Two Contrasting Examples

When using the two examples of the left-handed person and the weekend, Appiah has attempted to demonstrate how it is not always the regard for a given identity which explains one's disadvantage or what might seem to be a lack of neutrality behind state acts. Perhaps a bit of a tangent, but I would like to examine these two examples in contrast to one another. Firstly, Appiah shows that while the left-handed person might be disadvantaged in some sense, as it seems most of the public world is geared toward the right-handed individual (scissors, doorknobs), it is not the fact that they are regarded as left-handed that they are at a disadvantage. The author holds that it is simply a matter that things need to be done with either the left or the right hand, and given the fact that the majority of individuals are right handed that is the way things have come to be. Then he goes to make this demonstration by using the example of the Saturday/Sunday model of the weekend, which might seem to favor the Christian religion over other systems of belief; “When it comes to Sabbatarian issues, the fact that our weekend coincides with the religious requirements of the Christian majority doesn't display a failure of neutrality as equal respect, provided what accounts for the fact is that it suits a majority...and not that some minorities are disadvantaged by it. If a majority of Americans became Muslims and Friday mosque became a majority institution, it would not reflect a lack of regard for Christians if we shifted the days when government offices were closed to Friday and Saturday” (92). While it seems hard to see how anyone would disagree that many things need to be done with either the right or left hand, we can understand that the use of the right or left hand is a necessity for certain actions. But if we look at the latter example we might not see this same relationship. Does it seem to be a matter of necessity that religious observance take place and specific days are designated to accommodate that necessity? It seems apparent that some would not see this to be the case. One might try to add, as does Appiah, that it is also a matter of convenience that there are two designated days off "and that, for coordination reasons, people cannot be permitted to take their two days in seven on whichever day they choose" (92). However, this might appear ad hoc to the original reason offered behind the Saturday/Sunday model, viz. the Sabbath with a Christian majority. Don’t get me wrong (I’m just as big of a fan of the weekend as anybody), but what I’m arguing is that Appiah’s latter example doesn’t seem to hold vis-à-vis necessity as does the first, and in turn, does not support his claim as strongly