Is Sunday just for Jesus, or should it belong to everyone?
That’s the question New Jersey’s largest county is reckoning with, as Bible-based “blue laws” prohibiting shopping and commerce are now hitting the county’s bottom line.
Should keeping the Sabbath holy be mandatory – even for non-Christians?
What Are Blue Laws?
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, are restrictions on commerce or certain activities on a designated day of rest – almost always Sunday, in accordance with the Christian Sabbath.
Though they exist in a handful of European countries, blue laws are primarily an American idea. One could even argue that blue laws were among the very first laws enacted in the U.S. (or as they were called back then, the Colonies).
How Did Blue Laws Start?
English settlers fresh off the boat in 1619 implemented blue laws in Jamestown Colony, requiring mandatory church attendance for all colonists, as well as bans on what they viewed as Sabbath-day sins and excesses, including drunkenness, gambling, and idleness.
The Puritans later expanded these rules to include commercial bans, and by the early 20th century, prohibitions on the Sunday sale of alcohol were widespread. While most shopping restrictions have since been repealed, vestiges remain, especially around alcohol sales.
Unsurprisingly, blue laws have faced various constitutional challenges. In 1961, one such case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that blue laws are legal so long as the law is written in secular terms.
In other words, states and counties cannot ban commerce on Sunday because the Bible commands rest. But a law that declares a general, secular day of rest, which just happens to line up with the Christian Sabbath? Perfectly fine.
Should Stores Be Closed on Sundays?
That brings us to Bergen County, New Jersey. Unlike the rest of the state, Bergen County voters have consistently supported closing nearly all retail outlets on Sunday. Many speculate that this wealthy community defends blue laws less out of piety and more to reduce the crush of out-of-town weekend shoppers.
Unless you’re buying gas, checking into a hotel, or purchasing food, don’t expect to do much shopping on a Sunday in Bergen County.
The rules get even stricter in the town of Paramus, where blue laws are so intense they’d make the Puritans proud. Unless an establishment is selling food, Paramus demands it be closed on Sunday – lest citizens succumb to “physical and moral debasement.”
But recently, county officials discovered that the American Dream mall – the nation’s second-largest – was opening on Sundays in defiance of county law. Officials argued this gave the mall an unfair advantage over competitors. The mall countered that the laws didn’t apply because the property sits on state-owned land, pointing to the sale of football jerseys and souvenirs at MetLife Stadium during Sunday games as precedent.
Now, the county is suing American Dream, alleging it has broken the law hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Officials are even threatening to shut the mall down. In response, the mall blasted the lawsuit as a “meritless political stunt.”
So what do you think? Do blue laws still serve a civic purpose by forcing a collective day of rest, or are they outdated holdovers of religious rule that no longer fit a pluralistic society?
Should Bergen County’s thousands of Jews, Muslims, atheists and other faith adherents be forced to live under Bible-based rule?
2 comments
-
Marylyn (Pepper) Montague
Any religion that tries to get the whole world to live by their god’s rules, has a very weak god who can’t do it for HIMself… because he is not real. Love is all power in everything everywhere all of the time… God is Love, not a man with a tick sheet up in the sky somewhere.
Sooo, someone decides that I can’t go shopping because their religion says not to, and I have to go along with that? I’d move before before I went along with THAT garbage!