CARDINAL O'CONNOR BLASTS SUNDAY BASEBALL

lthough notorious Sunday "Blue Laws" -- government restrictions on non- religious activity in order to emphasize the primacy and importance of worship -- are largely a thing of the past, some faith groups are again becoming increasingly vocal in speaking out against what they say is the pervasive secularization of Sunday. Others cite a trend in "disrespect" or "blasphemy" of sacred icons and images. And from soccer or baseball games on Sunday mornings, even major league sporting events on holy days like Good Friday, to unflattering depictions of sacred figures, religious groups are bristling with resentment and calling for action.

Leading the charge is New York Roman Catholic Cardinal John O'Connor, who in recent weeks has spoken out against the scheduling of big league baseball events and now is letting his views be known on the subject of when Little League baseball and soccer games should be held -- never, never on a Sunday morning.

"Why is it religion that must always accommodate," O'Connor asked in his column for this week's issue of "Catholic New York," a regional church newspaper. "How many altar pastors have been told by altar servers, 'I can't serve Sunday. I have a Little League game'?" O'Connor added that such events signify the "constant erosion, the constant secularization of our culture, that I strongly believe to be a serious mistake."

O'Connor is right about not only the secularization of culture -- a social development which many applaud as long overdue -- but the incursion of both leisure and work into what was, for centuries, a "sacred time" in the week. Last month, all 30 Major League Baseball teams played games on Good Friday, prompting O'Connor to charge that such events "cheapen our culture, no matter how big the box-office receipts."

New York's powerful Catholic prelate is not the only clerical leader speaking out against secularization and the Sabbath, however. Last December, the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Council of Churches approved a controversial "Statement of Concern" titled "Youth Sports and Public Activities on Sunday Mornings."

"Throughout Massachusetts, many public activities, particularly sports events, are scheduled in conflict with traditional times for Christian worship," declared the Protestant umbrella group representing dozens of denominations in the state. "Thus, some of our members, particularly youth, are confronted with a difficult choice. They will participate either in worship or in recreational activities."

Calling it "a painful dilemma for children and parents," the Council of Churches statement added "marathons, 'walks,' bicycle races, or parades (that) have hindered people from attending worship."

"A pattern of public insensitivity to the religious traditions of our churches has emerged..."

The "Statement of Concern," distributed by the Council to over 1,700 churches throughout the state, urged parishioners to take action to "reclaim Sunday as a Sabbath time set apart." One suggestion was to "Encourage civic leaders -- mayor, town manager, city council, Board of Selectmen -- to take a fresh look at these developments and their impact on families, society and community life."

"That's when we got interested," said Gil Lawrence, Regional Director for American Atheists. "Churches are already tax-exempt, and now they're enlisting government to make sure that there is no competition on Sunday." Lawrence added that the "Statement of Concern" was really a response to the growing problem of "empty-pew syndrome," and cited the recent closure of sixty churches in the Boston area.

The "Statement of Concern" distributed by the Massachusetts Council of Churches to over 1,700 churches throughout the state, urged parishioners to take action and "reclaim Sunday as a Sabbath time set apart..."

"Keeping the Sabbath holy," a compelling agenda for many religious groups, has historically involved seeking government prohibition of secular activities -- presumably underscoring the message that people will, or should, be in church and contemplating spiritual affairs. In the American experience, such laws date back to Virginia in 1610. The new world's first prohibition of secular activity on Sunday, and mandatory church service participation, included three levels of penalties for transgressors. Those who avoided compulsory services could suffer loss of provisions, whipping, and finally death. It is a stipulation widely overlooked by those who argue that the continent was originally settled by those seeking religious tolerance and liberty. But it was in the New Haven colony where a list of prohibited activities (1638-1665) were reputedly printed on a blue paper, thus giving rise to the notion of "blue laws."

In 1781, the Tory clergyman Samuel Andrew Peters (1735-1826) crafted his satirical work "A General History of Connecticut" which delineated 45 "blue laws" which he attributed to the zealous Puritan councils. "Sabbatarianism," the notion that Sunday worship should be encouraged at the expense of non- religious activity, was ensconced in a legal tapestry throughout the colonies and, after the American Revolution, in the individual states. But it was the Revolution which began to undermine the notion of official or "established" churches. The colonies had these endorsed denominations which often were subsidized through taxation; in some cases, membership in the "established" church was necessary to exercise certain political rights such as owning property or voting.

The Enlightenment agenda which had convulsed autocratic and clerical rule in Europe, however, reached the shores of America, and wrought similar results as the power of organized religious groups was seriously challenged and curtailed. Churches were disestablished in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey in 1776, and the following year in New York, North Carolina and Georgia. The process continued until 1833 when Massachusetts finally amended its constitution to "disestablish" religious groups. Although churches were no longer financed with tax monies, they did remain tax-exempt. Records of the time depict clergy issuing dire warnings of the consequences of disestablishment, but ideas such as that declared in Thomas Jefferson's 1786 Act for Establishing Religious Freedom prevailed instead. That measure declared that in Virginia, "no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions of belief; but that all men shall be free to profess...their opinion in matters of religion."

