How many of you believe Sunday no alcohol laws are stupid nonsense?

Why do you go to church at all? It is organized religion that is behind many of the laws that many of dislike. Is is organized religion that is responsible of the millions of humans killed by their different beliefs in different gods that there is no proof even exist.

I've experienced paranormal events so I know there is more to life than what certain atheists believe. I'm just not sure what caused those paranormal things to happen. I'd like to think there is a higher power over everything. Man kinds feeble attempts at making sense of it all via organized religion makes many feel better that there is life after death. I'd like to think ghosts were messing with me on a few occasions because if it wasn't ghosts, then I must have telekinetic powers that only manifest on rare occasions. I don't believe that. I tried using the force like in Star Wars to make a pencil roll and couldn't even do that. There must be a higher power if ghosts exist. If ghosts and a higher power exist, best to play it safe because that means there might be life after death and God as well. So I continue to go to church to stay in good graces with the church. I realize many don't believe and many have doubts there is even a God and I've heard some don't even believe in the paranormal but if these people could have followed me around, they would have freaked out a couple of times.

There are even some alien conspiracy theories that claim that Jesus was an alien and that one species of alien was trying to modify human behavior by introducing certain ideas and concepts. I even read one conspiracy theory that Moses was being led around by aliens and that when Manna from heaven fell, an alien spaceship created the manna and made it fall from the sky. I think a majority of people do believe that God exists. I know the paranormal exists without a doubt. It doesn't take up that much of my time to go to church, try to do good and play it safe. I'd rather think there was a God in charge rather than we are all part of an artificial sim reality and the AI likes screwing with me on occasion. However the AI in this real old computer game and in a new computer game has been screwing with me on occasion. So I don't know for sure. God, or AI in charge of the universe, at this point, does it even matter what the difference is? If I get punished for doing the wrong thing, I try not to do that.

I might have had sex with an alien dancer in the past. Maybe now it all makes sense. Aliens might be watching me. Might be alien practical jokers too.

I've had daydreams of hot female aliens beaming down in the middle of a church service, injecting me with nanobots to restore my memory of the alien language and my alien memories and then beaming us all out if church service to join them in combat on an alien planet. That was actually an old daydream. The newest daydream does not involve combat. It involves a hot alien human looking female opening a portal and asking me to come sight see and take pictures on an advanced planet in the Tau Ceti star system. I've dreamed of tall metallic structures in their cities and beautiful water features with superb landscapes. Then I come back and post pictures on Facebook and get arrested for breaking some alien non contact laws and have my Facebook page blocked by the US government because they block all alien knowledge.

Alternative is that aliens have been messing with me.

Back on topic, I see no good reason for blocking the sale of beer and wine on Sunday.

@shadowcat,

Governments pass laws, churches just give them an excuse to do so. Throughout history, almost all governments have been abusive and disrespectful of human rights at some point. This holds equally true for governments with official state religions and for governments that are officially atheist.

There was a time, here in the Western World, when church and state were almost synonymous, and at that time, yes, it seemed that religion was indeed responsible for much violence and death. And then one day church and state became officially separated and a funny thing happened: churches abruptly stopped killing folks, but governments went right on killing people up to this very day.

Today, here in America, churches are still responsible for lots of silly shit but they generally don't kill people anymore. And as for these stupid "blue laws," they're kept on the books today because of inertia, fear of change, fear of the unknown, and little old ladies: all things that would continue to exist even if all churches disappeared overnight.

@Rick999 said:

"I've experienced paranormal events... I'd like to think ghosts were messing with me on a few occasions because if it wasn't ghosts, then I must have telekinetic powers that only manifest on rare occasions... I tried using the force like in Star Wars to make a pencil roll... There are even some alien conspiracy theories that claim that Jesus was an alien and that one species of alien was trying to modify human behavior by introducing certain ideas and concepts. I even read one conspiracy theory that Moses was being led around by aliens and that when Manna from heaven fell, an alien spaceship created the manna and made it fall from the sky... I might have had sex with an alien dancer in the past. Maybe now it all makes sense. Aliens might be watching me. Might be alien practical jokers too... I've had daydreams of hot female aliens beaming down in the middle of a church service, injecting me with nanobots to restore my memory of the alien language and my alien memories and then beaming us all out if church service to join them in combat on an alien planet..."

Alrighty. Tuning this out now. Strangely, he's still more coherent than several other people here.

