Will Hopoate will not play or train on Sundays because of his staunch devotion to his Mormon faith - a move backed by his coach, teammates and commentators.

The Sunday Telegraph yesterday revealed Hopoate will sit out three straight Sunday games in rounds 10, 11 and 12 against the Wests Tigers, Roosters and Canberra Raiders and is unsure whether he will play in the grand final if the Bulldogs go through to the decider.

The NSW State of Origin star has the full backing of coach Des Hasler and his teammates, whom he informed of his decision at a team meeting at Belmore this week.

The response from Bulldogs fans has been mixed but those within the game appear at ease with Hopoate’s decision.

Bulldogs teammate David Klemmer said he had no issue with Hopoate missing games to stay true to his faith.

“That is something he believes in and the club and him have worked together on that,” Klemmer told Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“The club has backed him all the way and I’m happy to be in environment and with a club that stands behind him like that.”

Rugby league immortal Andrew Johns said Hopoate deserved everyone’s respect.

“Full credit to Hoppa, it shows how strong his faith is (and) I stand and applaud. It shows what sort of person he is and what it means to him,” Johns told Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

Bulldog Will Hopoate told coach Des Hasler of his decision late last year. Picture: Gregg PorteousSource:News Corp Australia

“The strength of the decision, it is amazing. He gave up the game for two years ... it is pretty cool when you think about it.”

Hopoate has revealed he told Hasler of how his commitment and loyalty to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would stop him from playing Sundays when the pair were negotiating his contract at the Bulldogs late last year.

Hasler kept it a secret until his fullback had the opportunity to explain it to the players. Only chief executive Raelene Castle, his manager Tyrone Smith and Hopoate’s family knew.

“This was another big draw card in me wanting to come to Canterbury,” Hopoate told the Sunday Telegraph.

“I understand that Des or the club could have said no without hesitation. But for him to understand and he’s told me this, that he recognises this is what gets me going, what makes me happy — living my beliefs. I’m very grateful for that.”

NRL star Will Hopoate enjoys the Sans Souci shore with his wife Jimicina.Source:News Corp Australia

Hasler said the Bulldogs would always stand by Hopoate and his beliefs.

“This is what makes Will so special,” Hasler said. “His beliefs distinguish him. This is what makes him tick. We are very proud to have such a person within our walls.

“To deny something that is so fundamental to a person is to deny that person the right to be who they are.”

Hopoate quit rugby league in 2012 for two years, turning his back on $1 million in contract earnings to embark on his religious mission.

He returned to the Parramatta Eels before joining the Bulldogs at the beginning of the season.

As for playing in a grand final if the Bulldogs make it to the October long weekend, it is something ­Hopoate will discuss with ­Hasler at the time.

Bulldog Will Hopoate takes on the defence in round three. Picture: Gregg PorteousSource:News Corp Australia

The 23-year-old said he chose not to play on Sundays because of the church’s belief that Sunday is the Lord’s day.

“A day set apart each week for rest and worship,” he said. “It’s a holy day reserved for holy ­activities like attending church and studying the scriptures. Also, where possible, we abstain from work and recreation.”

Hopoate added he made the decision late last year with his wife and family.

He is hoping Bulldogs supporters accept his decision.


Originally published as Teammates, immortals back Hoppa’s Sunday rest

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Is Sunday no longer a day of rest?

By Plymouth Herald | Posted: February 11, 2016


ASK people what they think of the modern day Sunday and, if they are of a certain age, they might look a bit wistful and talk about how much they miss the change of pace that the day of rest used to signify.

But visit any high street, Drake Circus or an out-of-town store on a Sunday and you will see aisles packed with people. Sunday has becoming one of the busiest shopping days of the week and however much folk like to hark back to what can seem like a better, gentler age, it is clear most relish the chance to do their shopping on a Sunday when, for the most part, they are spared the pressures of work.

So further relaxation of the Sunday trading laws, due to be introduced very soon, are unlikely to signal any kind of angry backlash by the majority. Devout Christians aside, the average man or woman in the street has only a vague feeling that Sunday should be 'special.'

And it generally doesn't take long for those same individuals with a wistful look in their eye to also recall that Sunday could in day's gone by be the dreariest day of the week, with nothing open and little to do.

