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Do you miss the Sabbath?

I can remember when Food Lion was known as Food Town. The one in my hometown then displayed a sign saying "We'll never open on Sunday." Was it a better time?

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Posted by nmclaughlin on Monday, August 9, 2010 at 10:21 am

What do you think?

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nemo0037

August 9, 2010 - 11:54 am EDT

Actually, I think I prefer the American system of having a 2-day weekend to relax and get stuff taken care of around the home. That religion-driven Sabbath idea really needed some changes.

retiree

August 10, 2010 - 6:42 am EDT

Interesting point, but while we're at it why not change the starting day of the week from Sunday to Monday? And better yet, why not make a law that legislates the BC (before Christ) to the politically correct "before current era" as is done by the educational crowd these days. If the "before current era" example is to take meaning, then how do they explain the date when it started? What happened to change it from BC to AD?

At some point people need to get over the fact that our country's history was founded and created by Christians (for the most part). It never ceases to amaze me how some people just can't rationalize things and go on with life.

nemo0037

August 10, 2010 - 10:03 am EDT

Oddly enough, I have no problem with any of your "doomsday scenarios." ;-) Monday IS a valid choice for the start of the week. BCE makes more sense than the old designations, particularly since the only information for a date for the birth of Christ leads to a possible range of 6 BC to 4 AD... so to respond to your question of what event caused the switch over, the most accurate historical answer is "nothing."

Even you seem to be aware that this country isn't and never WAS created for the sole occupation or use of Christians. The secular experiment created and supported by nearly all of the great founders was worth putting a lot of thought and work into. I hope you understand the advantages of keeping religion and government unentwined. That's what true liberty means, you know.

Gymnaseum

August 10, 2010 - 9:58 am EDT

Nothing happened in China, nor according to the Jewish calendar; Muslims, too, have their own accounting of dates. The only reason to continue using the numbers proffered forth originally by the (mistaken) year of Jesus' birth, is because it is convenient, like the international dateline or "true" North, both of them useful but not entirely accurate. These are conventions. using "BCE" and "CE" in academia allows for more neutrality when discussing China, Japan, and non-Western/non-Christian cultures, generally. It, too, is a convention.

wrkeeney

August 10, 2010 - 6:41 pm EDT

The Gregorian Calendar, which we use, wasn't created until about 525 BCE. It was created by Catholic Church and became dominant in those areas dominated by the Catholic Church, including Europe. Since our forbears who would later dominate the Americas came from Europe, we use that calendar. Oh by the way, Sabbath is a religious term refering to the seventh day of the week in the Gregorian Calendar. That is Saturday. Sunday is the first day of the Gregorian Calendar and is set aside because in Christian tradition it is the day of the resurrection. Saturday is still the Sabbath.