I accidentally caused an atheist who didn't even believe in the paranormal to have a crisis of beliefs back in my college days. He said the things he saw happen around me, no way, no way could everything be an accident, the odds were like a million to one. He really seemed to suddenly feel freaked out one day, next day too. I never mentioned that someone or something may be watching me. Then he felt screwed as well. Maybe h e was just crazy. He even remembered me saying I wish it would rain and the sky went from suddenly clear blue to raining in less than a few hours. He wasn't as smart as he thought he was. He lost 8 games of chess in a row to me. I didn't think he was a very good player. I was actually surprised when he said he was his High School chess champion. I thought what a bunch of idiots they must have been. The rain was just a coincidence. I did have a brother in law once say he wasn't going to play any more games with me that involved dice because he said I was like the luckiest person in the world he ever saw. He was upset at losing 3 or 4 games of backgammon in a row she I was using luck to win. Sore losers.

should have read in a row since I was using luck to win.

I had another brother in law refuse to play risk with me as a teenager. He didn't like the way the dice came up when I threw them.

Back on topic, yeah no one seems to want to change the old outdated laws on the books. Can't buy beer and wine today at the grocery store. Can't play poker online legally in South Carolina. Why? You can name stupid reasons. I've even read in past papers that some people can't control their gambling. Their gambling gets so out of control that they need public assistance at tax payer expense to support them because they lose everything to gambling. I believe that's a lame excuse. Legalize gambling and tax it. Use the tax money to have support programs for people who become easily addicted. Use the tax money to create basic income for the unemployed and homeless so that maybe we don't have any more homeless any more. Tax sex trades too. Legalize it. Use the tax money to educate people on the dangers of sex with paid sex workers and pay for sexual testing to help prevent the spread of diseases. Instead society does nothing for now. Things are stagnant. We need more pragmatism and common sense and raise revenue for our national liabilities of 100 trillion dollars.

FYI, every person owes or will owe on average about $333,000 on that $100 trillion in national liabilities. A family of four will owe about $1 million. If we don't have the money to pay,a lot of that is owed to Americans to pay for future social security, Medicare,, Medicaid, etc, etc. If our economy gets stronger and grows at an 8% growth rate per year, no problem. If not, we need a more efficient economy and tax system.

I think we might have anarchy and legal pot everywhere before sex for money becomes legal. We don't even have the right to buy beer on Sunday in some places. Unfortunately, if we have a currency crisis, it could wipe out the savings of millions and leave almost have the country depending upon government welfare, destitute. Then if police aren't getting paid, crime will run rampant. All these old laws and many good laws will be ignored. Anarchy will reign. I think many are hoping the economy grows a lot faster and nothing needs to change,

Sounds like a tempest in a teapot to me. You have your beer, why waste your time bitching.

"Use the tax money to have support programs for people who become easily addicted. Use the tax money to create basic income for the unemployed and homeless so that maybe we don't have any more homeless any more. Tax sex trades too. Legalize it. Use the tax money to educate people on the dangers of sex with paid sex workers and pay for sexual testing to help prevent the spread of diseases."

<<< By that logic, we had better hope that lots of people gamble and have sex with prostitutes so that we have enough revenue to pay for all the damage caused by problematic gambling and sex with prostitutes. Wouldn't it be better to just leave people alone and assume that they can behave like adults without the government "educating" them about why they shouldn't throw all of their money away?

"if we have a currency crisis, it could wipe out the savings of millions and leave almost have the country depending upon government welfare"

<<< I'm pretty sure if we have a real currency crisis, the government's money won't be worth anything either. Welfare payments would have no more meaning than a Hallmark card: 'Sorry that you're poor now. But we're still thinking of you in your time of need. Sincerely, The Government.'

Anyway, tell us about your paranormal experiences.

^ By that logic we had better hope that lots of people gamble and have sex with prostitutes so that we have enough revenue to pay for all the damage caused by problematic gambling and sex with prostitutes. Wouldn't it be better to just leave people alone and assume that they can behave like adults without the government "educating" them about why they shouldn't throw all of their money away?

"if we have a currency crisis, it could wipe out the savings of millions and leave almost have the country depending upon government welfare"

If we ever have a real currency crisis, I'm sure the government's money wouldn't be worth anything either. Getting a welfare check would have no more meaning than a nice Hallmark card: 'Sorry that you're poor now. We heard you're feeling blue. But we're still thinking of you in your time of need. Sincerely, The Government.'

