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Should we have daylight saving time?
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Daylight saving time negatively affects religion

It disrupts religious practices that are based on the sun (sunrise, sunset, etc).
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Context

Several religious practices occur based on the position of the sun in the sky.

The Argument

Several religions have practices that occur based on the position of the sun, including Judaism and Islam.[1][2] While adding/retracting an hour of sunlight may be seen as an annoyance for some people, those practicing certain religions are faced with a larger problem. Some religions require prayers to be said at sunrise and sunset, and therefore get thrown off twice a year when the time changes. For example, say there is a person who practices Islam and must pray at sunrise, has a 2 hour commute to work, and must be at work by 9am.[2] If the spring time change makes the sun rise at 7am instead of 6am, this person must choose between being late to work or blowing off the morning prayer. In this sense, one could even argue that Daylight Saving Time results in religious discrimination.

Counter arguments

Many of the religious practices based on the position of the sun aren't as rigid as they used to be, thus allowing for some flexibility in people's day-to-day schedule.

Premises

[P1] Several religious practices rely on the position of the sun. [P2] Changing the position of the sun by an hour twice a year throws off people's religious practices. [P3] Keeping Daylight Saving Time ultimately discriminates against the people who observe these religions with practices that are based on the sun's position.

Rejecting the premises

[P3] If Daylight Saving Time does in fact discriminate against certain religions, then it is unintentional and can be fixed if workplaces allow later start times, breaks, or early end times for those who engage in religious practices based on the sun's position.

References

  1. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682091/jewish/The-Three-Daily-Prayers.htm
  2. https://www.learnreligions.com/islamic-prayer-timings-2003811
This page was last edited on Friday, 17 Apr 2020 at 11:15 UTC

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