Yet still some restrictions remain and it is those that the Enterprise Bill, which went through its committee stage in the House of Commons yesterday won't impose longer Sunday opening hours on every community, but it will let councils decide if they want to relax the current regulations.

Like much of modern life, individuals are now free to decide if they want to opt in or opt out. No one is compelled to shop on a Sunday and there are plenty of other, non-commercial things that families can do with their day of rest – including going to church – if they want to.

Strict Sunday trading laws belong to a different era and their gradual relaxation has, for the most part, been a positive move.

The fact that the changes now coming in are essentially in the hands of local politicians is a good thing. It puts control back to where it belongs – with the community affected and local people, including retailers large and small.

There are measures in place to protect employees and customers can vote with their feet. If you still want a lazy shopping-free Sunday, have one. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to have one too.



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How Al Roker and His Wife, Deborah Roberts, Spend Their Sundays

Sunday Routine

By ANNIE CORREAL 

JAN. 8, 2016

Al Roker, left, preparing a breakfast of pancakes and eggs for his wife, Deborah Roberts, and their son, Nick.

Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

With the dramatic temperature changes this winter, Al Roker might need to prepare to break his own Guinness World Record, set in 2014, when he gave an uninterrupted 34-hour weather report. But the 61-year-old host and weatherman of NBC’s “Today” is also busy promoting a book he wrote with his wife, Deborah Roberts, a correspondent for ABC, called “Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom for Modern Times.” “It kind of highlights our differences,” Ms. Roberts, who is in her 50s, said. “I’m a Southern belle, a little more formal, and Al is a little more of a loosey-goosey guy who grew up in Brooklyn and Queens.” The couple live in a brownstone on the Upper East Side with their children, Leila, 17, and Nick, 13, and their dog, Pepper. Mr. Roker also has a daughter, Courtney, 28.

PRESS THAT BUTTON (Her) We can program our coffee maker the night before but I just like pressing that button. When I hear the coffee percolating, I can start my day. I enjoy my coffee, pull up The Times. Then Al comes down.

Ms. Roberts, right, after morning services at St. James' Episcopal Church, with Ryan Fleenor, the associate rector, left, and Mary Malhortra, second from left, and Carol Matthews.

CreditMichelle V. Agins/The New York Times

LUMBERJACK STYLE

(Him) And we’ll start breakfast. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. We use gluten-free pancake mix. (Her) Pamela’s. (Him) I also like to use flax seeds and Carnation malted milk mix and I’ll put in some vanilla and cinnamon for a nutty flavor. (Her) I like the flax seeds and all but why the malted milk? Extra calories. Keep it clean, keep it simple. (Him) And then we have the chore of getting our 17-year-old up. (Her) And wait, we missed something. We have to take Pepper out.

Left to right, Mr. Roker, Leila Roker, Ms. Roberts and Nick Roker at Sunday brunch at Fred's at Barneys New York. Credit

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

CHURCH EXPRESS (Him) We have to be to church by 9:10. Nick takes off early, if he is acolyting. It’s an hour. It’s church express. (Her) We have been going to St. James’ Episcopal Church for 15 years. I was raised Southern Baptist, Al was raised Catholic. We met in the middle. It is child-oriented and has a history of social activism. They sent letters about apartheid back in the day, they are involved in local issues like homelessness.

THEIR BOOTH (Her) We’ll go to Fred’s for lunch. They have a booth for us. There’s a beautiful lovely elderly woman named Lee. She has her table, we have our booth. I usually have chicken noodle soup or a chopped salad. (Him) I’ll have the grilled shrimp and arugula salad. Or a lentil or split pea soup. It’s not fussy, so I like it.

Mr. Roker shopping at Eli's on East 80th Street. 

CreditMichelle V. Agins/The New York Times

DECOMPRESS (Her) Then I’ll go on a run in the park. Or I might just go for a walk, do a little window shopping, and call my best friend, in Nashville, to catch up. Or I might get together with a friend for an afternoon cocktail at the Mark Hotel. (Him) I might go on a bike ride. Nick and I sometimes get our hair cut on Sundays at the barber shop, Shantl. It’s literally on our corner. There are three guys in there, you give them $20. I get my head shaved.