Anyway, tell us about your paranormal experiences.

Yes, the so called Blue Laws are kind of pointless, and possibly it could be argued that they are a violation of the First Amendment.

However, if they had them where I lived, I wouldn't be bothered by them.

I would prefer if no one drank alcohol and if alcoholic beverages did not exist.

I consider it far better when strip clubs do not have alcohol. You find a better grade of dancer.

But I also know that the 18th Amendment did not work. It has to be handled some other way.

SJG

Marxism 101 youtube.com

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That no alcohol on Sunday seems like a very local thing to your particular city, I don't think it's common in most areas

I consider myself to be a committed Christian, but I believe that blue laws, where they still exist, should not exist. Whose Sabbath are we protecting? Sunday, for most Christians? Saturday, for observant Jews and Seventh Day Adventists? Friday, for Muslims? Mondays, for those who just hate Mondays?

There are many genuinely faithful people of every religion. All should be free to believe, or not believe as their conscience dictates.

I thought many southern states have blue laws for Sunday. South Carolina has laws against any form of poker as well or laws against playing any game involving chance. I'd like to be able to buy beer or wine on Sunday. I'd like to play poker online legally and win or lose maybe some cash without worrying about getting arrested. However I can't legally. I abide by the laws but it's not against my morals to drink beer or wine on Sunday nor is it against my morals to play a game online. Yet we still have these laws in various places. It's not against my morals to allow strippers in strip clubs to show their nipples in the club. In some states, we seem to be going backwards in our freedoms. I just wanted to say something.

As far as the paranormal if you don't believe in it, I'm not going to convince you unless you experience it first hand and I have no control over whatever happens. Some people could even post videos if they had evidence but others would claim it was fake. Even when US forces invaded Iraq, someone was denying US forces were anywhere close to Baghdad. Someone will always deny something if they want to. Anyway the question was why I still go to church. I provided an answer. I sometimes go on Sunday. I just don't think it's right to have laws enforcing morals of one religion onto everyone else. If it's the Baptists who don't believe in drinking or gambling, well they can keep their beliefs but it shouldn't affect me nor you unless you want to go their church and follow their beliefs. If a majority of Muslins suddenly move into a state or county and don't believe in eating pork, I don't think I should be banned from eating pork or hot dogs because of one religion. Yet we still have these old laws on the books and enforced in some areas.

I've read arguments why we should keep these laws like some people or addicts can't control themselves or may have gambling problems. That's like banning all cars because someone might get killed. Thousands of lives could be saved each year by banning all automobiles. Actually that is a more valid reason to ban cars for safety than banning gambling or drinking on Sunday. Thousands won't die because they bet a few dollars on a poker game. As far as taxes and education, that is just to appease those who want sin taxes on everything. They already tax everything else that is legal. It wouldn't bother me if we had no taxes at all but everyone keeps electing politicians who spend more than they collect in revenue.

We have no laws against eating hot dogs or pork but that was used as an example of laws applying morals for one religion onto everyone else. Seems like it should not be a law in my opinion anywhere. If we don't get the little stuff fixed, applying new rules like requiring nipples to be covered in strip clubs seems acceptable to whomever required it and enforces it. We can't play poker for any money even in private homes in some states or we risk getting arrested like some have already in Sourh Carolina. There are nation wide laws against online poker involving money. Obviously it's not against many peoples morals. Just raising awareness that one or two religions are still using the law to apply their morals onto everyone else in my opinion by keeping outdated laws on the books. If no one complains, nothing ever changes.

Thought I was talking to the choir here but I guess this thread digressed a lot.

I also thought the law against nude clubs not being able to sell beer was quite silly and the argument that guys won't be able to control themselves is hilarious. Almost every nude club I've been to allowed guys to bring in beer and I used to drink more in all nude clubs than topless clubs because that made the price a lot cheaper. However I liked cheaper bring your own beer model for strip clubs. I never tried to change the silly law in that case because it ended up saving me money and no one in the clubs tries to tell you that you need to order a drink to stay seated at whatever table. I once had a waitress tell me in a topless club that tables were for drinking customers. Duhh, stupid waitress she was. Only other place to sit was at the bar. I had a few drinks already. Clubs can get sued for serving too many drinks. In fact that particular club did get sued later on.

Ok I said enough.

