It’s worth a shot!
OWNER APPLIES FOR TEQUILA BAR TO BECOME A PLACE OF WORSHIP SO HE CAN OPEN AGAIN UNDER COVID RULES
THE owner of a Nottingham tequila bar has applied for his business to become a religion to point out the hypocrisy of coronavirus restrictions.
400 Rabbits Tequila and Mezcal Cocktail Bar, in Hurts Yard, has registered to become “The Church of The 400 Rabbits”.
The bar will not be able to reopen on Wednesday as the whole of Nottinghamshire is placed under Tier 3 restrictions. But, in all tiers, places of worship can open – although members of the congregation can’t mix with people from other households.
Bar owner James Aspell, of Nottingham, said to apply to become a religion you need people signed up to your congregation. Members of the new religion can choose to be “a bunny believer” or “a reverend of the righteous rabbits”.
The 34-year-old said: “The intention of this is to be a joke but it comes from a serious place. With the new restrictions we’re forced to close and it could be months before we can reopen. We don’t have a food offering so even if we were in Tier 2, we couldn’t open.
“We feel like we’ve been targeted unfairly, to an extent and it seems wrong. “Everything from gyms to massage parlours can stay open and even the Christmas markets are happening – that was the point when I thought, this is ridiculous. “So we have sent in an application to register as a place of worship.” James, who opened the bar five years ago, said the application has been sent to the registrar general in Nottingham for consideration. From next week, The Church of 400 Rabbits will be signing people up to its congregation through a new website. Despite the jovial nature of the application, he said it “points out the hypocrisy” of the coronavirus measures.
He added: “This time of year it’s usually all guns blazing but instead I’m at home putting my decorations up. “We have no intention of opening unless the application is granted or when restrictions are lifted. If we were to open we’d follow Government guidelines and I don’t think we’d be selling alcohol.
“We might be able to adapt in a different way and have some fun with it. We’re not doing this to offend anybody or break any rules.”
In a post on Facebook, 400 Rabbits said: “With places of worship allowed to open in all tiers we thought let’s start a religion! Can’t be that hard can it? ‘The Church of the 400 Rabbits’ launching as soon as we get the green light!
“Congregation daily til late. Give us this day our daily #mezcal.”
James said the response has been “overwhelmingly positive”, with one person branding the idea as “genius.”
Another person said: “The only religion I’d get on board with. Hopes and prayers for your salvation.”