Letter to the Editor
The price of sacrifice - It'simmeasurable.
The current debate on whether cruise shipsshould be allowed to resume visits on Sundays, reaches the heartsand pockets of many -- some who will benefit and others who willnot.
It has been said time and time again -- it is not possible tolegislate morals. In like manner, it is, and should remain a personalchoice - open to everyone -- whether Sunday, or Saturday or anyother day for that matter, should be their day for worship andfamily.
The present calendar system by which we reckon month of the yearand days of the week go back to ancient Roman times (BC), andmore specifically to the Gregorian Claendar proclaimed in the16th century, although it was not widely adopted in the West andprotestant countries until the 18th century.
The Jews of early Biblical days started worshipping and stilldo, giving praise to God from sundown on Fridays to sundown thenext day, the end of their Sabbath.
Did they stop trading on Sundays? History tells us they did not.As a matter of fact, it was a day that merchants laid out theirwares and food in the marketplaces, and families and farmers camefrom distant and near villages to sell amd mix with the populace,while enjoying the fellowship of one another.
In just about every nation, and the Cayman Islands is no exception,Sunday is a big day for sports, and family outings - on land,on and under water. Gas stations do a more than an average amountof business -- selling everything that grocery and hardware storesare forbidden to open and sell. Why shouldn't these retailersbe allowed to open, like the stores catering to tourists willbe, when the ban is lifted?
Right now, the already successful stores not owned by Caymanianswhich operate out of hotels, get the advantage of being able toopen on Sundays to cater to tourists and local residents? Is thisunlevel playong field in good order? Frankly no. I consider thissection of the law hypocritical and I can go as far as to saypredudicial against local businesses.
In modern times, many other God-fearing communities in the Caribbeanand around the world, look forward to Sunday to go to Church,a ritual that is followed by visits to their own marketplaces,restaurants and fairs. This makes them no less God-fearing thantheir counterparts in the Cayman Islands.
The Hon. Minister of Tourism, at the genesis of this debate toremove the ban on cruise ships calling on Sundays, described itas "hypocritical" not to allow the visit of these ships.And I are agree.
Thousands of Caymanians and other residents leave the Cayman Islandsweekly to travel to Miami and other destinations to 'enjoy a weekend'.They shop, and visit attractions and dine out and simply havegreat 'family fun' on the Sundays that they are away. Here athome, they are denied the opportunity to do the same. Can youimagine what the boon in local spending would be if they couldspend the money at home instead? The net result of this lack oftrading is that Cayman is often referred to as 'dead on the weekend'.
One is left to wonder then: What was the reason for the previousMinister of Tourism's ban on cruise ship visits on Sundays? Wasthis decision personal, rather than in the nation's interest?
There have been so many efforts to enact a law whereby nationalreferanda could settle unsettling issues such as this and othernational concerns. The Cayman Islands must be prepared to stepup to the plate and meet the challenges of the modern era, ifwe are to compete and qualify for the world heats.
George Reynolds