I grew up in a mostly dry county, and I remember the Sunday “blue laws” that restricted certain activities on Sunday. Certainly, no alcohol was to be sold on Sunday.
Well, it seems that Germany is now enforcing their own Sunday laws. Der Spiegel Online reported that the German Constitutional Court (similar to our Supreme Court) ruled that “‘Even Atheists Need to Switch Off on Sundays’”. This ruling was based upon a clause in their constitution that says Sunday should be a day of rest and to be used for “spiritual elevation”.
We know that some form of Catholicism will be used to reunite Europe before Christ returns. That doesn’t mean that 100% of the population has to be actively involved or even actively back such a religious effort. We see that even the more leftist groups in Germany praising this decision.
For example, the Financial Times Deutschland is quoted in the above article as calling the law a seeming “anachronism”, yet it then turns around and says, “Appreciating these rights does not mean throwing away the country to the false god of consumerism. It … includes protecting the rights of salespeople, paying them extra for working on Sundays and not putting anyone under pressure to work on Sunday.”
Watch for religion to claw back its hold from the current secularism that currently envelopes Europe.
Yet it's interesting that Germany is about equally Catholic and Protestant.
Could this be a case where a ruling aimed at upholding "Christian values" to put Friday-keeping Muslims in their place winds up with collateral damage for Sabbath keepers?
Somewhat related to this: I was struck during the coverage of the Amanda Knox trial how the Italian courtroom had a crucifix hanging on the wall, behind the judges. Roy Moore never could get away with that.