Trading away our Sundays

Amazingly, you might think, our region does not yet have general Sunday trading. But with the competition going on between Woolworths and Coles the big chains have applied for extended hours and Sunday opening. Here is my take on it.

Before I comment on the proposed expansion of Sunday trading to the big supermarket chains, I must admit a conflict of interest. I work on Sundays. Indeed often the church’s comments on this topic have been more about maintaining our own monopoly over the day than reasoned debate. Those days are long past.

Of course having the big supermarket chains opening on Sunday won’t precipitate the end of the world – but it will be another small step that slowly and subtly changes the values of our society to reflect the fact that the holy dollar is the god we bow to; that every other value we have submits to the ‘right to shop’ where-ever and when-ever we want to.

Our town has already felt the effects of a seven day working week; the pressure it puts on families, the deterioration it has had on community and sporting groups. While it is hard to imagine any other way to run the crush, do we have to further devalue community and family for some inane appeal to shopping convenience?

The big stores are only thinking profits; it is their legal mandate to maximise shareholder returns. This will affect small business, workers, family and community.

Let’s not assume this is inevitable and progress. Western Australia firmly rejected extended general and Sunday trading in a 2005 referendum. People from the West celebrate that their state and cities still have a family/community atmosphere on weekends. It took society a long time to come to the 5-day working week and was seen as progress at the time; treating every day as the same is regress not progress.

Before we blithely accept General Sunday trading as inevitable and progress let’s consider what we are trading away for Sunday trading.

For a sermon on the topic of the Sabbath go to burdekinuc.podbean.com/2011/02/28/sabbath-blessing-or-burden

Bin Laden Dead

Is anyone else unnerved by the jubilation of Bin Laden's death?

While I'm happy to congratulate the US on seeking to find and capture the ring leader of al-Qaeda, to bring him to justice, and that inevitably such a mission would lead to casualties, I'm uncomfortable with the level of jubilation shown by various world leaders and average people on the streets. I'm with the vatican, I hope we would never celebrate the death of any person.

Could the US have celebrated the capture of Bin Laden, but been disappointed that he died in the cross fire? Shouldn't we lament that things should have to come to this - even if Bin Laden brought it all on himself.

I think US and world celebrations can only be bad for hopes of ending the East/West division. While we celebrate they protest and beatify. The size of our smiles helps grow the resolve of their resistance and hopes for revenge. From what I know Bin Laden was someone who had lost a sense of right and wrong when killing innocent people was justified for his cause. Yet we tread a dangerous path when we pat ourselves on the back for killing what now turns out to be an unarmed man. It seems this story has a lot more unraveling to do, and I feel our self-congratulatory spirit will only come back to bite us.

For a sermon that addresses this topic before it happened 'Do not murder' go to burdekinuc.podbean.com/2011/03/14/you-shall-not-murder/