A Physical Necessity

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 8, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 14.

"A Physical Necessity"

It is often stated that Sunday laws are necessary for the physical well-being of the people; and by many this supposed fact is eloquently urged as a reason why all should have a stated day of rest, and also why all should be required to rest upon the same day, namely, Sunday. But the force of the argument seems to be weakened somewhat by the well-established fact that, on an average, Jews enjoy better health, and consequently live longer, than any other civilized people. Of course many of them have a stated weekly rest-day, but a very large proportion of them have practically no stated rest; and even those who do conscientiously observe the Sabbath, do it under conditions which the advocates of Sunday laws declare render the necessary mental and physical rest impossible. Now the question arises, If Jews can enjoy good health and long life with no Sabbath, or at best with only a noisy Sabbath,— that is, surrounded with the noise of a workaday world,— why, in order to enjoy good health, must Christians have a law to compel both themselves and everybody else to rest on Sunday?