Fasting in the Face of Disaster

[catbirdseat]

Reports that quake victims in Pakistan were adhering rigidly to the Ramadan fast strikes me as an erroneous interpretation of religious law, or at least at odds with my personal belief that life should come before devotion. My recollection of Jewish and Christian teaching is that there are rational exceptions for observance of the sabbath and other holidays. Not being religious myself, I have hard time understanding people who don't put their own survival first.

[sobo]

...Ramadan. ...My recollection of Jewish and Christian teaching...

 

You proceed from a false assumption, Brian. Ramadan is of the Muslim/Islamist faith. There are other things at work there.

 

Although I'd agree; survival first, observance... somewhere down the line.

[catbirdseat]

All three religions spring from the same roots.

[JayB]

Detonating oneself in a crowd of civilians doesn't exactly jive with the survival-over-observance scheme either, but that hardly seems to have put the brakes on the practice....

[HappyCamper]

For a devout follower they may believe that perhaps not adhering to the tenets of your religion in a time of crisis might invite further crises.

[Dru]

In Ramadan even the pious may eat between sunset and sunrise. No coincidence that Ramadan is in the winter half of the year.

[TREETOAD]

Ramada Inn? WTF

[EWolfe]

I stayed at a Ramada this summer - there was lots of food.