Plane’s Sabbath Landing Causes Hard Feelings

STORNOWAY, Scotland — A 34-seat propeller plane landed at tiny Stornoway airport Sunday -- the first Sabbath flight to the Isle of Lewis, a staunchly Presbyterian island off Scotland’s northwest coast.

Church leaders urged islanders to boycott the Sunday flights and preserve a traditional way of life that includes strict Sabbath observance.

The flights “are a breach of God’s law and will have an adverse effect on the whole community life of this island as we know it,” said Calum Maclean, a local representative of the Lord’s Day Observance Society.

Lewis, a wind-battered island in the Outer Hebrides with a population of 22,000, is the spiritual home of the Free Church of Scotland, which allows work only of “necessity and mercy” on Sundays.

Until recently, swings in children’s playgrounds were chained on Sundays to prevent them from being used.

The 22 passengers were greeted by 50 to 60 protesters gathered behind a placard reading, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy” -- and by 200 to 300 well-wishers who welcomed them with cheers, embraces and handshakes.