Jesus said
"The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath"
Mark 2 v 27
Editorial - John Roberts
During my years with the Society I have had to confront six prime ministers on numerous issues. These have been: Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and now Gordon Brown. Sadly, not one of these national leaders has been sympathetic or supportive to our position on the Lord’s Day. However, the greatest damage was attempted during the Thatcher, Major and Blair years, when numerous attempts were made to secularise our day of rest.
It can be dangerous continually to look back in time, especially when one moves towards retirement, but sometimes it is difficult not to do so.
Recently, I was looking through some booklets containing quotes from former prime ministers who held a high respect for the Lord’s Day. Here is what is recorded:
Rt Hon Arthur J Balfour, Conservative Prime Minister (1902-05).
‘The state is the trustee, in respect to Sunday, of one of its most valuable assets.’
Rt Hon Sir H Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal Prime Minister (1905-08).
‘I earnestly hope that the efforts to preserve the sacredness of the weekly day of rest may be successful.’
Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister (1834-46), founder of the Conservative Party.
‘I never knew a man escape failure, in either body or mind, who worked seven days a week.’
Rt Hon Ramsey MacDonald, first Labour Prime Minister (1924).
‘The British Sunday is a great heritage which has strengthened the national character and sustained the life of the people. To reduce it to the continental pattern is to destroy an invaluable national asset. The question of one day’s rest in seven (and by rest I do not mean recreation) is one of the utmost importance, not only to the physical but to the mental condition of our people. We are getting altogether too superficial and too thoughtless and, unless we pull ourselves up and get inspiration from the deeper silences that lie within us, we shall be unable to face the great problems that modern civilisation places upon us.’
William Ewart Gladstone, four-times Liberal Prime Minister.
‘Tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday and I will tell you what the future of England will be. The religious observance of the Sabbath is a main prop of the religious character of the country. From a moral, social and physical point of view, the observance of the Sabbath is a duty of absolute consequence.’
Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister (1874-80).
‘I hold the day of rest to be the most valuable blessing ever conceded to man. It is the cornerstone of civilisation.’
Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister (1940-45; 1951-55).
‘Sunday is a divine and priceless institution, the necessary pause in the national life. It is the birthright of every British subject, our responsibility, privilege and duty to hand on to posterity.’
How we need to pray that God will raise up men today who have a high regard for this priceless institution.