GETTING COZY (Him) I prefer a sunny day that’s about 75 degrees, with low humidity. That’s as good as it gets. But a nice wintry day when you have a bowl of soup and the fire going is nice too. (Her) We have seven fireplaces in our brownstone. (Him) They haven’t been up and running because I haven’t been down to get firewood from the basement.

FOOD CRUSH (Her) Sunday dinner is a big deal in our house, too. (Him) I have a major crush on Melissa Clark, so anything she suggests in the paper, I try it. I made a farro and arugula salad.

TV-FREE (Her) We don’t have TVs in our bedrooms. (Him) It’s almost like there’s too much TV. People will say “Have you seen ‘Bloodline,’ ‘Making a Murderer’?” No, no, no, I haven’t! And then you feel like you’re missing out.

IN BED (Him) I play Words With Friends. And I’ve got the iPad pro and I am an amateur cartoonist and I have been trying to rekindle that using Sketches. (Her) I did a report on the negative effects of the light being emitted from the screen. It is toxic to sleep. So I read. I have a stack of magazines next to my bed. The Atlantic, Time and Newsweek, Elle Décor, Vogue. (Him) It could be its own coffee table.


#SundayRoutine readers can follow Al Roker and Deborah Roberts on Twitter on Sunday@alroker and @DebRobertsABC.

A version of this article appears in print on January 10, 2016, on page MB2 of the New York edition with the headline: Early to Church, and a TV-Free Zone. 

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Chick-fil-A makes rare Sunday exception

Katie Little | @KatieLittle

8 Hours Ago

CNBC.com



Unlike many restaurants, Chick-fil-A is known for more than just food: it's also famous for being closed on Sundays.

But in the name of a good cause, some locations in Texas northeast of Dallas turned the lights on Sunday after tornadoes ripped through the state and killed 11 people.

"The locations were not open to the public, but team members from various restaurants in the area did volunteer to prepare and distribute free food to responders and others affected by the tornadoes—serving those in need during this tragic event," said Amanda Hannah, a spokeswoman for the chain, in an email.

Chick-fil-A has maintained its rare Sunday closure policy since the chicken chain opened. The weekly day off is meant to encourage employees to rest, spend time with family and worship if they chose.

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Francis Sacred Sunday : Bill Hughes

7th Day Truth Seeker

Published on Oct 11, 2015


Francis Sacred Sunday : Bill Hughes


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Dissidents arrested as Pope Francis celebrates his first Mass in Cuba

Pope Francis meets with Fidel Castro in Havana, after an outdoor mass attended by tens of thousands of people in the capital's Revolution Square

By Nick Squires, Havana

8:06PM BST 20 Sep 2015



Cuban authorities prevented leading dissidents from meeting Pope Francis in Havana on Sunday, in a sign of the Communist regime’s rigid intolerance of political opposition.

Two well-known dissidents, Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva, had been invited by the Vatican to attend a vespers service led by the Pope’s in Havana’s historic baroque cathedral.

But they said they were detained by security agents and barred from attending the event.

"They told me that I didn't have a credential and that I couldn't go to the Pope’s event that was taking place there in the plaza of the Cathedral," Ms Roque said.

She said that she and Ms Leiva had also been invited by the Vatican to meet Pope Francis at the residence of the Holy See’s ambassador to Cubashortly after the pontiff's arrival on Saturday, but that they were detained on that occasion as well.

The head of an opposition group called the Ladies in White said that 22 of the 24 members of the group who had hoped to attend a Mass celebrated by the Pope were prevented from doing so by Cuban security officials.

There had been intense speculation about whether the Pope would risk incurring the displeasure of his host, President Raul Castro, by meeting political opponents of the Communist regime.



The fact that the Vatican invited the women to Sunday’s cathedral service showed Francis’ determination to try to engage with the dissident movement, which has endured years of persecution by the Castro regime.

Earlier in the day, the Pope celebrated Mass in Havana’s Revolution Square in front of tens of thousands of people.

He was driven through the crowds in a white pope-mobile, pausing to kiss children who were held up to him.

