CHAT: Religious Observance of the Sabbath

Maybe not everywhere, and maybe not most denominations of Christianity,
either, but there are a number of groups that either frown on or REALLY
frown on doing anything on Sunday (or, for those groups who observe the
Sabbath on Saturday, on Saturday).  There are gradations and divisions
within Christianity, as anyone who's covered the history of Europe from 900
to 1750 AD (or present-day N. Ireland) can tell you.  My church doesn't
approve of it, and we're very much encouraged not to work or shop or do
non-spiritually things on Sundays.  But they don't kick me (or some of my
friends) out because of having to work at Disneyland on weekends.  It might
be different if I were called to be Relief Society president in my ward, but
then I'd need to have Sundays off to do that.  Most of the higher positions
of leadership within a congregation require a 5-8 hour committment (when my
stepfather was in the bishopric, he got to church at 6:45am on Sunday and
came home a little after 9pm), so the activities of those people on Sunday
are proscribed anyway.  In any event, if you go to the church website you'll
find lots of "keep the Sabbath day holy, already," messages from our
leadership.

Most Catholics I know don't seem to mind doing things on Sundays (as long as
it doesn't interfere with Mass, and sometimes they'll go to a Saturday Mass
so they have Sunday free), and neither do most Protestants except for the
more evangelical ones.  It varies by individual, congregation, denomination,
etc.  I think the single biggest factor remains personal committment -- I
know Catholics who won't eat meat during Lent/on Fridays or shop on Sundays,
and Mormons who will drink beer at the SuperBowl.  The first example tend to
go to Mass more than once a week, and the second haven't been seen in the
ward building in 10 months.  ^_^  Though I'll admit that strict Sabbath
observance isn't nearly as much of an indicator of activity and committment
to the church that other things (major Word of Wisdom things like smoking
and drinking, for example) are -- at least amongst young people.

I can add, though, that if anything like voting was legally required on
Sundays, people to defend the faith would come out of the woodwork, and join
the folks who don't want to be required to do anything on any day to
protest.  ^_^

Sarah Marie Parker-Allen
lloannna@surfside.net
http://www.geocities.com/lloannna.geo
http://lloannna.blogspot.com

"I will never buy an apple from peddlers plying their craft in remote places
where the customer base could not possibly support a full-time merchant." --
Rules for the Hero's True Love

> -----Original Message-----
> Behalf Of Tristan
> I know Jews who don't do things on the Sabbath because it's against
> their religion. I don't know of any Christians who won't do things on
> Sundays because it's against their religion.
>
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by SURFSIDE INTERNET]