LETTER: Antigua still enforces the primitive idea of not selling alcohol on Good Friday

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I did not realise Antigua is so backward.

I have always thought of the country as being one of the more progressive in the Caribbean but this is the first time I have visited over Easter and I could not believe that Antigua still enforces the primitive idea of not selling alcohol on Good Friday.

 

Antigua is a multi-cultural society with numerous international visitors and an economy which is dependent upon tourism.

 

Whilst I respect the right of Christians to believe in what many of us consider to be myths, I do not agree that they have the right to impose their views on the rest of the community and international visitors.

 

If Antigua wants to to attract tourists in the 21st Century then it needs to get rid of this archaic law.

 

Steven Olwyn, London, U.K.

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29 COMMENTS

  3. This is not England where things are done out of conscience. We are still a Christian nation. No one is forcing nothing on no one. If you can’t respects one’s views of not selling alcohol on good Friday will walk with your own simple. We take things and make a big problem over them. It’s one day that is going to kill if you don’t drink little rum Jesus Christ man

    • Speak for yourself. I’m no Christian and neither are most you taking d**k and eating out cats outside of the marital bed.

  4. Many of us consider it a myth ?
    My answer for years to people that speak those words ” when the time comes we will see who’s wrong and who’s right”
    Know the saying better safe than sorry.

    • @John. I totally agree with you here. The law did not say you cannot drink it, you just cannot buy/sell it.

      @Steven. Thank you for visiting us and perhaps the law caught you off-guard. But your tone was a bit insulting.

      If you ever had the chance to visit some big cities like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, you will only find alcohol in the hotels – illegal for their citizens. Yet very high tourism.

      In the US, some neighborhoods are consider dry zones and hence alcohol is not sold at all.

      So, do come and enjoy our hospitality but do so respectfully.

  7. So Antigua shouldn’t have standards then? That’s why the society is in turmoil because we are trying to take up other people identity!

  9. When Caribbean nationals visist the UK whether we like it or not we HAVE TO live and abide by whatever rules there are. When you visit Antigua not being able to buy rum or any other alcoholic drinks on Good Friday will do you no harm. You either abide by our rules, bring your own rum or stay the hell in the UK. Complaining will only make you seem like a bumbling fool, a whining alcoholic or a downright idiot

  11. Yo English, smoke a joint ah good high grade Wadadli herb and tap mek ruction bout rum, yuh fi tap drink rum, leff de devil soul.

  13. Hey Stevie from London, you’ve got a lot more problems in the UK then worrying yourself with Antigua selling alcohol around Religious events.

    Here’s a reminder of UKs current issues:

    1), You have current leader with a criminal record.

    2), Energy bills have increased to around 54%, and inflation is now into double figures.

    3), Food banks are in virtually in every city and town.

    4), Hospital waiting lists is currently now 2 years for operations.

    5), The fishing and farming industries have been decimated since leaving the European Union 🇪🇺 , and recently over 150,000 pigs were destroyed lnstead of being distributed to the populous.

    6), Billions of £ pounds have been wasted on trying to implement “track and trace” due to the vaccine mandates – Friends & family of government ministers ended up with million pound contracts that weren’t put out to proper tender.

    7), Many lives were lost in care homes, because people with the deadly Covid-19 virus were released from hospitals and not checked before going into the care homes.

    8), Illegal parties were being held by government ministers whilst the UK was in lock down.

    9), A government minister was found to have accepted money from a company that he was illegally lobbying for in parliamentary matters.

    10), And you have a Prime minister who has been sacked on a number of occasions in the past for lying.

    … And you concerning yourself with whether Antigua selling alcohol on and around religious events.

    AT LEAST IT’S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THE DUPLICITY AND HYPOCRISY IS STILL ALIVE AND KICKING WITH THE ENGLISH.

    Here’s a word of advice for you Steve from London.

    Why not put the same amount of effort in sorting out your own country’s issues instead of worrying yourself about Antigua.

    Cheers … 🍻

    • … and whilst I’m on here, the tone of your letter is quite patronising and condescending towards Antiguans; is it because you still have some sort of “do as I say, and not as I do” COLONIAL MINDSET?