As the ceremony got underway, Cuban security officers detained at least three people who appeared to be trying to distribute leaflets in the capital’s Revolution Square, a large open area dominated by a massive likeness of revolutionary hero Che Guevara.

The three people were tackled and dragged away by the officers.

Political opponents of President Raul Castro’s Communist regime are regularly subjected to harassment and intimidation.

In its latest report on Cuba, Human Rights Watch said that the Castro government “continues to repress dissent and discourage public criticism.”

The human rights group said “repressive tactics employed by the government include beatings, public acts of shaming, and the termination of employment.”

There are high hopes among many Cubans that the Pope’s visit will spur the Castro regime towards enacting more reforms and granting greater freedoms to its long-suffering people, who survive on an average monthly wage of $25.

But the message delivered by the Pope in two addresses to the large crowd was more pastoral than political and he refrained from issuing even coded criticism of the Communist government.

After the morning Mass, Pope Francis met Fidel Castro at the ex-president's residence in Havana, in an encounter that had been widely expected.

The pair held a "friendly and informal conversation" for around 40 minutes, said the Rev Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman.

A photo provided by Alex Castro, Fidel's son and official photographer, showed the 89-year-old former president and Francis looking into each other's eyes as they shook hands, the pope in his white vestments and Castro in a white shirt and Adidas sweat top.

They also exchanged gifts. Fidel Castro gave the Pope a book titled "Fidel and Religion", based on conversations between the Cuban leader and a Brazilian priest, in which he discussed his views on Catholicism and his education in a Jesuit school.

The Pope gave Fidel a book written by a Jesuit who taught the former guerrilla leader at the Catholic school he attended as a child.

The Pope will fly from Havana to the eastern city of Holguin on Monday, where he will celebrate Mass, and from there will travel to the city of Santiago.

On Tuesday he will fly from Cuba to Washington, where he will meet President Obama and address Congress, on his first visit to the United States.

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The Spirits and the Sunday Law Issue

June 8

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20.

The miracle-working power manifested through spiritualism will exert its influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world and second the testimony of religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony.

Those who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Saviour, with the words: “It is written.” Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand in this time of peril must understand for themselves the testimony of the Scriptures.

Many will be confronted by the spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.

Satanic agencies in human form will take part in this last great conflict to oppose the building up of the kingdom of God. And heavenly angels in human guise will be on the field of action. The two opposing parties will continue to exist till the closing up of the last great chapter in this world’s history.

Maranatha, p.167.

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Pope's New Sunday Keeping Appeal

Pope's New Sunday Keeping Appeal

AmazingFacts

Published on Aug 14, 2015

Prior to his September visit to the United States, Pope Francis has laid bare his deep devotion and promotion of Sunday keeping. Pastor Doug Batchelor examines the pope's recent radio address and asks, "Could this be yet another step in the fulfillment of last-day prophecy?" Find out in this eye-opening video.

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Pope Francis says Sundays are a gift from God not to be shunned

Peter Kenny


Thursday, August 13 2015

A Catholic faithful receives holy communion during an open-air Mass led by Pope Francis at Rizal Park in Manila January 18, 2015. Pope Francis concluded his trip to Asia on Sunday with an open-air Mass for a rain-drenched crowd in Manila that the Vatican and the government said drew up to seven million people, the largest ever for a papal event.

PHOTO: REUTERS / CHERYL RAVELO


A day of rest and prayer each week are sacred Pope Francis has said in his weekly meeting at the Vatican noting that Sunday is a day the family can enjoy one another and not be slaves to work.

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Francis held his weekly General Audience on Aug. 12 spoke of a new phase in a series of reflections on the family, to three specific facets of family life: celebration, work and prayer.

"Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God," said the Pope, noting that the Sunday Eucharist brings to celebrations Jesus' grace.

"The obsession with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk. Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God.

"The Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his way of being with us."

Francis said that true moments of celebration make humanity pause from work as a reminder that people "are made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work."

"And so we must never be slaves to work but rather its master."

Church attendance in many countries on Sundays has plummeted in recent years and in some nations once considered to be Christian the day of rest has become a shopping day.

The Argentine pontiff said it well known that millions of men and women, even children, are slaves to work.

