# Feeling blue about the supposed separation of Church and State **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044 "2017-06-15T17:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/21 "2017-06-17T17:41:55Z")
There are blue laws for some types of store in the next county from us in NJ. It’s not mainly if at all a religious thing. As was said, it’s small businesses whose owners don’t want to work 7 days a week, as competitive pressure would tend to force otherwise. However it’s obviously not a dramatic impact if one county has it and the next doesn’t. It’s not a visibly different ‘way of life’ in the two counties. Those laws show how much inertia rules the political system. The small businesses in places where it disappeared long ago for whatever reason aren’t successful in instituting it anew. But in the places where it is, they make it hard to get rid of. It’s like no self service gas in NJ. If some article here reports a proposal to eliminate that law, there will always be a long comment thread of ‘regular folks’ railing how it would ‘kill jobs’, is just based on ‘greed’ etc. But in the 48 (I think it is) other states with no such law, are the same kind of ‘folks’ agitating to do away with self service? Not anywhere I’ve ever heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/22 "2017-06-19T07:37:43Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Hornbacher’s, a SuperValu affiliate, operates 8 grocery stores in the Fargo & Grand Forks, North Dakota area. Halal meat is available from their in-store butchers in the meat department. > > One of their competitors is Halal Meats, an immigrant-owned small butcher shop in the Grand Forks area. > > In fact, halal meat is available at nearly any SuperValu-supplied grocery store. Some, like the CUB store I go to, has it available all the time, and runs sales on it at Muslim holidays. Other SuperValu stores don’t stock it regularly, but can get it with a few days notice. > [@Kimballkid](#): > > His store, he can be open or not whenever he wants. The key is consistency, if you are closing your store at odd hours or not open during the posted hours or only part of the posted hours it tends to drive people away. Then the store owners tend to blame the customers when the business fails. OK, but under those “blue laws”, are they allowed to open on Sunday? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/23 "2017-06-19T08:29:58Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > OK, but under those “blue laws”, are they allowed to open on Sunday? Hornbacher’s is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (I think they are closed on New Years. 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Generally, those blue laws didn’t apply to grocery stores – legislators didn’t want to deprive people of food. Sometimes certain areas of the store, like if they sell alcoholic beverages, would have to be closed on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/24 "2017-06-21T00:26:47Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > There are blue laws for some types of store in the next county from us in NJ. It’s not mainly if at all a religious thing. As was said, it’s small businesses whose owners don’t want to work 7 days a week, as competitive pressure would tend to force otherwise. However it’s obviously not a dramatic impact if one county has it and the next doesn’t. It’s not a visibly different ‘way of life’ in the two counties… Fun fact Bergen County, NJ’s blue allows allow newspapers & magazines (Hustler for example) to be sold on Sundays, but not books (like the Bible). ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/25 "2017-06-21T15:20:05Z")
North Carolina just eased one of their Blue Laws that forbid Sunday morning sales of alcohol using the justification that people wanted mimosas with their Sunday brunch. If that’s what it took, that’s fine. Back in the 80’s there was a situation in Massachusetts where grocery stores weren’t allowed to be open on Sunday (or maybe just Sunday morning) and the big grocery stores supported the law. The reason was the bigger stores would just open anyway and pay the fine. The fine was big enough to keep the small stores closed and the bigger stores picked up enough business to pay the fine and still come out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044/26 "2017-06-21T16:39:46Z")
It’s the same in Indiana. NO booze on Sundays, nossir, not ever. And even on non-Sabbath days, buying cold beer cannot be had but from state-sponsored liquor stores, whom are consequently disallowed from selling soda, mixers, snacks, etc…you have to get those next door at the gas station. Warm beer at Kroger 6 days a week. Nothing on Sundays…EXCEPT for bars that somehow PROVE that they derive 50% or more of their profits from food. THEN it’s okay to drink hard liquor and drive home. Makes sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-blue-about-the-supposed-separation-of-church-and-state/789044.md?page=1)