God's Growing Garden: Problems with Daylight Savings Time

Problems with Daylight Savings Time

Tomorrow we turn the clocks forward for DST (Daylight Savings Time). It doesn't matter if we're "Falling back" or "Springing forward" - I despise both equally. DST is no longer necessary in modern day.

5 Problems with DST:

1. Confusion

2. Sleep issues

3. Consistency

4. Crops still grow without time change

5. Not God's plan

1. Confusion - dates for DST have been all over the place over the years. Here's a short history review:

- Uniform Time Act of 1966 (DST law of the land but states were still allowed to opt out)

- Daylight Saving Time Act of 1974 (started due to energy crisis at the time but it backfired - parents complained about their children having to wait for school buses in the dark)

- Energy Policy Act of 2005 (amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to extend DST. Starts the second Sunday of March instead of the first Sunday of April. And, ends the first Sunday of November instead of the last Sunday of October).

2. Sleep Issues - DST interrupts our circadian rhythm. DST is bad for our health (there have been studies that show changing time increases depression and risks for heart attack).

click HERE for a circadian rhythm definition and to view
"The Science of LIFE - Sleep"

Cats average sleep per day is between 15 and 20 hours

3. Consistency - not all states observe DST. (Hawaii & Arizona do not participate in DST. Prior to 2006, most counties in Indiana did not participate either. And in Canada, the province of Saskatchewan does not observe DST.

4. Crops Still Grow Without Time Change - When I was growing up, I was always told that farmers needed the extra daylight to finish planting and harvesting their crops. Now, with modern lighted tractors this reason is ridicuous. Actually, for ranchers, time change is bad - cows don't know that their milking times will change by an hour starting in March.

5. Not God's Plan - It does NOT say in the Bible that we should change our clocks twice a year. In Genesis 1:14-19 it says:

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

I agree that DST was necessary during World Wars (During WWI they implemented DST to save fuel - it decreased the need for artificial lighting. Again, during WWII 1942-1945 DST was observed for the same reason. However, after WWII observance of DST was very scattered across the USA). I do not believe that there is any benefit to observing DST in our day.

Copyright, Permissions & Disclaimer