"The obsession with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk. Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God."

He noted that Sunday Eucharist brings to humanity's celebrations "every grace of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his way of being with us."

The pontiff urged the recognition of the family "as the privileged place to understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from our celebrations, especially the Sunday Eucharist" when Christians believe they consecrate bread and wine into the body of Jesus.

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‘Keep Sunday Special’ campaign aims to stop plans for longer trading hours

UNITED KINGDOM



British Christians give 5 reasons to respect Sundays. A The Guardian columnist argues politicians “worship the god of finance.”

SOURCES Relationships Foundation, BBC, The Guardian AUTHOR Evangelical Focus LONDON 13 JULY 2015 17:12 h

A shopping centre in the UK. / Archive

“We believe in having time for family, friends and community. We believe in time to rest and enjoy ourselves. We believe in working hard and living life to the full. And we believe in keeping just one day a week a bit special”, say the ‘Keep Monday Special’ campaigners. 

Many evangelical Christians support the campaign, propelled by the Relationships Foundation, asking the question: “Do I really need to go shopping on a Sunday?” 

“We don't want to tell people how to live their lives, but we do believe there need to be some limits to protect the things that matter most”, the initiative says.

Five reasons are offered for their case. Sundays should be kept as a special day to protect relationships, because “children need to spend time with their parents for healthy social and moral development, and adults need time to develop the relationships with partners, family and friends that give them support and well-being.”

A second reason is the preservation of community: “Sunday trading has a direct effect on a local community. Every voluntary organisation, club or society depends upon people having time off at the same time as each other. So with the erosion of Sunday as a different day from all the rest, communities are in danger of increasing fragmentation.

A third reason is saving local business: “When the big stores started to open on Sundays, the small convenience stores that used to be the only source of Sunday supplies suddenly lost valuable trade. The local independent traders that never used to open on Sundays suddenly found themselves having to open in order to keep up with the competition”.

Respecting faith is reason number four argued by the campaign: “For many people in this country, Sunday has a particular religious significance as a day set aside for worship and a day that's different from the rest of the week. Of course it's a view that's not shared by everyone in our multicultural Britain, but it's a view that we should respect.”

Finally, the campaign asks Sundays to be kept to just rest: “For many people, the choice to rest on a Sunday is one they can make for themselves. But for many others, there simply is no choice. Retail, transport, catering staff and everyone else involved in Sunday trading need protection from being forced to work on Sundays.” 

Shopping in the UK. / Getty Images


GOVERNMENT: “GROWING APPETITTE” FOR SUNDAY SHOPPING

UK’s government Chancellor George Osborne said in the last weeks that there was a “growing appetite” for shopping on a Sunday.

“There is some evidence that transactions for Sunday shopping are actually growing faster than those for Saturday. (…) The rise of online shopping, which people can do round the clock, also means more retailers want to be able to compete by opening for longer at the weekend.”

The Treasury pointed to research by the New West End Company - which represents more than 600 businesses in London - that suggested two extra hours of Sunday trading could create nearly 3,000 jobs in the capital.

It said such a move would also generate more than £200m a year in additional sales in London.

‘Keep Sundays Special’ accused the government of a U-turn. Its spokesman, Michael Trend, said it had received a letter on behalf of David Cameron in April which stated that there were “no plans” to relax the current laws.

COLUMNIST: “GOVERNMENT WORSHIPS GOD OF FINANCE”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, must get in the way of shopping and our ever increasing productivity. Instead of all those tedious family gatherings, we should be out there buying more things we don’t need with money we don’t have”, ironically writes Giles Fraser in a column in The Guardian. “A day of rest? God, no! We must be turning those wheels of finance, building those pyramids, getting into more debt.”

Fraser, who is Priest-in-charge at St Mary's Newington (London) thinks the Conservative Party in power only thinks about growing the economy. “A strict monotheist, Business Minister Anna Soubry wants us to worship the god of finance on a Sunday. All other gods must be smashed, smeared, ridiculed. Only the god of money deserves our true and unquestioning obedience. Well, I do wish she’d stop ramming her religion down our throats.” 

