Different states and churches within states are adopting various policies about meeting together on Sundays during the pandemic. Be sure to embrace what your church leaders have decided as they have done so after prayer and consideration. Adapt the following to fit your group’s experiences.
Read the following list of actual laws to your students:
- It is against the law for a man to knit during the fishing season (New Jersey)
- Law forbids eating in a place that is on fire (Illinois)
- It’s forbidden to fish while sitting on a giraffe’s neck (Illinois)
- Horses may not be kept in bathtubs (South Carolina)
- One may not dye a duckling blue and offer it for sale unless more than six are for sale at once (Kentucky)
- So what are your thoughts on these laws? Can you think of any good reasons that these rules became laws that people should live by? (Encourage your students to discuss why the laws seem good or bad, whether they serve any value, and why they might have been important at one time.)
Have your students think of some rules that might have reason behind them during the COVID-19 pandemic but might not make any sense 50 to 75 years from now. Example: It is against the law to wear a purple mask if you are under 65 years of age (perhaps in a pandemic world masks become color coded to identify persons at greater risk). Let your students have fun with this.
Read one last law to your students:
- It’s illegal to sell a car on a Sunday (several states)
Explain that the law about not selling a car on Sunday is a type of Blue Law. “Blue Laws” were moral laws that used to be honored in our country. Under these laws, people didn’t work on Sundays and stores didn’t open on Sundays. Sundays were set aside for religious activities. There are still a few states that have some type of Blue Laws such as not selling a vehicle on a Sunday.
Share the following video [2:46]:
Sunday Blue Laws – CNN
- The Blue Laws have been around for decades. Why do some consider these laws to be old fashioned? (Answers will vary.)
- What do you think about keeping the Blue Laws in places where they are still present? (Encourage your students to discuss pros and cons of keeping/doing away with these laws.)
- Do you think Blue Laws make people concentrate more on God on Sundays or more on the rules? Explain your answer.
Blue Laws in America were put in place to set aside Sundays for religious activities. Certain activities were allowed, and certain activities were forbidden. Today we are going to learn about the true meaning of God’s command to keep the Sabbath, a day that isn’t necessarily about rules.