In ohio alcohol can be sold on sundays with a special license. Basically just another fee. Most clubs pay it and serve on sunday...but I do know gatsbys in akron is closed on sunday.

samsung,

When I first started going to Ohio in '70, on Sunday they could sell what was called 32 beer, as I recall. That changed later..

Had some great times up there over the years! :)

It takes a long time for these Sunday laws to get changed. In the town that I live in now(pop 15K) back in 1987 it was completely dry. Then they started to allow restaurants to serve alcohol except on Sundays. Next restaurants were allowed to sell alcohol 7 days a week. The next change gave grocery stores the right to sell beer & wine except on Sundays. The latest change about a year ago, now allows them to sell 7 days a week.

Who knows. If I live long enough there may be a liquor store here. But I still probably won't be able to buy a car on a Sunday and Chick-fil-A will still be closed.

I agree that Blue laws are stupid and archaic, but they did serve another purpose. They allowed working people in general to have one day that they could count on to get together and do things that were important to them without fear of reprisals from a job that insisted on being open on Sunday so mom and pop could have a day with their children. I know some of you guys are going to point out some people always needed to work those days but overall it had its benefits.

And then there were the Red laws to track and intimidate us that were different in our political preferehnces.

(sp)

There are blue laws in a county in north east New Jersey. The blue laws keep the malls from being open on sundays. It might seem useful - but it’s simply insane to venture out on the roads on Saturday during this season - as folks are attempting to get their holiday shopping done.

I believe Christians are supposed to refrain from servile work on Sundays. My solution is simple. I ask the dancer if she’s Christian. If she is - I simply don’t require her to get on her knees when performing oral sex. That puts us on a more even level...

The single stupidest thing ever said is that religion has caused a lot of deaths worldwide. Between Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot 50 million people died an yet the deaths in the entire time of the crusades was less than 1.75 million. We had blue laws in Massachusetts for years and it was great having everything closed on Sundays. The loss of religion in life began the downfall of the United States and no I couldn't give a shit and I don't believe in God. Religion may be stupid, but it was a useful means of controlling the morons we call the vast majority of society.

@skibum609,

You're committing a logical fallacy. I agree with you that religion itself isn't responsible for any deaths, but the argument you're making is faulty: just because atheists have caused many deaths, that doesn't mean that religious people haven't caused deaths, too. Ultimately though, you're right, religion doesn't kill people; people kill people. More precisely, governments kill people. Beliefs aren't deadly, actions are deadly.

As for your other point about the alleged loss of religion leading to a downfall of the United States, I totally disagree.

First, this is still a very religious country. It always has been and it always will be. Rates of belief today are not really all that much different from rates of belief a hundred years ago.

Second, the least religious States don't seem like bad places to live (New Hampshire, Vermont, Wyoming, Nevada, Alaska, etc.), whereas the most religious States are nothing to brag about (Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, etc.).

Third, if we really do need religion to control the masses, then there's just no point in having the United States to begin with. This is supposed to be a free country.

@shadowcat: Chick-Fil-A closes Sundays nationwide because of its founders beliefs, not blue laws. Unfortunately they also have some backwards policies on gays as well... :-(

ATACdawg - I knew that. I live on the only town to have a Chick-Fil-A Luau.

ATAC,

"backwards policies" in your view, but their are millions that might disagree with your view. Best to say, "Unfortunately they also have some backwards policies on gays..." in my opinion. :-)

Giving workers time off is a valid point until the store is already open but they have the lights turned off in the grocery store beer aisle and you just can't buy alcohol on Sunday because of the law. I'm used to it. I just thought it was a pointless law. One among others.

Example. It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays in South Carolina. At least if this site full of dumb laws listed by states is correct. dumblaws.com

I may have broken the law along with everyone else in church on Sunday. I see Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks. Is the law in South Carolina.

In Georgia, I see the law bans all sex toys and Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.

No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday. Among other laws.

Makes me wonder what law makers were thinking when they banned all sex toys. I think I heard another state banned sex toys or limited the amount of dildos a female can own.

Obviously we have too many laws in this country.

In NC, Charlotte city law says women must cover their bodies with at least 16 yards of cloth at all times. I also see While having sex, you must stay in the missionary position and have the shades pulled.

If a man and a woman who aren’t married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.

I did not realize how easy it was to get married in NC. All you need to do is rent a room and register as married. I never listed a guest as married to me so I'm still single. I'd be shocked if I found out I have been married for over 20 years. That could be worse than complaining about stupid laws.