So why is Sunday special?”, continues Fraser. “The Christian answer is more complicated than expected. Early Christians moved their ‘day of rest’ from the seventh day of the week to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday. Despite the fourth commandment mandating Saturday, ie seventh day, sabbath observance, this move was partly a way of honouring the resurrection, which happened ‘on the first day of the week’; partly about distinguishing Christianity from Judaism; and partly a way of colonising the posh Roman sun-worshipping day.”

Fraser adds: “Unfortunately, most Christians and Jews have conveniently developed a remarkable degree of forgetfulness about the political valence of sabbath.”

He finally adds that “there are perfectly good non-religious reasons for keeping Sunday special. Boredom is the mother of creative invention, and often a blessing. But it’s special to me because it’s a day when we are not forced to worship the market. And that’s why the Tories hate it”, concludes Fraser.


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Greek Debt Crisis: Latest Greece Deal Would Open Stores On Sunday, Encourage Retail Sales Specials, Open ‘Restricted Professions’

By Angelo Young @angeloyoung_ a.young@ibtimes.com on July 13 2015 1:00 PM EDT

A woman sits opposite a tailor's stall at a market in Thessaloniki, Greece, on July 13, 2015. Greece reached a bailout deal with the eurozone after marathon overnight talks. Among the terms: Greece will need to do more to lift bans on Sunday commerce and weighty licensing rules for "restricted professions." Sakis Mitrolidis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images


Greeks have long cherished the notion that Sunday is a day for worship, family, leisure -- almost anything but work. But that would change under a three-year bailout deal reached Monday between Greece and other eurozone members: Athens would be required to lift rules that make Sunday mostly a day of rest.
Lifting the ban on Sunday commerce is just one way the European Union and International Monetary Fund are demanding that Greece reform basic commercial activity in an attempt to jumpstart the country's struggling economy. European leaders also want Greece to end restrictive licensing procedures that place limits on the number of companies that produce basic commodities, such as milk. They are also asking for the removal of rules that make it difficult for Greeks to enter certain “restricted professions” -- from lawyers to TV technicians.

The reforms are controversial, especially measures that encourage workers to extend their weekly hours on the job. Greeks already work longer hours than their European neighbors. In 2014, the average Greek worked 44.2 hours a week, compared with 41.5 for a German worker and 41.2 hours in the rest of the eurozone.

Reforms that invite large multinationals to muscle out local businesses are also unpopular among Greeks. Greece's creditors also want the heavily indebted nation to ease restrictions on retail sales and promotional events. Under Greece's current rules, merchants are allowed to run sales specials just twice per year. In the summer, they start in mid-July and run through the end of August. The winter sales take place in mid-January and run to the end of February.

Many of the proposed commercial market reforms are aimed at encouraging job growth. According to a Euro Summit statement issued Sunday, Greece must “adopt more ambitious product market reforms ... including Sunday trade, sales periods, pharmacy ownership, [and] milk and bakeries.”

Proponents say the measures would spur job creation. Encouraging Sunday commerce, for example, could create 300,000 new jobs, according to officials of Greek’s center-right New Democracy Party.

“Greek product markets remain among the most strictly regulated in the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] area, hindering competition and preventing the price adjustments needed to support the recovery,” said a November 2013 OECD review on the Greek economic competitiveness.

But there’s plenty of resistance to measures that would increase the Greek work week or entice multinationals to come in and use economies of scale to walk over small businesses. And even if Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras succeeds in convincing Greece's Parliament later this week to approve the bailout deal -- which would provide Athens with up to $96 billion in return for pension cuts, tax increases and other requirements -- the people may not be so compliant.

When Athens introduced a law last year allowing Sunday shopping in 10 tourist regions, Greek Orthodox Church leaders called it heretical and members of the Federation of Greek Private Employees said it was an infringement on workers’ rights. Exactly a year ago, shops instituted a 24-hour strike in response to the law. Since then, a drive to extend the law across the country has been hampered.

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Myths and broken promises around Sunday trading

10 July 2015 by Bishop Alan Smith

Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget on Wednesday included a proposal to allow local control over liberalising Sunday trading.

