Sunday Laws Unjust and Unchristian
By Asa O. Tait
Among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for the violation of what government denominated the law of God.—United States Senate. If the Legislature have the authority to appoint a time of compulsory rest, . . . it is without limit, and may extend to the prohibition of all occupations at all times.—Supreme Court of California. Sunday Laws Unjust and Unchristian
A NY Sunday law that may be enacted is essentially a religious law. For if you should take the religious sentiments away from Sunday you would find that no one would care to enact laws to compel its observance. This statement may be denied, the same as many other truths are denied, but thoughtful reflection is much more than likely to convince you that it is true, even tho you may be loath to admit it. Sunday represents one-seventh of a man's time. Our lives consist of the time we have. For you can not separate a man from his time without taking his life; the nearest you could come to it would be to put him in prison, and thus rob him of his freedom in spending his time as he should choose. Hence a law that prescribes how a man shall spend one-seventh of his time, regardless of what his wishes may be, robs him of just that much of his existence. Perfect freedom allows a man the liberty to come and go as he pleases, so long as by so doing he is not interfering with the equal liberties of others. Any civil law that requires a man to remain idle one-seventh of his time, or that prohibits him on some one particular day of the week from doing a deed that would be perfectly legitimate for him to do on any other day of the week, is depriving him of his freedom. The man is not actually put in prison on this seventh part of his time, but he is under the surveillance of the civil officer and is watched at every turn he makes during that day, and is in danger of arrest in case he violates any of the provisions of the Sunday law. The State does not give us our existence, and therefore does not give us our time. And for the State to take away a part of our time against our will when we have committed no crime, is an act of usurpation and tyranny. The State by its so-called civil Sunday law would attempt to take our time without giving us anything in return. To forcibly take anything from another while giving an equivalent is bad enough, but to take that for which it is impossible to give an equivalent is certainly getting toward the very depth of injustice. But when the State goes still further and takes something that it has no manner of right to take from one of its citizens, it is not only the lowest depth of injustice, but is the grossest kind of an act of tyranny. The California Supreme Court's Position.
It has been well stated by the Supreme Court of California that "if the legislature have the authority to appoint a time of compulsory rest, . . . it is without limit, and may extend to the prohibition of all occupations at all times."—Ex parte Newman, 9 Cal., pp. 509-518. The moment that it is conceded that the State may make a Sunday law, then it is conceded that the State may make a law compelling to refrain from work at any other time as well as Sunday, and this process may be kept up until all the time of the individual is taken and he becomes the absolute and abject slave of the State. Just such slavery is admitted by any one who will admit that Sunday laws can be just or right. Enough has been said to show the injustice of Sunday laws. It is not necessary to say that every reason advanced to show that such laws are unjust will at the same time show that they are unchristian. But there are still other grounds for declaring them out of harmony with the Man of Nazareth. In the first place, nothing could be Christian unless it is taught by the Bible, the Book given by the Author of Christianity. And any one who knows the Bible at all knows that it does not contain a single fragment of evidence in favor of keeping Sunday as a sacred day. Neither is there anything in the sacred Book to call for a cessation of labor on that day for physical benefits. In the Book that teaches the principles of Christianity, the day that we call Sunday is simply spoken of as the "first day of the week," and as being a common working-day. But even if Sunday were spoken of in the Bible as being a sacred day, or a day that should be observed by some form of rest or of worship, still it would be unchristian for the State to make laws compelling men to observe that day. Winning and Not Compelling.
The very essence of Christianity is in the divine effort to win men to the worship of the true God. Worship can not be compulsory and still be worship. For, if it were possible to compel worship, the Lord of Heaven would be responsible for every one who is lost. Every individual who worships God in spirit and in truth will be saved eternally in the kingdom of heaven. And if worship could be made compulsory, certainly God would have the power of compelling the individual to worship Him. But since He, the God of Heaven, does not assume such power, much less attempt to exercise it, it is well for men to be very modest about undertaking a task which the great Jehovah puts outside of the rightful exercise of His all-wise prerogatives. At the risk of His subjects rebelling against Him, the Lord gave to every one his own free will, and his free will gives him the freedom of choice. The Gospel invitation is, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28. And, again, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17. These texts are in harmony with the whole tenor of the Bible, and they show that there is no compulsion in the invitation of God. He so represents the absolute freedom of His subjects that He refuses to compel any of them, and therefore will not reign over those who do not give Him their willing obedience. Offers the Reward and Warns of the Danger.
The Lord plainly tells men that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:28), but He does not employ any kind of police to seek to drive men to Him. His only method is to hold before us the joys and the benefits of accepting Him, and the penalties that will finally be visited on those who reject Him, and then each one is left free to choose the service of the Lord or not to choose it, just as he sees fit. Men have foolishly undertaken to legislate in religious matters and the result has been the drenching of the earth with the blood of the martyrs of all the ages. But in attempting this religious legislation, they have swept aside the principles of Jesus Christ, and the venom of tyranny has boiled in their blood. This country took the Christian ground that the State had no right to legislate in matters of religion, but notwithstanding the strong position taken, most of the individual states have enacted both Sunday laws and laws against blasphemy. Now if the God-given principle of absolutely divorcing religious legislation from the statutes of the states was properly adhered to, there would be no place for Sunday laws.6• (Continued on Page 7.) Sunday Laws Unjust and Unchristian.
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For the Sunday law can not be enacted without violating justice by taking from the man one-seventh of his time; and Christian principle is at the same time violated when a law is made by the State to enforce the observance of any religious tenet, regardless of whether such tenet is taught in the Bible or not.