the roaring twenties wrote:
Yume no Shiro wrote:
that's pretty strange. I don't really understand the whole abstaining from food thing in a religious context, or any context really. Or even consuming a slightly modified version of something you're not supposed to drink during a religious period for that matter.
Like, no cinnamon and raisin bagels with garlic flavoured cream cheese for 8 days.
Fine, I'll have rosemary focaccia with butter.
I am spiritually cleansed!
.
they're more general than that. fasts are exercises of self control and dedication. if you can dedicate yourself to not eating dairy for so long, then you can dedicate yourself to faith and worship.
not that i necessarily agree with it

How is not eating something self control though? Depriving your body of sustenance, in order to gain "permission"/"worthiness" to faith and worship seems counter-productive to me. I'll be the first to argue that people generally eat too much these days, but I don't see how being aware of what you're eating and making a conscious effort to moderate your eating habits can have any religious connotations.
guess it comes down to traditions