Government Outrage: Georgia Sunday Alcohol Sales
I live in the Atlanta area. Atlanta, for many of the residents of the rest of Atlanta, is not considered part of the state. For the most part, it’s because there are many more transplants in the Atlanta area rather than born and bred Georgians. Perhaps this is part of the reason why I still continue not to understand the General Assembly’s viewpoint that allowing alcohol to be sold on Sunday is a bad thing.
I do understand that much of this is bound up in the Christian culture of many of the legislators. I was raised a Southern Baptist, so I understand that viewpoint on things. From a religious viewpoint, they don’t believe you should buy alcohol on the Lord’s Day. Where my confusion comes in, however, is why they feel it’s proper to enforce their religious viewpoint on everyone else.
For the third consecutive year, the measure (introduced this year by State Senator Seth Harp) was withdrawn from consideration after Sen. Harp came to the conclusion he didn’t have the votes to push this through and to the Governor’s desk (where it was facing a likely veto).
I have no issue at all with someone’s religious beliefs, but I do start taking issue when they use the Government to force those beliefs on me. I don’t believe it’s any sort of sin to purchase or consume alcohol on Sundays. I fail to see why one set of people having an issue with something that, in the end, has zero impact on them gives them the right to force those beliefs on me.
Unfortunately, far too many of the rural state senators and representatives in Georgia feel the opposite. They and their constituents firmly believe they have the right to use the state government to enforce their viewpoints on other people. The fact that this continues in this day and age makes me shake my head.
I have hopes that one day they’ll realize they should be paying attention to things other than whether I can walk into Kroger and buy a six pack on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, it keeps seeming like that day keeps moving farther away from where we are now.