Thursday, April 21, 2011

Good Friday

Just a quick post.
I'm sure these sentiments have been echoed in the media many times before but I just don't understand the logic now in prohibition on Good Friday. It temporarily shuts pubs till midnight, so people stock up in an off Licence the day before, or go out on the tear on the Thursday night instead.

The government should drop the ban for many reasons:
  • It forces people with other religous views to comply with the Catholic churches laws.
  • It fails to prevent people actually drinking on the day
  • It prevents tourists from drinking on a good friday
The biggest reason though is that it attempts to enforce good behaviour. The people who feel strongly about not drinking as a mark of respect to their religion are still free to do so. In fact it should earn them a higher place in Heaven; if they can resist temptation then they really do understand the sacrifice.

Of course one problem is that most people manage to resist that temptation 5 or 6 days each week.
So telling them they can't drink and then closing off all of their options is basically nannying them.
As we we have all experienced in our own lives; when you are told that you have to do something it makes you more likely ro "rebel" and not do it. It might make more sense to force people to drink on the day, that way they might "rebel" positively and not drink!