![]() Believers who avoid shopping or eating out on Sundays as a part of their Sabbath observance do so in the midst of an always-on economy where an Amazon package could land at their door while they’re at church. Such Sabbath observance is becoming more countercultural in the busy, hyperproductive 21st century. ![]() “This notion that regular patterns common to society as a whole facilitate us not just having individual rest-most employers still provide days off-but doing that on the same broad schedule so that everybody has the same days off so we could be together as a society, that is being eroded, I think,” said Strain. And it’s significant that all share the Sabbath on the same day. Before that, too many worried about the pagan connotations around the sun.Įven among evangelicals, there are a range of views on whether Christians are commanded to spend the Lord’s Day in observance of the Sabbath, with some believing that rhythms of rest and worship can take place on other days of the week.īut for Sabbatarians, Sundays are uniquely meant for worship, rest, and fellowship they happily set aside job obligations as well as most housework, yardwork, and schoolwork. ![]() And it wasn’t until the fourth century that Christians began calling it Sunday rather than the Lord’s Day. While there will always be professions that need to work on Sundays for the common good, like doctors and farmers, they believe most should reserve it as a day for worship and rest.Īfter the Resurrection, Christians began adopting the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day, but it took hundreds of years to develop the kinds of formal church services we come to associate with weekly worship, historian Craig Harline wrote in his book Sunday. Sabbatarian Christians like Strain see the patterns of work and rest established in Creation as God-given and good for all. Still more serious is the policy of denying to employees the possibility of observing the Sabbath.” ![]() Immeasurably greater is the moral responsibility of coaxing others away from Sabbath observance to the marts of trade. “But the moral responsibility of unnecessary Sabbath violation is not to be lightly regarded. “Christ made allowance, within the spirit of the law, for works of mercy and of necessity, and for taking care of the occasional ‘ox in the ditch,’” Koller said. Koller, president emeritus of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in 1963, two years after the US Supreme Court ruled that “blue laws” restricting Sunday commerce were constitutional. “Too largely the Sabbath day has been reduced from a holy day of spiritual replenishment, instruction, and correction, to a mere holiday for pleasure seeking or to just another day of merchandising,” Charles W. In CT’s early days, evangelical leaders complained about the uptick in “Open on Sunday” signs in grocery stores, theaters, and other businesses. “More recently, as we have moved to a 24/7 economy, Sunday work schedules have become more common and pose conflicts for Christians that previously were felt mainly by minority religions.”Ĭhristians have lamented the shift away from businesses observing Sunday sabbath for decades. “Historically, work schedules and holidays tended to be in line with Christian (or at least mainline Protestant) religious and holiday schedules and practices,” he said. Seventh-day Adventists and Orthodox Jews had often come up in religious accommodation cases because their conviction to rest and worship on Saturdays put them in conflict with typical work schedules. Howard Friedman, University of Toledo law professor emeritus, has seen reasonable-accommodation cases continue to rise on his blog Religion Clause. Last week he secured a $50,000 settlement, and his former company, Tampa Bay Delivery Services, will undergo religious sensitivity training.įor a postal worker in Pennsylvania, though, the case is making its way through the Third Circuit Court of Appeals after a district court ruled last year in favor of the US Postal Service. In a case in Florida, a Sabbatarian Christian lost his job working for a delivery service contracted by Amazon, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launched a lawsuit on his behalf. Both claimed religious discrimination under Title VII, alleging their employer had not provided “reasonable accommodation” for them to work other days. But for some Christians on the job, the new delivery option conflicts with Sunday church services and their conviction not to work on the Sabbath.Īmazon’s seven-days-a-week schedule has already led to two lawsuits from drivers who were fired for not working on Sundays. America’s biggest retailer, Amazon, ships seven days a week, and as the site expands Sunday delivery across the country, more drivers are losing what would have been a steady day off.įor many, the shift just means their break will fall during the week.
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