Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[maryk117]

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What is a blue law?

I don't know why they are called "blue" laws but they control what you can and cannot do on Sundays. For example in some areas beer cannot be sold before noon. Retail businesses cannot open at all or must open after a certain hour. Things of that sort. The thinking behind them seems to be that people are supposed to be in church on Sunday mornings and the laws are to encourage that kind of thinking. I wish I could remember where it was I was stationed that required all businesses to shut down at midnight and not reopen until Monday--a real pain in a small military town. I recall that even the movies and the bars were closed!!! Some date night.

Rusty

I wrote an English paper on the Blue Laws and a "non-religious" persons view of those laws. I received an A. I wrote that paper here in the south, guess the professor was grading unbiasedly.

I lived in a dry county when we were in Texas. You either had to belong to a "club" or go to the next county to buy alcohol, even beer.

In Aiken all the bars/clubs have to close at midnight on Saturday so that they aren't selling alcohol on Sunday. The grocery stores have to get a special license to sell beer or wine on Sundays. We have ABC (Alcohol Beverage Commission) stores that sell "hard" liquor and wine, they can't sell anything that doesn't contain alcohol. These ABC stores can't sell beer or mixers, for that you have to go to a convenience or grocery store, but the grocery/convenience stores can't sell hard liquor. The ABC store are not open on Sunday. Also they are not allowed to advertise on the store front that they sell liquor. They also call them Red Dot Stores. It is the symbol of the ABC and almost all the liquor stores have big red circles on them. More people call them Red Dot stores than any other name.

Another strange thing they did was enact a mini-bottle law long ago. All the bars had to use the airplane type mini bottles to mix drinks. I guess the thinking behind this was that the bartenders would have better control over how much alcohol a patron was consuming. It was not a choice of certain bars, it was the law in SC. They have since repealed that law too, but only within the last few years. My husband says it was a law in Utah, too, but we were the last hold outs!!

Now with all this information on alcohol one might come to the conclusion I drink too much...LOL In my paper one of my arguments that Blue Laws would stop people from drinking on Sunday was that if they were a smart or perhaps desperate drunk they would have the forethought to shop for Sunday on Saturday. I'm sure the law had some effect, but I don't think it was foolproof. It was mainly just an inconvenience for those that wanted to imbibe on Sunday. When I was young and single it was a bummer to have to leave an establishment at midnight on Saturday! Of course these days I get up with the chickens...so staying up past midnight is a thing of the past right along with Blue Laws!

 

[deb1]

Maryk,I remember reading somewhere that the children of moderate drinkers were less likely to binge drink in college then the children of teetotalers and alcoholics. I do not know if there are any recent studies but it makes sense that a person who is exposed to responsible alcohol consumption by his parents will carry on that behavior in college. So, I wonder if all the laws to prevent people from making choices as to when to drink don't just increase problems.

I have always wondered if the blue laws are constitutional. They are based solely on religion, aren't they? Aren't they a way for the government to put one religion over another. After all not all faiths believe that Sunday is a holy day.

 

[maryk117]

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On your first point: it makes sense that children of moderate drinkers are less likely to get carried away with alcohol based on the parents teachings/example. If we are talking about college I think that a lot of drinking has to do with peer pressure and stress in general. I know quite a few people who partied hard in college, but are not raging alcoholics today. For some I think it is a phase for others, say with addictive personalities, it may continue to be a problem. Either way I don't think it is up to the government to say on which days some one can or can't drink alcohol. The minimum drinking age is 21 and by that age hopefully a young person can make wise decisions about alcohol consumption and not need the government to step in any further than that.

On your second point: Blue Laws are for sure based on religion and most started in colonial times. And yes if you go by the separation of church and state then they are unconstitutional. Not sure if it was putting one religion over another as much as it was when they were developed there were only a few religions (i.e. colonial times). They actually have Blue Laws in other countries and the days obviously vary with that religions holy day.

While we are on the subject SC had a license plate that says in big bold letters "In God We Trust". That was the "official" state license plate and if you wanted something different you had to ask for it. I believe the alternate plate was "In Reason We Trust". My problem with this was that not every religion believes in God, so if you have the other plate on your car wouldn't you be singled out as a non-believer?? I guess there is a big stink about it and they had to change it. Now it is just a plate that says "Travel2SC. com".

