Religious leaders have responded to Government’s decision to drop the traditional ban on Sunday liquor sales.

The move, announced in Friday’s Throne Speech, merely adds to the problems raised by shopping in general on Sundays, according to Lutheran Pastor Karsten Decker.

“We don’t have an official policy — but to me, Sunday shopping is the worst part,” Rev Decker said.

“People will get alcohol whether a store is open on Sunday or not. To me, Sunday shopping doesn’t create additional shopping. It just shifts it around. Small businesses who can’t open on Sundays will suffer, and small family-owned businesses that sell liquor will be hurt.”

Rev Decker, who spoke out against Sunday shopping in a letter to The Royal Gazette, said the move could even raise prices as the cost of doing business would be higher on the traditional day of rest.

Meanwhile, Wesley Methodist pastor Calvin Stone said he had cheered out loud at the announcement.

“It confirms my views on the Sunday shopping issue,” Rev Stone added. “I just felt we were being discriminatory against those who are not people of faith.”

Wesley Methodist is among three local churches that maintain fellowship with the more liberal United Church of Canada.

While acknowledging not everyone in his congregation might share his view, Rev Stone said he felt alcohol consumption was a matter of individual decision.

“After all, the first Christians lived in a pagan society and didn’t have the perks of a Christian community — and they did quite well,” he said.

“I don’t see this as a death knell.”

Alcohol use is discouraged in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Bermuda’s community is no exception.

However, Jeffrey Brown, president of the Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said that while the church is against drinking, Adventists also sought to show the warmer side of their faith to the community.

“We’ve been asked what is the church’s position on alcohol,” Dr Brown said. “Before this we were asked what is the church’s position on gaming. Before that we were asked what is the church’s position on human rights. Well, on behalf of the church, I want to apologise. It seems that somehow in striving to represent the church of Christ, we have often failed to represent the Christ of the church.”

Dr Brown pointed to a survey of the attitudes toward the church held by “young outsiders”, conducted last year by faith researchers David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons in the US.

The poll found that 65 percent believed the church was “insensitive to others”, while 70 percent said it was “out of touch with reality” and 75 percent said the church was “too involved with politics”, he said.

Dr Brown also listed figures of 77 percent for “old fashioned”, 80 percent for “hypocritical”, 85 percent for “judgmental” and 95 percent for “anti-homosexual”.

“If that’s how we are viewed, shame on us,” he said.

“We want to do things differently. We want to say things differently. We want to be positive instead of negative. We want to go forward instead of backward, because we don’t want to lose any more young people. Our 2014 theme for the Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is ‘It’s Their Time Now’. We older ones want to support, mentor, and guide, but it’s time now for our young adults to lead.”

Dr Brown said the church didn’t merely oppose the sale of liquor on Sundays.

“We are opposed to alcohol every day,” he said. “We are opposed to health-destroying substances, heart-destroying relationships, and hope-destroying philosophies. We think we have ‘a more excellent way’. But rather than tell you, we now want to show you. We no longer want to remonstrate about what’s bad, we want to demonstrate what’s good: enter our young people. Vibrant, bright, attractive, and talented young people whom we have helped to be debt-free if possible, disease-free if possible, educated by good teachers if possible, reared by a good mother and a good father if possible, prejudice-free if possible, hate-free if possible, and gun and gang-free if possible.”

He added: “Hopefully the next survey will rate the new generation of Christians differently: kind, loving, warm, accepting, forgiving, welcoming, helpful, generous, going the extra-mile, turning the other cheek — because it’s their time now.”