Well it’s come back to bite us in the bottom again after surfacing in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and undermining a little more of our Christian heritage. There was a big battle in the 1980s between the government who wanted to deregulate Sunday and such as the traditionalists of the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ pressure group campaign. Sunday trading law is in the government’s sights again, further liberalisation of course. This is against a historical background of Sunday being a day of rest in the UK, and legislation which forbade ‘worldly labour’ has been around since at least the reign of Charles the 2nd.
John Bingham reports in the Daily Telegraph that ‘an alliance of faith groups, unions and small retailers is lining up to oppose government plans for the biggest shake-up of Sunday trading in a generation, condemning it as a threat to family and community life as much as religious observance.’
Now I am a free marketeer because as far as I am concerned that is the norm. I remember seeing film of the time when the Soviet empire In Eastern Europe was falling. Immediately people were out on the streets trying to make money from selling their wares to make a dime and try and clear a profit. That’s reality and thus will it ever be. However, I do not believe that free markets should be totally unregulated, government intervention should be kept to a minimum of course, but Sunday trading is an issue where unfettered capitalism may not necessarily be the best answer. I think this is an issue where a little bit of regulation adds to the common good.
I was in Freiburg, Germany last summer and found myself in town on Sunday. Having been there a few days previously when it was buzzing to the rafters, it was a bit of a shock to see the town centre almost empty, as if everyone had gone on holiday. It was just like being transported back in time to when I was a kid in England and Sunday was for God, church, family and rest, or the last two for the heathens amongst us. Things have changed a little for us in the UK since the eighties and it’s the norm to nip to Tescos on a Sunday for our groceries. It’s still more traditional in Germany where there is a clause in the German constitution that Sunday should be a day of rest and ‘spiritual elevation,’ although some Sunday shopping has been allowed and the general trend seems to be towards more liberalisation. Interestingly in Germany shop regulation of opening hours has passed from federal to state government. However, quiet Sundays don’t seem to have affected the strength of the German economy, the fourth biggest in the world.
I must admit I think it’s a bit of a shame what’s happened to Sunday in England. In terms of business it has become much more like other days. Admittedly you don’t have the morning and evening rush hour, but you certainly have equivalent levels of traffic on the road at certain times of day. I miss that feeling of Sunday being significantly different and quieter than any other day.
Sunday as a day of rest of course has its roots in our traditional Judeo-Christian culture. Ancient Israel venerated the sabbath, there was something special about the number seven and it all goes back to what some biblical scholars refer to as the ‘first mention’ principle. In other words, where an important word is first mentioned in the bible it expresses its fullest and most complete meaning. Where is seven first mentioned in the bible? Why of course when God created the heavens and the earth in six days he decided to rest on the seventh day. If God needed a rest then surely the men and women he created did. After all, the bible teaches that we are made in His image. The Ten Commandments thundered ‘Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy’. It was the rule for ancient Israel, and in the New Testament and through church history the principle of one day in seven embedded itself in Christendom.
The Soviets were your classic God haters and tried to eliminate God from society. One person described communism as a spirit from hell that overtook Russian society in 1917. Well the bloodstained history of the communist Soviet Union certainly bares testimony to that. What did they do? They brought in the Soviet Revolutionary Calendar from 1929 to 1940. 1929 to 1939 saw the most savage persecution of religion in the whole Soviet period. The seven day week was abolished in favour of a five day week, in part an anti-religious measure, to get rid of the Christian Sunday as a day of rest. All sorts of public and voluntary organisations including the ‘League of Militant Atheists’ were encouraged in anti-religious activity, including promoting the observance of the five day working week. In 1931 a six day work week was experimented with. It is reported that the Sunday tradition proved hard to get rid of, as workers would often take Sunday off as well as the new day of rest, and who could blame them! Eventually in 1940 the old seven day week was restored. So maybe God had the last laugh in the midst of godlessness.
One day in seven has persisted pretty well to date, and even in England where the forces of mammon encroached upon the traditional Sunday in the 1980s and left us with a somewhat watered down version, it’s still a day off for the majority of people. However most people don’t worship in their local Anglican Church but find their idols in the gilded shopping malls, in crowded cafes and restaurants, on the sports field or perhaps down at the beach.
So is it right for the government to be telling the church to back Sunday shopping? It is being proposed that supermarkets could be prevented from opening longer in order to help revive Britain’s ailing high streets, to ensure that high streets remain ‘the heartbeat of our communities.’ At the moment all shops bar the smallest cannot open for more than six hours on a Sunday, but it is proposed that local government regulate their own Sunday trading law. The government calculates that ‘relaxing Sunday trading laws will lead to £14 billion worth of benefits to the economy a year and increase the amount people spend by as much as 12.5%. Ah, ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.?’ Is the government putting pound notes before health and welfare. Might there be other ways of reviving High Streets? Methinks free town centre parking’s not a bad idea for a start!
My own view on this is that it is good to have one day in seven as a day of rest. I try to a degree to keep to this, no work to do with my normal occupation on a Sunday, avoid household chores and mowing the lawn if you can! This ingrained habit serves me well as the next day is Monday when the temptation might be to make sure you are well prepared by doing all your work planning on Sunday. But once you have learnt to put work aside and that you can do in six days what you imagine you need to do in seven, the battle is won.
A society builds up its social capital by having one day when everyone within reason has the option of a specific day off from work. We are not made to work every hour that God sends but to enjoy life and spend relaxation time with our families and friends. If anything the balance in the west is too performance orientated and not enough relationship orientated. Time with those we love or appreciate is extremely important for our health and welfare, adding to David Cameron’s concern about ‘wellness’ in society. It gives opportunity for us to build and cherish family which is under great pressure these days. Making Sunday a special day also provides protection to retail workers who may be put under huge pressure to work on Sundays. This is not a minor point as the UK has a massive retail sector.
Social capital is far more important than increasing the UK GDP at all costs . A healthy happy workforce that enjoys a day each week free from the pressures of having to provide for oneself or the family will probably be more productive in the long run. Human beings are made to work, but they are also made to rest and spend quality time with their loved ones. Former Bishop of Rochester, The Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali recognises both that work and rest are important for individuals and society, the ‘humanitarian principle.’ He is right.