Willie,

It's a throwback to the days of control by the actions of the "Lord's Day Observance Society", which had the ear of government to the extent of setting rules preventing any but "essential" services from operating on a Sunday.

They came up with some damn good ones too (NOT).

Because the public must have their news (and the newspaper Barons their profits) you could buy a soft porn magazine on a Sunday. Because bookstores weren't "essential", you had to wait till Monday to buy a bible.

Your Sunday shopping difficulties are simply a hangover from this era. Although rules have been relaxed, there are still restrictions on opening times etc. And of course some shopkeepers choose to have Sunday off.

It's not a case of religion overriding law now, more a question of failure to change sufficiently from the days when it did.

Don T.