The campaign in the 1990s for more Sunday trading was presented as a matter of freedom: “We should be able to shop on Sunday if we want,” but it was not about creating a more just society – it was about trying to find business advantage. A determined lobby successfully argued against total deregulation to preserve some of the value of a shared day off and some protection for retail workers and associated employees.

The legislation, which was passed in 1994, was a compromise which tried to balance rights and opportunities for all sections of society. That must still be the objective today.

Retail and associated workers are hardly well off, and it is they who will pay the price of longer opening hours on Sundays. While most of their bosses will still enjoy weekends off, many retail workers already find they have no choice over Sunday working. They have lost, for a large part, the premium payments they enjoyed at first. In addition, they will face more childcare costs, which will probably be more expensive on a Sunday, or lose precious family time.

The same claims in favour of Sunday trading are being made now as 21 years ago – that the economy will grow and that people will not have to work if they don’t want to. This time there is even more compelling evidence about how wrong this is.

The 2012 Olympic Games experience, when shops were opened for longer hours, is not persuasive. The growth in business in large shops took place at the expense of small shops, which lost business. There is only so much money in the economy, and loading businesses with the greater costs involved in longer opening hours cannot lead to growth.

Some distinguished business leaders voiced these arguments, before and after the Olympics, for example Stuart Rose, former executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, and Justin King, when he was CEO of Sainsbury’s. The Association of Convenience Stores, another part of vital social fabric, has surveyed this and leading accountants Deloitte also take this line.

More Sunday shopping is at odds with the Big Society, the vision outlined by David Cameron in 2010. Greater human flourishing is unlikely to come from even more consumerism. Our laws need to encourage citizens to be good neighbours, volunteers, carers and parents, which requires a balance of work and rest.

Research from the National Centre for Social Research shows how important this shared day of rest is for families and for relationships to flourish. If the time available on Sundays for family interactions is diminished (through the need to work) it is not made up during the week.

Our heritage is six days’ work, one day’s rest. We are zealous about preserving built heritage, and pay the considerable price for that because we recognise the social benefit to be gained. Yet this piece of cultural heritage is just as valuable and worth retaining, because it has real value to shaping what kind of society we want to be. That should be at the heart of our politics.

Bishop Alan Smith of St Albans sits in the House of Lords and has a special interest in economic matters

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PETER HITCHENS: They've destroyed Sunday - just when we needed it most

By PETER HITCHENS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 18:53 EST, 11 July 2015 | UPDATED: 03:36 EST, 12 July 2015



Does anyone miss the British Sunday, when our cities were like vast, well-ordered cemeteries, the sky always seemed to be black with impending rain, and a deep quiet fell on the land?

Actually, I do. I chafed at it as a child, because children don’t grasp the point of such things. Now that I know what it was for, it is too late.

I know this partly because of the experience of being in Cairo on a Friday morning, or Jerusalem on a Saturday, cities where a universal day of rest still exists, in defiance of all the racket and commerce of the 21st Century.

Before you have even opened your curtains or fully woken from sleep, you can sense that the day is different from all the others. You can feel the peace in your bones and blood.




Does anyone miss the British Sunday, when our cities were like vast, well-ordered cemeteries, the sky always seemed to be black with impending rain, and a deep quiet fell on the land? (Above, Oxford Street in London)

Resting from work and routine on your own is one thing. Doing it in company with millions of others is quite different.

Work, especially if you’re lucky in what you do, is one of the great pleasures of life, but – like all pleasures – it can become selfish. We need to stop.

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In fact, we have probably never needed a day of rest more than we do now that we have become the slaves of the alluring hypnotic electronic devices we carry about everywhere with us.

The So-Called Conservative Party would know and understand all this if it were what it claims to be.

But as the amoral mouthpiece of commercial greed and globalisation, it prefers to see us scurrying from workplace to shopping centre every waking minute of every waking day.

Relaxation is a few hours of drugged sleep, preceded by a bout of ‘entertainment’ thickly laced with advertising and propaganda. Then it’s back to getting and spending.

Even atheists have begun, in recent years, to see the virtue of gathering weekly to read and hear poetry, think, sing songs and celebrate the joys of being alive. And there’s also this simple point. If you want a day free of work, you must expect others to have the same privilege.

