|
|
|
|
7-day sales: A matter of personal choice |
|
Friday, 17 July 2009 |
|
Kelly Daniels
SDN Reporter I’ll be straight. If we don’t believe in something, we don’t have to practice it.
But to impede on the freedom of others to practice it is simply wrong, in my opinion.
That is why I support seven-day-a-week alcohol sales, an issue so divisive that the last city administration felt the need to put it aside. I think it is divisive only because we make it divisive.
Most of us are creatures of separation. We classify other people according to what they offer or seem to offer us.
We like things in their places - birds, fish, houses, regions, countries, etc. We unconsciously live by the phrase, “_____ belongs to ______,” filling in the blanks as we go along, creating false disconnect.
This method of control makes us comfortable.
Monotheistic religions set aside a holy day each week for observance. The purpose is separation from the other six days with certain rituals, such as collective worship, and denials, such as the denial of labor.
The problem occurs when we put our personal choice into law, impeding on the choice of someone else.
Most of the Christian church sets aside its holy day on Sunday, and this practice has made a profound effect on the local law, which forbids us to buy or sell alcohol on that day.
Ironically, mandating a day of observance for everyone goes against the doctrine of separation of church and state, which is not so much about separation as it is about freedom.
The Sunday sales prohibition does not consider the individual who is not Christian, though he or she could be an American citizen paying taxes. And reading biblical quotes as a justification for law is a theocratic practice, and means nothing to the non-Christian American paying taxes.
Let’s think about what we’re really saying with the current law: “Since I do not buy beer on a certain day, you can’t either.” Is that truly a land of the free?
Furthermore, if the church and all of its ideals take over the state, you have a theocratic state.
This form of government, at its very base, works from the same motivation as the fascist state because it creates rules for all — rules that may not truly benefit all. Many theocracies we have observed in the news and studied in history were not healthy for society or the individual.
Iran, for example, is a theocratic republic.
Would we want legislation mandating every woman to wear a burka in public?
Public stonings for victimless crimes don’t sound very appealing either.
I’ll examine this from the other end.
Would you want someone telling you that you must go out and drink alcohol on a certain day — the day you have set aside for observance? Would you want him or her mandating it with legislation? Certainly not.
Along with this concern, citizens who are pro-seven day sales also carry the interest of economic growth and the reputation of the town. While I don’t necessarily adhere to the idea that seven-day sales will save Starkville economically, I am profoundly concerned with the issue of personal choice.
The only reasons I have heard to justify the current Sunday ban are: “Sunday is a holy day and should be set aside” and the ever vague “ it is a public safety issue,” though city police officers are on duty during every hour of every day.
Personal choice, however, is about equality and “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” all addressed in our Declaration of Independence.
And the idea of equality encompasses more than just protection from discrimination.
It means that no one else should be able to define what life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness means in our daily lives.
Kelly Daniels is a reporter and columnist for the Starkville Daily News. The opinions expressed in this column are hers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Starkville Daily News or individual members of its staff.
|
|
Last Updated ( Saturday, 18 July 2009 )
|
|
|
|
