The Sunday Question (Week 6 Reading Response)

The cultural practices of Germans were far different than the cultural practices of Anglo-Americans on Sundays. In the Anglo-Americans’ eyes, it was a sin to do any work or do anything other than honor God on Sabbath. They believed it was a day of total worship. On the other hand, the Germans believed that Sundays were the days to go to the taverns and wine gardens in the country and enjoy the day whilst having fun. Anglo-Americans, especially in cities believed that the activities of their German counterparts interfered with their day of worship and tried effortlessly to limit the actions of Germans on Sunday with lawmaking. They wanted to place barriers on the leisurely activities that were pursued by Germans on Sabbath. Essentially, the laws put in place to fulfill this desire made it illegal to disrupt congregations that meet for worship. Interestingly, the Germans essentially went to taverns and beer gardens for the same reason the Anglo-Americans went to worship. Other than the fact that Anglo-Americans practiced worship on Sabbath, they also used it as a reason to come together with the community around them. The same thing can be said for the Germans. It would not be incorrect to say that they went to places that were culturally traditional to meet up with other people in their community. It is simply a different style of achieving the same result. Both groups meet with members of their community for a certain reason on a certain day of the week.

The article I found from the Daily Missouri Republican is strongly opposed to the idea of a leisure experience on Sunday. The author is siding with the Anglo-Americans. In the penultimate sentence of the article, the author writes, “resolutions were adopted in favor of Sabbath observance, on account of its benefits to the individual, to the family, to society, and to the Christian church, and requesting the American public not to hold the whole German population responsible for the anti-Sunday law sentiments of some of their number.” The author is most likely a Christian himself and it is fair to say that he would be more likely to side with the Anglo-Americans’ point of view.