If families are ever to gather, then that free day must be on the same day of the week for everyone.

And if that means a lot of things are closed, it’s a price worth paying.

A world without a proper day of rest is like a landscape without hedgerows, trees or landmarks, a howling, featureless wilderness in which we incessantly seek pleasure because we cannot find happiness.

Farewell to fiery Yanis, a reminder of how politics ought to be

There’s something enjoyably piratical and breezy about the ousted Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, riding off on his motorbike with his lovely wife for a post-resignation beer.

These scenes, and Mr Varoufakis’s general irreverent and non-servile behaviour, remind me of what I once found attractive about politics.

It’s also worth noting that the Syriza government in Athens has pretty much done what it promised voters it would do, and has fought its corner with nerve and style, and with a fair bit of the patriotic feeling that has been missing from British politics for quite a while.

Perfect ending: Yanis Varoufakis rides off with his wife Danae Stratou after exiting the Finance Ministry in Athens


Yanis Varoufakis is mobbed following his resignation

-

Perhaps it’s time for me to change sides again. It’s a joy to see Europe’s Leftists, from Guardian writers to Greek politicians, finally realising that the European Union is a German-dominated imperial bully.

Maybe conservative patriots should now infiltrate the Left, its media and its political parties. There’s more future there than there is in the dehumanised, passionless, corporate wastes of Cameronism.

It’s quite obvious that the Left-wing candidate for the Labour leadership, Jeremy Corbyn, is a principled and uncorrupted real human, quite unlike the bland cybermen and cyberwomen he is standing against, whoever they are. I hope he wins, not because I think he’s a loser but because it would be good to have someone in front-rank politics who knows what he fights for and loves what he knows, as Englishmen are supposed to do.

A combination of fiery Leftism and Ukip-type patriotism could be the very thing to sweep away the So-Called Conservative Party which represents nothing except the careers of its MPs and the interests of its donors.

In Greece, an alliance of Leftism and patriotism demolished the rich established parties in months. I’ve wasted years trying to do it the other way. Well, the last time I owned a motorbike, it ended badly, but I’m thinking of getting another one.


Facing the truth about a legend

Now at last we have absolute confirmation that Graham Sutherland’s ruthlessly honest portrait of Sir Winston Churchill was indeed burned because the great man’s wife, Clementine, couldn’t bear to look at it. You can see why. It’s not flattering. But no good portrait is flattering.

Now at last we have absolute confirmation that Graham Sutherland’s ruthlessly honest portrait of Sir Winston Churchill was indeed burned because the great man’s wife, Clementine, couldn’t bear to look at it

By the time it was painted, Sir Winston, like the country he had led, was failing, weakened by disappointment and fearful of the future. The picture showed that truth. We still do not like to admit it.

I seldom agree with the Children’s Commissioner, whoever he or she is, but Anne Longfield is absolutely right that children in care should not be shoved out to fend for themselves at 18.

Being ‘in care’ is pretty terrible, but it’s the only stability these poor, abandoned teenagers know. And 18 is a ghastly age.

I remember Harold Wilson giving me the vote and telling me I was an adult when I was 18. I spent the next three years showing him how wrong he’d been. Not that he took any notice.

How can students be expected to pay for their time at university, an increasingly impossible burden?

Here’s a wise suggestion from a reader, Mrs Sylvia Langley. Offer them the chance to look after the elderly in care homes (or their own homes).

In return for doing this, their fees could be reduced or even cancelled altogether. In my view better still, idealistic young people could regain contact with the old, who are rapidly becoming a separate and despised minority, the Untouchables of our time and place.

I see the plans to expand grammar schools in Kent have been strangled by lawyers, as I always thought they would be. But why are we still messing about with this?

Thousands of parents want new grammar schools, all over the country. The only thing that prevents this is a brief, easily repealed clause in David Blunkett’s 1998 School Standards Act.

But there’s no sign of that. The new So-Called Conservative majority is more interested in relaxing the laws against foxhunting, which is obviously so much more urgent than a good education for children whose parents aren’t rich.



Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3157839/PETER-HITCHENS-ve-destroyed-Sunday-just-needed-most.html#ixzz3fmwyF2gm

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