Even so, the notorious "blue laws" lingered as the residue of the pre- disestablishment period. For the next two centuries, people were prosecuted under Sabbatarian laws for doing carpentry, plowing fields, hoeing a private garden, painting a bridge, or hiring out for manual labor. In 1885, for instance, a man was convicted for violating the "blue" statute, taken from his pregnant wife and young child and placed in jail where he contracted malaria. He was released until his health improved, then re-jailed, spending a total of nine months behind bars.

The enforcement of Sunday prohibition though was both a political and theological statement, since groups which celebrated Saturday as the holy period were often prosecuted under the "blue laws." Catholics and the bulk of Protestants embraced Sunday as the "true" Sabbath, but there were religious minorities which taught otherwise, and observed the traditional Saturday period. Seventh-day Adventist congregations were sometimes arrested en masse, since they engaged in a variety of proscribed activities and considered Saturday the "day of rest." The SDA took their doctrinal cues from early Christian practices; prior to 200 c.e., Saturday was the only weekly Sabbath. Through the fourth century, different churches observed either or even both days.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS spokesperson Ron Barrier puts the blame for religious angst on "empty-pew syndrome."

"Some surveys are indicating that only about 20% of church members really attend any weekly function. So Cardinal O'Connor and other religious leaders should be blaming their own AWOL membership..."

Blue laws also posed a problem in some Orthodox Jewish communities. Today, in some areas such as Teaneck, N.Y. stores might remain shut on both Saturday and Sunday.

Blue law or Sabbatarian legislation also co-existed as a crucial part of other social controls, especially laws relating to "blasphemy" or "obscenity." Catholic and Protestant groups which supported Sabbatarian strictures often saw the "official" endorsement of Sunday religious activity in the same light as regulations which called for censorship of "immoral" books, plays and later even movies. Anthony Comstock (1844-1915) built his reputation as America's foremost guardian of public virtue, thanks to his spectacular and highly- publicized raids on publishers and vendors of profane materials. In 1873, Comstock and his Society for the Suppression of Vice, succeeded in persuading Congress to enact the "Act of the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use." The measure became popularly known as the Comstock Law. Under the authority of being an unpaid but official postal inspector, Comstock and his agents would invade pressrooms, bookstores, even theaters; he was known for his spirited pursuit of birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger, and play write George Bernard Shaw whom he criticized for his "smutty" productions.

Comstock's start in the morals-enforcement business, however, began after his stint in the Civil War, when he became active in groups such as the YMCA. He quickly developed a reputation as a vigorous and feared Sabbatarian by filing charges against saloon keepers who dared to defy Sunday blue laws.

While federal courts have ruled that Sunday closing laws are a valid exercise of individual state authority, the "blue laws" have been largely, though not entirely, disbanded. Economic pressures including the rise of flexible working schedules, and the growth of a service oriented and leisure economy have made Sunday closing a high economic penalty for religious purity. In addition, the end of the 40-hour work week and its replacement by longer or disjointed part time working schedules place tens of millions of Americans in the position of needing basic services on Sunday. Stores, gas stations, restaurants, groceries and other enterprises need to be open. Indeed, the rise of a consumerist economy has been a considerable force against the blue laws.

"Part of it has to do with 'empty-pew' syndrome," says Ron Barrier, National Spokesperson for American Atheists. "Some surveys are indicating that only about 20% of church members really attend any weekly functions." Barrier added that Cardinal O'Connor and other religious leaders who are anxious to see baseball, soccer or other scheduled altered to accommodate services, "should be blaming their AWOL membership instead."

"After all, it's these people who are making the choice to go to a ball game or head to the movies instead of going to church," said Barrier.

While there is not evidence of a widespread Sabbatarian revival, the growing angst over Sunday activities may be linked to a wider phenomenon, that of heightened sensitivity to "attacks" on religious beliefs and symbols. This includes everything from "lighthearted by trivializing uses of religion for commercial ends," such as the use of a parody on daVinci's painting of the "Last Supper" to sell Volkswagens in France, to works by contemporary artists which might depict Jesus hanging from a cross of penises, notes a recent N.Y. Times piece. And expect other unfavorable depictions of religious symbols and faith, such as the forthcoming play by Tony Award winner Terrence McNally about a gay Jesus, to evoke condemnation and, possibly, boycotts or call for government censorship and intervention. Groups such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights have become more active in denouncing what they perceive as attacks on faith, or the profane use of religious symbols.

Sabbatarianism has rightly been called one of the most egregious violations of state-church separation and the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Laws which prohibit secular activities during any "holy" period, including Sunday, clearly have the intent on creating a competition-free period for religious exercise; in addition, they place a higher value on religious worship and institutions than on private life or commercial activity. Finally, they send the message -- one which is clearly outdated in modern culture -- that the masses of people need to be herded, cajoled, or simply made so bored that they will fill their time by heading for church.

Theater operators, baseball team owners, business groups and coaches are not clamoring for a rescheduling of church services so there will be more customers available on Sunday mornings. Imagine the outcry if they were to do so! Fairness demands that Cardinal O'Connor, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and all other religious groups and leaders remain silent on this issue, and not beg local governments or the state for special protection and rights. For those who wish to worship on Sunday, or at any other time, the First Amendment is an ironclad guarantee that they are free to do so.

For those of us who don't, it offers the right to opt out and head to the ball game, or anywhere else we choose.

Web Posted: May 18, 1998