At least, one alderman does...
Published on September 23, 2005 By philomedy In Current Events
Link

Alright, so the gist of the link:

Alderman Darrell Leftwich thinks that soccer should be banned in White House Municipal Park on Sunday mornings because it happens to coincide with the time church services take place. I don't even think I have to elaborate about why this is a problem.

The alderman feels that the seventh day is a day of rest and worship, and should be spent as such. A friendly dissenting alderman points out in the article that the seventh day is actually Saturday, and urges that the matter be looked into further. I urge that it be dropped altogether.

The obvious dissenting opinion here is that we live in a country where we are guaranteed religious freedom, and you can't tell people what they can and cannot do on Sunday mornings as long as it is within the law. Playing soccer is not illegal, and you can't make it illegal just because someone wants to play at the same time that you attend church.

Honestly, what does this alderman think will happen? Does he believe the people who were playing soccer on Sunday mornings are going to go to church? They were playing soccer INSTEAD OF going to church. Taking away the game isn't going to drive them to religion, it's going to drive them to another park, and it begins to drive theocracy into this town. What next? Football. Let's just see how far they get when they try to touch that.

I'd like to end with a quote from Alderman Leftwich:

"I understand that people have a freedom of choice as to whether or not they attend church, but I still think that we, as a city, should send the right message to the community and restrict the hours of play."

You think that you, as a city, should send the right message? What message, that I can't play soccer on sunday because you go to church at the same time? In fact, that I can't do anything on Sunday because you go to church at the same time?

And you understand that people have freedom of choice about whether they go to church or not, huh? Well, do you understand people also have freedom of choice as to whether they play soccer or not? Do you understand that they have freedom of choice as to whether they sit on a ratty couch in swiss-cheese boxers eating Hot Pockets and watching the NFL? Do you understand that there is freedom of choice as to whether or not you want to worship fire as long as you don't bother anyone else with it? Do you understand what freedom of choice is?

No, you don't.

Comments
on Sep 23, 2005
Philo,

It is all too prevalent (and a shame that the left does not rail against the real discrimination). In the old south and the midwest, there are still hundreds of blue laws on the books based upon the sabbath being sunday (It is a Christian thing as Jews think it is Saturday), and while I supported them from an economic standpoint when I worked for a retailer (I never said I was a saint!), I dont from the standpoint of being right. This is just one of them. There are hundreds of others as well.

March on Don Quixote! You will not run out of wind mills! trust me on that one!
on Sep 24, 2005
It is funny that they can't even agree upon the day stating it's actually Saturday and not Sunday (which is true). Ha-ha!
on Sep 24, 2005
Ah, a man or woman after my own heart...

BTW, don't travel to Europe, where the streets are rolled up in the evening hours, and Sundays are not like the typical shopping/hustle/bustle day that we have here in the States.

I actually really enjoy the time nearer Christmas, when many stores go into 24 hour a day mode. When I can shop any time I please, and not be concerned about how quickly I need to get up in the morning, or how soon I'll be rushed out of a store when I'm just finally having 2 minutes to rub together and do a little shopping in.

I enjoy being able to shop on a weekend, or in the evening, and hate having to rush to get up and join the other racing rats in the a.m.'s. I don't like being rushed at lunch times when (again) all of the other rats are racing to get stuff done. I like to have time to think clearly, shop for what I want and not feel as if a store will close in minutes and I'll be stuck there as the last one in the line.

Give me 24 hour shopping, and time to get whatever I want to do done. Don't tell me that I can't shop, can't play or watch sports, or do anything else I want. If I choose to worship at all, then that's my business, and I'll choose a schedule without having a Church do it for me. If I want my sabbath to be Saturday, then so be it. If I choose Tuesdays, then hurray. If I choose the 5 minutes I'm stuck in traffic while riding to work when I look up to the sky and thank god for giving us a beautiful day and add in a personal thanks for giving me a nice life, than so be it.

Organized religion and hard and fast schedules are for the birds... or for something. Not me.