For that matter all the currency in the US has that statement on it. Not sure how ready the US is to change that! Most of the time I try not to stress about it and invoke the Live and Let Live philosophy. Fighting it and worrying about it is stressful and I would much rather stick up for children, animals and the environment, not fight the government about what my money has printed on it. In reality it is not offensive or cruel. Perhaps it is a cop out on my part, but unfortunately everyone is not like on this forum and willing to listen and comment politely and there are more pressing matters at hand to fight for. Are we too far off topic yet?? LOL

 

[SunnyDawn]

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It does irritate me that our money still says "In God We Trust". It bugs me that our children are expected to quote the pledge of allegiance which says "One Nation Under God" (and when I taught, I was also expected to say this but I just skipped that part). Am I going to start writing letters and calling congress to complain? No, most likely not. As Redux said, very few atheists are pushy about their beliefs. It still seems wrong that a country that says they welcome all and says, by law, that church and state are to remain separate, continues to print christian quotes on money and to include this single religion's views in our national anthem and pledge of allegiance! Why can't we be "One Nation, United All (or "Accepting all"...), With Liberty and Justice for all? Why can't I love my country without being reminded every time I go to a sporting event or step foot in a class room that this same country is so hyppocritical? I don't understand why the country itself does not have to obey its own laws, mainly upholding the separation of church and state?

 

[maryk117]

SunnyDawn wrote: It does irritate me that our money still says "In God We Trust". It bugs me that our children are expected to quote the pledge of allegiance which says "One Nation Under God" (and when I taught, I was also expected to say this but I just skipped that part). Am I going to start writing letters and calling congress to complain? No, most likely not. As Redux said, very few atheists are pushy about their beliefs. It still seems wrong that a country that says they welcome all and says, by law, that church and state are to remain separate, continues to print christian quotes on money and to include this single religion's views in our national anthem and pledge of allegiance! Why can't we be "One Nation, United All (or "Accepting all"...), With Liberty and Justice for all? Why can't I love my country without being reminded every time I go to a sporting event or step foot in a class room that this same country is so hyppocritical? I don't understand why the country itself does not have to obey its own laws, mainly upholding the separation of church and state?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What about the Equal Employment Opportunity Law? Have you ever been a situation where they start asking questions to try to figure out your beliefs? Not direct questions, but leading questions. I am naive sometimes and very open, so I feel like I can be easily led into a conversation about such things. More so about the other things like like age and my race is fairly obvious. I think I would have to politely say that I felt like the questions were bordering on my EEO rights. Now if that doesn't clue the employer...Not sure the law is all that great anyway. During an interview the prospective employer can see what race you are and your approximate age. All an employer has to do is say that you are not a good fit or some other hokie thing and how do you combat that??

 

[maryk117]

The above post needs to say "What" about the ...it wouldn't edit...

 

[OrpingtonManor]

the star spangled banner doesn't mention god. my district doesn't say the pledge of allegiance. I rarely use cash, so am not really bombarded by this . still, it's a part of our history, so it doesn't really bother me. using that money doesn't make me a Christian by default. I can still be exactly who I want to be.

 

[maryk117]

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Actually the last stanza of the Star Spangled banner goes like this...

"Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

I do realize most people don't sing that part...

I also use mostly debit or checks so it really doesn't bother me either. I think the non-believers should pick their battles so to speak. Maybe we could get the treasury to compromise and have the money printed with In God Most of Us Trust??

 

[deb1]

For those who used to be religious, what was the most difficult part of religion to give up? Was it a community of like minded people? A fear in hell? The belief in the rapture? Certainity about life?

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Actually the last stanza of the Star Spangled banner goes like this...

"Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

I do realize most people don't sing that part...

I also use mostly debit or checks so it really doesn't bother me either. I think the non-believers should pick their battles so to speak. Maybe we could get the treasury to compromise and have the money printed with In God Most of Us Trust??

Actually I was thinking of "America the Beautiful" which is often sung at sporting events as well. Sorry for the confusion. I did find it very interesting, however, that the one song I thought didn't include a reference to a male deity does, indeed, include this as well.

Again not something I'm going to expend a lot of energy on but it would be nice if this country were as accepting of other's beliefs as it claims to be.