• Sunday Trading and the Churches

    Dear the Churches of England

    If you campaign against Sunday trading you are going to seem to the People of England to be as bad as you are. Campaign instead for the rights of shop workers of all religions who work at all times and the People of England might be more convinced. If you take on the Sunday trading thing you are going to lose anyway.

    Here in Scotland things have been much more liberal for a long time. We did have quite strict liquor laws which meant you couldn’t buy booze on a Sunday morning anywhere. This meant you couldn’t buy an emergency bottle of wine for communion on a Sunday morning in case it led to drunkenness, which always seemed to me to be a little odd. Even this law has been relaxed now.

    Seriously – the fight against Sunday trading isn’t one that churches can win and look sensible or fair. Please don’t make the rest of us look foolish.

    Remember the Sabbath day and what it was about and keep what it was about holy. It was about making sure workers got rest. It was about making sure there was time for leisure. It was about making sure that there were opportunities for worship. Churches should campaign for all those things. In multicultural Britain these things do not coalesce any more in the idea of one shared day off a week which is inevitably on a Sunday.

    Dear churches of England and the Church of England in particular – pick your battles wisely.

    Thank you for your attention.
    KELVIN

One response to “Equal Marriage Parliamentary Reception”

  1. Brother David Avatar
    Brother David

    ¡Muchas felicidades!

    These are some important major steps forward. I hope & pray that the change comes soon for Scotland.

    Many folks do not realize that legal marriage is now available in all of Mexico. The Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, which is home to the major part of Mexico City, passed legislation in 2009, which became effective in 2010, allowing same sex civil marriage. Civil marriage is the only legal marriage in Mexico. Backed by the RC church, this law was constitutionally challenged later in 2010 before the Mexican Supreme Court. The justices first ruled 5 AUG, that the law was constitutional, in an 8 to 2 decision. (One justice was absent.) On 10 AUG the court ruled 9 to 2, that the Mexico City marriages were legally valid in all 31 states of the Mexican Union and the Federal District.

    Many same sex couples now honeymoon in Mexico City and have their civil marriage performed while there.

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