Catholics Argue that the Blue Laws Established by Protestants are Good for Reviving Church Attendance and Providing a Greater Good for Society

“Word on Fire” is an online Catholic publication proclaiming the “universality of the Catholic faith” to millions of people. [1] On November 30, 2023, they published an article that presented all the arguments for why Sunday laws are good and necessary in today’s society. The goal was to persuade readers to take action by adopting Sunday as a day of rest and to propose that both church and state preserve this day as holy.

Notice how religious voices have come out openly with their proposals to reinstate Sunday laws in America:

• “As Protestant authors Jim Davis and Michael Graham point out, the majority of adults in America today do not attend church—an historic first in the eighty years since Gallup began tracking church attendance.” [2]

• “In short, not only most Americans, but even Christians increasingly question the practical necessity of Sunday church attendance for a fulfilling life.” [2]

• “Thomas Aquinas teaches that the third commandment, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, is fittingly expressed as the precept that establishes man in true religion.” [2]

• “Many Protestant churches historically did require the Sunday obligation on the pain of not only sin but also legal penalty.” [2]

• “Indeed, the obligation of Christians to set aside the Sabbath day for church attendance was so deeply ingrained in the Christian civilization that the United States both inherited and perpetuated that Christian rest on Sundays demanded legal recognition. Sunday closing “blue laws” were on the books of the earliest American colonies and most states up until the Supreme Court considered and upheld their constitutionality in 1961.” [2]

• “The continued force of the Sunday obligation precept in the Catholic Church is thus an enduring sign of its unique claim of authority to bind all baptized Christians in a way that Protestantism long ago forswore. And, at any rate, the dechurching data indicates that the ‘freedom’ to attend or not in Protestant churches is no guarantor that the pews will be filled ‘willingly’.” [2]

• “Imagine a polity in which citizens were invited, but not required, to pay taxes and testify as witnesses in legal proceedings.” [2]

• “If then we willingly accept legally enforced positive obligations for membership in political community, which secures a subordinate common good, then how much more should the Christian willingly embrace obligations imposed by the Church, for an immeasurably higher good?” [2]

• “Let Catholics therefore rejoice in and proclaim the wisdom of the Sunday obligation, for it helps the faithful avoid becoming a slothful people and prescribes the most powerful medicine that can heal our slothful age.” [2]

Here, we see Roman Catholics endorsing their idea of forcing the general public to observe Sunday as a holy day. This type of religious imposition can be seen as oppressive, especially in societies with diverse religious or non-religious backgrounds. Since Saturday is the seventh day of the week and is recognized by Seventh-day Adventists and other Christians as the true day of worship, according to God’s word, they encounter difficulties and hardships whenever Sunday laws are implemented.

We know that when Protestants and Catholics start collaborating to push Sunday laws, the rights of religious minorities will be infringed. Unfortunately, Sunday laws disproportionately prioritize the rights of Sunday-keepers over those of everyone else.

“These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to honor the institution of her creating. The word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as Roman Catholics and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday … It has been shown that the United States is the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States shall enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special acknowledgment of her supremacy.” (Great Controversy, p. 578).

We can clearly see where all of this is headed. The ecumenical movement that is bringing Protestants and Catholics together is determined to exalt Sunday worship, promote spiritualism, reject biblical truth, and unite us under one head, Rome. All of these events are contributing to the elimination and suppression of present truth.

“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the State to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” (Great Controversy, p. 445).

Sources

[1] https://www.wordonfire.org/about/our-story/

[2] https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/the-invitation-and-obligation-of-the-lords-day/