Fucking Blue Laws

[J_Cayman]

I talked to my father today when he came back from South Carolina:

It was raining and his shoe sole had split. Because it was raining water was getting into his shoe so he decided to stop at Wal-Mart to buy shoes, and was also going to get an umbrella. But because it was a fucking sunday my father couldn't get the umbrella or shoes.

I'm pretty much just venting, but shit like that pisses me off. Agnostics and christians act like we're fucking assholes because we speak out. Hoiwever, we should speak out with shit this happening.

I put it here, because this seemed like where it belonged, but HOS it if you need to.

[CarsonPalmer]

Well, hang on a second. Could he not get the shoes because Wal-Mart was closed? Were they closed by law or just by custom?

[Slacker]

That's...odd.

Well, no, it's probably just South Carolina. Everything's open, pretty much regular business hours, here in New York. Hell, they even sell booze on Sundays now.

[J_Cayman]

Well, hang on a second. Could he not get the shoes because Wal-Mart was closed? Were they closed by law or just by custom?

Some states have what are called blue laws that prevent selling or doing certain things on Sundays. In this case it was a Walmart that also sold groceries so it was open, however they wouldn't let him buy the shoes.

[Covenant]

Well, hang on a second. Could he not get the shoes because Wal-Mart was closed? Were they closed by law or just by custom?

Some states have what are called blue laws that prevent selling or doing certain things on Sundays. In this case it was a Walmart that also sold groceries so it was open, however they wouldn't let him buy the shoes.

Ahh... that makes it clear! So they were open but wouldn't sell because it was Sunday? That's asstastic.

[J_Cayman]

Ahh... that makes it clear! So they were open but wouldn't sell because it was Sunday? That's asstastic.

I've known about them for a while, but for it to affect someone I know really well just pisses me off.

[Netko]

They tried that a couple of years back here as well. Think I posted on it before. Of course the Catholic sheeple first went along with it, duty to god and all, however interestingly, once the actual laws were in place who do you think complained the most? Right, the religious poor, who no longer had the time do do their weekly shopping. Great one guys, maybe next time you'll think about your interests instead of being stupid and parroting what your preacher tells you.

Anyhow, that only lasted a couple of months, the politicos being frozen because they could not admit that the law sucks (even tho the support literally flipped from 70% for, 30% against to 70% against, 30% for) because they passed it. In the end, the constitutional court struck it down by using several of the laws unconstitutional provisions, which was seen as them bailing the politicos out of the fire since they could have easily simply removed the offending provisions, without invalidating the entire law.

[CarsonPalmer]

Ah. That makes it more clear. I was just trying to find out if it was actually a blue law that caused this. That sucks.

[Zed Snardbody]

I'm not convinced that I will never be able to leave Las Vegas. I can't deal with shit being closed.

If I want a pound of ground beef, condoms and some peanut butter at 3 in the damn morning, by god, I'll have it, then I'll go cash my pay check and get a free drink!

[Flagg]

Wouldn't some of these blue laws violate interstate commerce laws?

[J_Cayman]

I'm not convinced that I will never be able to leave Las Vegas. I can't deal with shit being closed.

If I want a pound of ground beef, condoms and some peanut butter at 3 in the damn morning, by god, I'll have it, then I'll go cash my pay check and get a free drink!

To be perfectly honest this one is better, for lack of a better word, than most. For example you could still buy the ground beef, and peanut butter. However, the condoms will cause you problems.
I don't think the natives will be dropping this soon, considering the looks my father said they were giving him. I could say that they would lose potential tourists but who the fuck wants to go to South Carolina anyway?

[J_Cayman]

Wouldn't some of these blue laws violate interstate commerce laws?

They might at that. A quick google search doesn't give me too much information, However I have seen a few instances but they were struck down as violating state rights.

[Tsyroc]

I think the only thing we have like that in Arizona is a restriction on buying alcohol.

On normal days it can't be sold after 0100 or 0200 (same in bars & clubs) until 0600. On Sunday you can't start buying alcohol again until 1000. So the cutoff is a little longer on Sundays.

There might be some small towns where the stores are closed but the restriction on alcohol is the only thing I know of where the stores are usually open but can't sell the stuff to you.

[Stofsk]

Out of curiosity, why are they called Blue Laws?

