re: Have you ever done a religious fast?

Sort of, yes.

It's kinda weird, because He separated Himself from God in the first place via kenosis (self-emptying), in order to make Himself more human and to experience that facet of existence.

But having done that, part of the human experience of getting closer to God is via self-denial of the lower desires.

There is a time and a place for everything of course. Jesus drank at weddings, cried at people dying, ate at feasts, hung out with a crazy ascetic in John the Baptist, etc. You gotta get the whole range of the human experience in there.

Yeah, it should really just be between the individual and God.

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But having done that, part of the human experience of getting closer to God is via self-denial of the lower desires.

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Why?

Because this life is a battle ground between different drives that we have. You can't appreciate the higher ones until you block out the white noise of the lower ones. That's just the way it is.

Even agnostic stoics would say that.

You can appreciate them, but you can't really have your appreciation of them grow.

Nobody grows until they experience pain and suffering. Success is the worst teacher. Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Well obviously, and the feeling is different for different pleasures, and usually it sucks and is not intended by me, and I just feel shitty and depleted. The growth from the experience often takes a while to process. People are really bad at gauging how much they are progressing at any particular time. Sometimes people think they are getting more and more awesome and they are just deluding themselves. Sometimes people think they are spinning their wheels and going nowhere, when they are really getting much stronger on the inside. In any case, it seems pretty clear that nobody has any incentive to learn jack shite about themselves until they are deprived of having something.

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Makes sense. There's an element of solidarity in people doing things together, but you don't want to get carried away and have people start tracking and reporting on their progress to everyone else.

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I agree. I don't even know how many people are doing the fast at my church. There's no sign up list or pledge or anything like that.

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Self deprivation has its own rewards.

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Yes it does. But this is self deprivation for something more than just not eating some calories so maybe I'll lose a pound this weekend.

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frick no and frick that shite.

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word that shite is for jews

Sure. Here's why:

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In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members are encouraged to fast whenever their faith needs special fortification and to fast regularly once each month on fast day. On that day, we go without eating or drinking for two consecutive meals, commune with our Heavenly Father, and contribute a fast offering to help the poor. The offering should be at least equal to the value of the food that would have been eaten.

Typically, the first Sunday of each month is designated as fast Sunday. On that day, members who are physically able are encouraged to fast, pray, bear witness to the truthfulness of the gospel, and pay a generous fast offering.

“The law of the fast,” taught Elder Milton R. Hunter, “is probably as old as the human family. … In ancient times, prophet-leaders repeatedly gave to church members the commandment to observe the law of fasting and praying.”

We observe that in the scriptures, fasting almost always is linked with prayer. Without prayer, fasting is not complete fasting; it’s simply going hungry. If we want our fasting to be more than just going without eating, we must lift our hearts, our minds, and our voices in communion with our Heavenly Father. Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation.

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Fasting and prayer can help develop within us courage and confidence. It can strengthen our character and build self-restraint and discipline. Often when we fast, our righteous prayers and petitions have greater power. Testimonies grow. We mature spiritually and emotionally and sanctify our souls. Each time we fast, we gain a little more control over our worldly appetites and passions.

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LINK