Christ The King
What makes a country a Christian Nation? In most Western countries about 80% of people are baptized and traditional Christian holidays are celebrated. December 25 is a day off in most Western countries. Also, if we drive through towns and cities we see Churches everywhere. Are we a Christian nation? The answer is no.
We lack the critical element of promoting the Kingship of Christ. Christ is the King of every nation on Earth but only those that celebrate his Kingship can be called Christian nations.
In the summer of 2001, my family took a family vacation to Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is in Atlantic Canada. One thing that I noticed was that nothing was open on Sunday. This was the law of the province and it came as quite a shock. My hometown was not like this at all. Where I come from, Sunday is just like any other day. Most stores are open so that people can go shopping. It’s no different than any of the other six days in that regard.
While I found it odd at the time since I was only a teenager, my mother expressed her love of this law and belief that this is how it should be everywhere. At this point in history, Nova Scotia was not promoting the Kingship of Jesus Christ. This law was simply one of the last remnants of a formerly Christian civilization. The King had His day set aside for Him, even though most people weren’t using the day to worship Him.
Eventually the vacation ended and we went home. Over the next few years I started to grow in my faith and was given a Bible by my cousin when I graduated from High School. This would be the first Bible that I read. Regardless of my faith developing, I didn’t give much thought to the law that prohibited businesses to be open on Sunday that I witnessed years earlier in Nova Scotia.
Several years after that vacation, I was watching the news and learned that Nova Scotia had abolished the law which prohibited businesses being open on Sunday. Christ the King no longer had His day set aside for Him. Sunday was now no different than Monday through Saturday. It was just another day for shopping.
If I could change one law in the region I live, it would be to have businesses close on Sunday. I believe that this would cause our generation to ask a specific question: What is so special about Sunday? The new generation of children being brought up are extremely secular. Most of them haven’t rejected religion, they’ve just never been exposed to it.
We all need a day to stop and think about reality and our Creator. We have six days to work, six days to shop, and six days to do whatever we want.
For everyone who doesn’t agree with this law, I ask one question: What will we lose if this law returns to our civilization? Yes, we’ll lose a day to shop but we can do that on six other days. More importantly, people will use this day to reflect on why this day is important. It’s the day where a Christian civilization appreciates and honors their King.
I agree with you. At least it would make people scratch their heads and wonder. On the other hand, it would invoke waves of serious boycotts. But that’s in theory, this would not happen. Well unless some kind of nature cataclysm knocks down people to the point where they would turn back to God, which is very unlikely.
You make a very good point Margarita. I agree that it will take something huge to get Western civilization to turn back to God.
One of the key messages of our Lady of La Salette was that she was grieved over the sins of blasphemy against God and not observing the Sunday rest.
The law was abolished after it was deemed unconstitutional since people felt the “Lord’s Day Act” infringed on their right to freedom of religion. By requiring all stores to close on Sundays, even those owned by non-Christians, people felt Christians were forcing their beliefs on other people and causing store owners to lose money.
Not all businesses were closed on Sundays, gas stations, convenient stores, restaurants and Zellers were open on Sundays.
I don’t like gas stations being closed on Sundays and having to go door-to-door asking if anyone has any gas in a jerrycan to help me get home when I’m traveling on Sunday and paying $5/L.
Thanks for the information Philomena. I didn’t have all of the details. I should also point out that this law didn’t infringe on anyones freedom of religion. I’m sure back in 2001, the residents of Halifax could practice any religion they wished. As I made clear in the post, Nova Scotia was not a Christian Society in 2001. The “Lord’s Day Act” was simply one of the last remaining remnants of when it was a Christian society which was long ago.
The gas station situation probably wouldn’t be a problem today since you can pay by credit card at the pump, though I realize that this was only possible in the last 10 years or so.
Regardless, thank you for the comment and taking an interest in this blog.
Happy Sunday and God Bless.