[Resinence]

I know wikipedia is generally unreliable but this seems like a decent explanation.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence to support the assertion that the blue laws were originally printed on blue paper. Rather, the word blue was commonly used in the 18th century as a disparaging reference to rigid moral codes and those who observed them (e.g., "bluenoses"). Moreover, although Reverend Peters claimed that the term blue law was originally used by Puritan colonists, his work has since been found to be unreliable, and it is more likely that he simply invented the term himself.[5] In any event, Peters never asserted that the blue laws were originally printed on blue paper, and this has come to be regarded as an example of fake etymology. Another version is that the laws were first bound in books with blue covers. (See related article: Blue laws)

[Darth Servo]

Ridiculous. Even hardcore fundies should realize this was clearly a case of the proverbial ox in the pit (see Luke 14:5).

[Ted C]

Ahh... that makes it clear! So they were open but wouldn't sell because it was Sunday? That's asstastic.

I had a similar problem there several years ago. Basically, the law forbids selling anything not considered "essential".

Food and pharmaceuticals can be considered essential, but they assume that things like shoes, umbrellas, and (in my case) raincoats can wait until 1pm or some such.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Yeap, the laws are passed because as my mom told me "your suppose to be in church while these laws are in effect."

People honestly believe should they be repelied church attendance would drop.

^.^ I think she is right

[Elaro]

Uh, I didn't realise America was actually a Jewish Nation.

Okay, Jewish with a one-day delay.

[General Zod]

What type of justification is usually given for shit like this anyways? You'd figure anyone with a working brain would realize it's a bad idea for multiple reasons, the least of which being freedom of religion (I can't think of any non religious reasons for it), and harming a store's revenue by forcing them to close for your religious hangups.

[Darth Servo]

What type of justification is usually given for shit like this anyways? You'd figure anyone with a working brain would realize it's a bad idea for multiple reasons, the least of which being freedom of religion (I can't think of any non religious reasons for it), and harming a store's revenue by forcing them to close for your religious hangups.

But you're assuming the majority of the population there actually has a working brain, when we already know no fundie does.

[General Zod]

What type of justification is usually given for shit like this anyways? You'd figure anyone with a working brain would realize it's a bad idea for multiple reasons, the least of which being freedom of religion (I can't think of any non religious reasons for it), and harming a store's revenue by forcing them to close for your religious hangups.

But you're assuming the majority of the population there actually has a working brain, when we already know no fundie does.

Not really. Just saying it'd be nice if they at least tried to give something resembling a secular justification for it is all.

[Alyeska]

What type of justification is usually given for shit like this anyways? You'd figure anyone with a working brain would realize it's a bad idea for multiple reasons, the least of which being freedom of religion (I can't think of any non religious reasons for it), and harming a store's revenue by forcing them to close for your religious hangups.

Secular day of rest.

Why this day of rest is enforced upon people and done on Sunday is not explained. The reason its not explained is because "Secular day of rest" is a fracking lie.

[Darth Servo]

Not really. Just saying it'd be nice if they at least tried to give something resembling a secular justification for it is all.

Why should they? To them, "my religion says so" IS a reasonable justification and besides, secularism is eeeeeevvvvvviiiiiilllllll, remember?

[Lusankya]

What type of justification is usually given for shit like this anyways? You'd figure anyone with a working brain would realize it's a bad idea for multiple reasons, the least of which being freedom of religion (I can't think of any non religious reasons for it), and harming a store's revenue by forcing them to close for your religious hangups.

Secular day of rest.

Why this day of rest is enforced upon people and done on Sunday is not explained. The reason its not explained is because "Secular day of rest" is a fracking lie.

I thought that, however if the shops are already open, and they're just not selling certain items, then the day of rest idea is bullshit. It's not as though they're closed - they're just not letting people buy raincoats and umbrellas, which is retarded.

Before we had Sunday trading here, it was semi-explained as a way of preventing employers from working their employees seven days in a row. Of course, then they changed that, and the people who previously worked Monday-Saturday began going shopping on Sunday.

As for why on Sunday? Well, if you're going to have a secular day of rest, then you may as well have it on the same day as the day of your most popular religion, to avoid confusion. That, at least makes a modicum of sense.