  14. People are messed up,. Heard someone say the other day and I quote “What is the big deal about Easter” The fear of God has left people. Lord help us

  15. God don’t want a day he want our lives. He want no selling of alcoholic beverages period. He is not a God of traditions but a God of Laws. So a nation that don’t sell rum on “Good Friday” as Christian values “- But in a few months after – nude and drunk in the street( carnival)-Big women kacking up and little boy behind in the most vulgar way. Is this a Christian society? Young woman naked as them born. Even your leaders and law makers nude and drunk. Then you have LOL where young people drink to stupidity and many end up in hospital. Some even loose their lives on their way home- drunk driving. In the UK the owners for these fetes would be charged. DOUBLE STANDARD. I can go on and on to show you that this is no Christian society. Yes a country with churches but no respect for GOD.

  16. What a bunch of morons you all are in the comments, take all your religious nonsense elsewhere

  17. A few points:
    1) A very large percentage of this country’s citizens consider themselves Christians. They have a right to have a holiday in honour of whatever non-harmful event they wish and make it a national event i.e. shutdown the country for a bit. Persons who do not adhere to those beliefs should be respectful of the intention of the day and just quietly mind their own business instead of making rude statements in the media.
    2)Even if you do not regard Jesus as your personal God, He was an important historical figure and widely considered to be a good person who was unjustly executed. Good Friday is a holiday in memorial of a good man’s death by crucifixion. It would be disrespectful to have people running around drunk, partying in the streets etc. So, the rule makes perfect sense. I have spent times in other countries on holidays that had nothing to do with me, and I felt no need to run to the media to disrespect the people celebrating it… Basic human decency…

    • Just to be clear, based on the evidence, I personally believe that Jesus is the Christ. But, I understand why others might not. Even so, it would be respectful to allow others to celebrate their holiday in peace instead of trying to fight it every year in the media.

  18. I thought the Law was pass to sell Alcohol on Good Friday,in 2014. Has that law been change again,to discontinue sales of Liquors on Good Friday. My guess is that man could not do without his liquor for a day. I wondered what would he do. If he gave it up voluntarily for the Lenten Season,from Ash Wednesday March 2, to Easter April 17.What I having been seeing for some years now. Many persons of different religious persuasions do not respect the Christian Religions,I wondered why.

  19. First of all. Many establishments even in the US, either don’t sell liquor on a Sunday or sell it after a certain time in the day. Out of respect for a Sunday and that’s any Sunday.

    Second, some establishments even if the law allows it, still hold dear to their faith so they chose not to sell it.

    If you travel to places like Mexico on vacation, they don’t sell alcohol or have liquor stores open on a Sunday and especially not Easter.

    I’ve been to restaurants in the US where they tell you they are not serving liquor on Easter Sunday. I was on vacation at that time.

    Those were the rules in BIG AMERICA and you just have to respect them.

    It’s not about losing money. Everything is not for sale.
    Respect the nation and their traditions. Whether or not they have carnival and dance naked, it’s their right to have traditions and laws.

    Don’t be a bully Mr UK. There is something about this ‘primitive country’ that keeps you coming here.

    If it works for us! It works for us! End of story!
    And by the way, I’m pretty sure they do the same thing in the UK. After all, isn’t that where we got most of our laws from????

    A blessed Easter!

    P.s. You may have a drinking problem. If 24 hrs without being able to purchase a drink bothers you that much……

  20. Here is a man coming from a WELFARE COUNTRY,ENGLAND. He wants to tell Antigua,what they should be doing. If you people do not believe that England is a WELFARE COUNTRY. Check out their Benefits Program and watch UTUBE Videos about Benefits. That is one of the many reasons they broke away from the EU. Too many persons were coming into England from lesser financial European Countries getting Benefits,never paid one penny of taxes into the Country.

  21. When you say “Stay in UK” prepare to eat your own shit because tourism is the only business Antigua and Barbuda has.

  22. Ironically those laws and traditions were handed down to these colonies by the very same UK he’s from, and we had no choice but to comply. The queen is still our head of state. And yes, it only affects money because it has no other real effect but to deprive a vendor of income from alcohol…on that day. Anyone can still drink themselves into a stupor. On the other hand it could boost liquor sales from the period before the holiday when people are stocking up. At one time no shop could be open on a Sunday in addition to Good Friday. But some shop owners found ways to sneak a few sales, and help poor people with their needs; until tourism and modernization made THAT an archaic law…and tradition. Sometimes our beliefs are negotiable…given time😏

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