After both the state House and Senate approved Tuscaloosa’s Sunday alcohol sales bill last session, much controversy started surrounding the upcoming vote.
Bars along The Strip have posted signs on their doors and walls urging UA students and bar patrons to vote yes in Tuesday’s vote, but what many may not have encountered is the steep opposition from certain parties.
Billy Gray, the Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association’s associate director of missions and education, said he and the organization strongly oppose Sunday alcohol sales in Tuscaloosa.
“Sundays are for church and family,” Gray said. “Besides that, the big thing with me is that alcohol is a dangerous drug and any way to curtail its availability is important in our society.
“Currently, you can possess and even drink alcohol legally on Sundays, you just can’t purchase it. That law is there for a reason.”
Gray said since the bill cleared the legislature, he has been conducting research about the topic to better understand it.
“I found that many other places in the U.S. don’t allow sales of alcohol at all,” he said. “Usually, you have the pro-alcohol folks telling us we’re behind the times, but the truth is dry counties exist all over.”
Gray said he and other members of the Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association have been traveling and speaking out against the legislation.
“The spokesman for our Christian Life Committee has gone out and been interviewed by a lot of voters,” he said. “I went out with one of our state leaders [Tuesday] to speak to journalism classes about the upcoming vote as well.”
In March 2010, Gil McKee, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa, said that although he abstains from alcohol altogether, he prefers that alcohol not be sold on Sunday.
“I see Sunday as a special day the Lord says to set aside for his worship,” McKee said. “Surely we could get by with six days of sales, but I do understand where those in favor of the legislation are coming from.”
Regardless of stance, it is reported that more than 1,000 voters signed up to weigh in on the issue within a week’s time.
Currently, six of Alabama’s 67 counties don’t allow the sale of alcohol anywhere within their county lines.
Gray said he recognizes that alcohol can lead to problems and he will continue to seek ways to curtail its availability.
“We see the destruction it brings in individuals and families all the time,” he said. “We are not in favor of this vote.”
Registered voters who seek to vote on whether to allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays between noon and 9:30 p.m. can do so on Tuesday at various polling locations across Tuscaloosa.
