Playing sports on Sundays, and hunting, is now legal in PA – Rest & Sabbath, Part 1

The headline reads, “Bill that would end Sunday ban on football and baseball passes Pa. House.”

Take a guess at what year that headline was published.  Believe it or not, 2022.

The article goes on to report, “The state House passed a bill Monday [September 19, 2022] that would repeal a…law that makes it illegal to play football or baseball on a Sunday, except between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.”  In other words, no Sunday morning or evening games.  What was happening on Sunday mornings and evenings?  Worship services. 

When do you think the law they were trying to repeal originally went into effect?

The PA Legislature Act 49 was approved in 1933, titled the “Sunday Baseball and Football Law”.

There are fines involved, if a sports team would disobey the law.  And as you know, the Phillies and Eagles have been playing Sunday evening games for years.  Guess how much the fine is?

$10.

The Sunday Baseball and Football Law is part of a series of laws in Pennsylvania called The Blue Laws.

Blue?  Why blue?  I found a source that suggests two options: 1. Related to the use of the word “blue” for sadness.  The didn’t say if the laws made people sad, or if the laws were intended to cure sadness.  Either makes sense to me.  2. The laws were originally printed on blue paper. 

The intent of the Blue Laws goes way back into PA history, to legislation in 1676 called the Duke of York Laws.  That’s pre-William Penn.  Barely.  Does anyone know when William Penn got the territory?  1681.  Do you remember what kind of Christian Penn was?  A Quaker.  Quakers were quite strict in their view of what a good Christian should or should not do.  Work hard, yes.  Engage is diversion and enjoyment, no.  Apparently, Anglicans were not so holy as Quakers.  At the time, because of our English heritage, there were a lot of Anglicans in PA, and they liked a good party.  But Penn and the Quakers were in charge, so the Quaker leadership of the state enacted laws banning a whole slew of activities

In 1682, the Quaker-led law code prohibited, “Cards, Dice, Lotteries, or such like enticing vain and evil Sports and Games.” Eleven years later, in 1693, the law was expanded, banning on Sundays, “stage plays, masques, revels, bull baits, cockfights, and bonfires.”  In other words, living in PA in colonial days…not very fun. 

Why, though?  What was the purpose of the laws?  One scholar writes, “Pennsylvania’s blue laws” were instituted to give people time to honor the Lord on the Sabbath. Individuals were expected to worship the Creator by attending church meetings and reading the Scriptures. Both work and play were unacceptable forms of behavior on the Lord’s Day.”

Three hundred years later, in 1978 the PA Supreme Court found these laws unconstitutional.  But some of them remain on the books to this day.  No car sales on Sundays at dealerships, for example.  Still can’t do that.  But now, at least, the Phillies and Eagles are in the clear to play sports on Sundays.  And for all you hunters, did you hear that Gov. Shapiro repealed the Sunday hunting ban? That was just last week!

The question I’m getting at is this, how did the people who enacted Blue Laws believe that those laws helped people observe the Sabbath? We’ll talk about that in the next post.

Photo by Ryan Carpenter on Unsplash