BRF, by Roger Pint: “Another heavy blow to the country’s credit rating,” headlines Het Nieuwsblad. “New wake-up call for Belgian finances – Standard & Poor’s also downgrades credit rating,” writes Het Laatste Nieuws on page one.
Following Fitch last year and Moody’s a week ago, the rating agency S&P has now also downgraded the country’s credit rating. While the decision was expected, it remains bad news for the government. The consequence is that the country’s interest rates on its loans will rise, meaning – roughly speaking – that its national debt will become more expensive.
“Shops open seven days a week until 9 p.m. – the unions are furious,” reads the lead story in L’Avenir. The federal government yesterday approved a relaxation of the shop closing law. According to the new regulations, shops will now be allowed to remain open until 9 p.m. Furthermore, the legally mandated day of rest will be abolished. The unions believe this goes too far and are now even considering legal action.
“A reform that nobody wanted”
Le Soir, in a sense, joins this protest. “This is a reform we didn’t wait for and that—apart from the retail association Comeos—nobody wanted,” the paper rages in its editorial. And no matter how often the responsible MR minister, Eleonore Simonet, argues that the measure simply addresses the wishes and expectations of consumers, there is no study to support this claim. Furthermore, Simonet argues that the aim is to give retailers the opportunity to compete against shopping in neighboring countries or against online retailers. But this, too, remains unproven. And when Simonet points out that the whole thing is merely an option and not mandatory, she is deluding herself. Everyone knows that many supermarkets will likely have no choice but to comply. “It’s just one more day or one more hour,” the measure’s proponents might object. Not at all! It is much more than that! It is a fundamental societal upheaval.
La Libre Belgique picks up on precisely this point. Now, the “holy Sunday” is being sacrificed on the altar of flexibility. It wasn’t “holy” for purely religious reasons anymore; it was almost a civilizational compromise. Sunday was the day we could spend time together, a collective break with family, friends, or neighbors. And that’s exactly what they want to dismantle now. In the name of modernization. This is much more than just a “technical” correction; in practice, it amounts to a profound upheaval. Of course, there are professions that already have to work on Sundays: in hospitals, the hotel and restaurant industry, the tourism sector, and, not least, in newsrooms. Nevertheless, the question remains: do we really have to be available all the time?
“Freedom is a precious asset”
“And the anger of the Aldi staff is absolutely understandable,” Het Laatste Nieuws is also convinced. Numerous stores of the discount chain have been on strike in recent days. The employees are protesting against management’s plans to open the stores on Sundays. “Understandable!” the paper says. If the term “day of rest” disappears from dictionaries, then we as a society risk losing something. It’s already difficult enough to organize a get-together with family or friends. “It can only get worse,” one might be tempted to say. A look at Germany is advisable. There, “Sunday rest” is still sacrosanct. Has the economy collapsed because of it? Or are Germans in danger of starving? On the contrary! It simply imposes a different rhythm on the entire society. Because the stores are closed, no one has to choose between a family celebration and a shift at the supermarket checkout. Don’t forget: freedom is a precious commodity.
“It is too late”
Not all newspapers would endorse this argument. “Times are changing,” says Het Nieuwsblad, for example. And in the eyes of many, Sunday rest is a thing of the past. Sunday Mass in church is certainly no longer a valid argument. On the other hand, it’s perfectly understandable that supermarkets want the opportunity to truly compete with online retailers. They want to be available to customers as much as possible, because waiting means losing. Sure, Sunday had its charm: one day a week we collectively found peace and quiet and all watched the same television program together. But is it necessary to cling to it so desperately? This development is unstoppable.
Gazet van Antwerpen sees it the same way. Supermarkets now make almost the same sales on Sundays as during the week. So you can’t claim there’s no demand. In any case, the law of flexibility now applies to many of us. This is no longer limited to supermarkets. It’s understandable, then, that society as a whole is adapting to this development. Of course, this has its downsides. The best proof is the steadily increasing number of burnouts. Naturally, many in our increasingly hectic daily lives would like a true day of rest. But it’s too late. Absolute Sunday peace and quiet will never return.
Prophetic Link:
“This time, when there is such an effort made to enforce the observance of Sunday, is the very opportunity to present to the world the true Sabbath in contrast to the false. The Lord in His providence is far ahead of us. He has permitted this Sunday question to be pressed to the front, that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment may be presented before the legislative assemblies. Thus the leading men of the nation may have their attention called to the testimony of God’s word in favor of the true Sabbath. If it does not convert them, it is a witness to condemn. The Sabbath question is the great testing question for this time.” Manuscript 16, 1890, 21.
This article was translated from German.
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