After the House passed a repeal of North Dakota’s blue laws – the prohibition on some types of retail sales on Sunday mornings – I expected smooth sailing in the state Senate. The Senate, after all, is typically perceived as being at least somewhat less socially conservative than the House.
Boy was I wrong.
The bill – HB1163 introduced by Rep. Pamela Anderson (D-Fargo) – failed on a 22-25 vote though it was hardly a party-line affair. As you can see from a roll call printout a friendly SAB reader at the capitol sent me, there were plenty of Republicans and Democrats on each side of this issue.
From the opposition, there was a lot of talk about religion.
“Man was not made for the Sabbath, rather the Sabbath was made for man,” Senator Robert Eberle (R-Lehr) told the floor in remarks attributed to Jesus. He went on to call the desire for Sunday sales “selfish consumerism.”
Senator David Clemens (R-West Fargo) said North Dakotans should “use that time to go to worship” or be with their families. Senator Diane Larson (R-Bismarck) echoed those sentiments.
But the most bizarre comments came from Senator Dick Dever (R-Bismarck) who went on a lengthy rant about atheism.
He called atheism a “belief system” which adheres to the “humanist manifesto.” Which may be true for some atheists, but certainly not all.
Not this atheist, anyway.
He also said that atheists are trying to “foist” their philosophy on society by trying to “break down the family.” He accused atheists, when the sue over things like saying “god” in the pledge of allegiance, of “using the government as a tool to advance” the “faith” of atheism.
He then went of into a tangent about creationism.
“We don’t teach evolution in school because it’s settled science,” he told the Senate floor. “We teach it because it isn’t creationism. Why is that?”
Dever appeared to answer his own question in another part of his diatribe. He said humanists encourage teachers to use “a classroom instead of a pulpit” to spread their belief system.
What any of that has to do with Sunday openings I have no idea. The idea that the push behind this bill is some sort of atheist/humanist plot is a bit ridiculous. I suspect that most of the people who support the change are people of one faith or another who just happen to think that business owners should get to decide for themselves when they might want to be open.
I’m told that there may be an effort to reconsider the bill on the Senate floor. That’s what happened in the House earlier this session when the bill initially failed there. How successful that effort will be I don’t know, but I’ve already spoken to one supporter of the legislation who is promising to put the issue on the statewide ballot if the bill dies in the Senate.
“The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and its rival al-Qaeda have recently published propaganda videos explicitly calling on jihadists from China’s Uighur minority who have joined the terrorist groups to attack the communist country. …Both videos feature calls to the Muslim world to wage jihad against the kafirs [non-believers] of China and to perform acts of revenge for the deaths of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. …Oh, you Chinese, who do not understand what people say! We are the soldiers of Allah, will make you understand Islam with the tongues of our weapons. We will come to you to shed blood like rivers and avenge the oppressed,” he adds before savagely decapitating a prisoner dressed in red, a color traditionally associated with communism.” –
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community has joined with other groups in calling for Sunday to be recognized as a common day of rest from work throughout the European Union.
Sunday’s special and an essential pillar of the European social model. However, the latest European Working Condition Survey indicates that more and more EU citizens have to work on this day. The European Sunday Alliance therefore launched today, on the European day of work-free Sunday, a call to action to show the need for a common EU-wide regulation.
The Catholic Diocese of Hallam and the Anglican Diocese of Sheffield came together to host an ecumenical Study Day on Pope Francis’ encyclical on Saturday, 25th February. A packed room at Sheffield’s Quaker Meeting House came away enthused and inspired to foster care for creation in their home parishes. “The suggestion to explore Laudato Si’ together came from the Anglican diocese”, explained Greg Ryan, adult formation advisor for Hallam. “Not only have we been studying together, but we’ve learned from each other, often in practical ways. It’s been an experience of ‘receptive ecumenism”’. 
“A high-level whistleblower at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has revealed that the organization published manipulated data in a major 2015 report on climate change in order to maximize impact on world leaders at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015. According to a 
“The U.S. Supreme Court has been handed a bombshell: An appeal of a lower-court ruling that banned Christian counselors from talking with teens about the biblical standard for sexuality. …The law originated with homosexual interests who want the state to require licensed counselors to promote homosexuality but be banned from explaining its negative consequences. It began in the state’s schools, where a previous law allowed promotion of homosexuality but forbade educators from explaining the problems. “If the Supreme Court grants our petition for certiorari, this will be the most important freedom of religion case for this year and will impact the rights of counseling ministries across the country, potentially for generations to come,” said Brad Dacus, president of PJI. He said since the passing of SB 1172, which bars licensed counselors from assisting youth who want to change or reduce same-sex attractions, PJI has worked to defend counseling that takes place within church walls. The law also prohibits counseling that would steer youth away from gender confusion.” –
“What I want to see from the Trump administration is a focus on God and the Constitution,” DeLay told WND. “It’s pretty simple. The implementation is very difficult, but what I want to see is a bold understanding that faith is the core of this country and the Constitution is the core of our government.” The former majority leader calls for a revolution that will transform the very core of America in his brand new book “Revival! Revolution! Rebirth!” He assures Americans he does not want a violent revolution but a spiritual one, similar to the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.” –
ortion and the death penalty have long been cardinal beliefs for the Roman Catholic church, whose faithful make up about a quarter of all Americans. What if fighting climate change becomes an equally passionate issue in parishes nationwide? The foremost group of Catholic leaders in the U.S. is ramping up a campaign to do just that, urging priests and congregations from San Diego to Atlanta to think about global warming as a sanctity-of-life issue.” –
“The Obama administration withheld information from Congress and improperly fired an employee as part of a politically motivated push to end a Department of Energy (DOE) program, House Republicans say. A