Editor
So I went out to have a quiet pint with my girlfriend only to find that nearly all the pubs, or places to drink, in Wellington were prohibiting anyone drinking on their premises unless accompanied with a meal under the ‘Sale of Liquor Act 1989’. The law according to the government is ‘to establish a reasonable system of control over the sale and supply of liquor to the public with the aim of contributing to the reduction of liquor abuse, so far as can be achieved by legislative means’. By this statement then, it seems to me that the government are concerned how the public will ‘binge’ and how all hell will almost definitely break loose due to this religious occasion. What about St Patrick’s Day then? Surely on this occasion the ‘system of control’ would be more likely to be threatened. St Paddy’s day is a world renowned holiday that has taken the role as a public excuse to intake vast quantities of alcohol (specifically Guinness).
But, obviously, this is not the reason why pubs only allow drinking when supplemented with a meal. It is undoubtedly heavily influenced by Christianity. The Easter weekend commemorates Jesus’s death and resurrection (I’ll let that one go for time’s sake) and the weekend itself is extended to four days due to Good Friday and Easter Monday.
If New Zealand is governed in a secular manner then why are special privileges given to one specific religion? Is it just a con; an excuse for pub, caf and bar owners to make that little bit more money by, through legal means, only allowing the sale of alcohol if it be accompanied by a meal. If so, is that really very Christian-like? Wouldn’t Jesus have wanted people to rejoice in his life? In his time he certainly didn’t con people out of enjoying themselves. He turned water into wine for heaven’s sake. Now to me, the ‘Christian’ Law is going completely against what Jesus and Christianity is all about.
Is it not about time we, as homo-sapiens, forget the mythical gobbledygook we were indoctrinated in for the past two thousand years, and just start enjoying this very short amount of time we have left on this planet. And not have to overcome such nonsensical obstacles that prevent us from such menial and trivial tasks, which could be enjoyable, for instance drinking a pint of lager with your girlfriend at a local pub. The world has never been as liberal as it is today – Western World that is – but it confuses me as to why we still insist on holding on to views that stop us, or the majority of us, enjoying ourselves. They are traditional views, yes. But they are outdated traditional views. Our brain, or more specifically our conscious thoughts, has surpassed the belief that Jesus actually rose from the dead, or it should have done.
Lewis Nicholls
