Time was when Sunday was the holy Sabbath, given over almost exclusively to church worship, prayer, religious music and reflection.
Not so any more.
Back in the 1950s and early 1960s calypsos weren’t broadcast on radio or television on Sundays because they were labelled “banja,” not acceptable to our ears on the “Holy Day”. Neighbourhood shops and stores were routinely closed; and up to 1977, CBC-Television didn’t air a Sunday evening newscast.
Fast forward to 2016. Today, many one-armed bandit arcades are open for business 24/7; reggae and soca concerts are commonplace; drivers flock to mini-marts; more and more Bajans work on Sundays; and we watch Test cricket or T-20 matches any day of the week. Our grandparents must be turning in their graves.
So why the hullabaloo about the Barbados Lottery’s decision to offer Pick 3, 4 and double draw on Sundays? A reason is we are hankering after the “good ole days”, knowing they will never return. Secondly, we are hypocritical about what we want to observe on Sundays. Far too many people think it’s okay to place a bet online with bookies but object to gamblers buying lottery tickets. A third reason is that we have waited until the Sunday toothpaste has left the proverbial tube and try to force it back in.
Let’s be real. We are members of an increasingly diverse and secular society. Evidence abounds. Seventh Day Adventists who observe Saturday as their Sabbath have a large and growing following; Jews continue to attend synagogue on Saturdays; and many Muslims set aside Friday as a day of prayer. As if that isn’t enough, computers complete with games of chance, music, movies, pornography, and dating sites are being used for anything.
Several religious pastors complained recently to this paper that we no longer engage in the tradition of keeping Sunday “holy,” and asked the pertinent question: “If we gamble on Sundays, what will be next”?
Answer: the sky is the limit. After all, Bajans don’t live in isolation from the rest of the world. Unless it breaks a law of the land or a moral code, anything should be expected.
