Fasting

Last year during Lent I was asked to give a talk in the parish of Tamworth about Christian fasting or what remains of it and the fasting of Muslims during the month of Ramadan. The request prompted me to have a closer look at fasting in both religious traditions and to see what they have in common and where they differ. In doing so I was struck by the differences in particular, differences not just in law but in the ideas behind the fasting as well.

For one thing the Christian tradition, following in this the Jewish prophets, has an anti-fasting strand. The prophets criticise a kind of fasting which abstains from food and drink but is not expressive of a change of heart. Fasting should lead to conversion and to the practice of justice. If it does not, it does more harm than good.

Related to this is fasting as penance or as prayer. One fasts as an admission of one’s wrongdoings; one is sad about one’s sins and prays for forgiveness. The abstinence of food and drink serves as an atonement showing God that one is serious about mending one’s ways. At the same time one hopes that God will withhold his punishment and renew his grace. The fasting of Jesus can be seen along these lines; the only difference is that he does not fast so much for himself as for the whole people of God.

If I understand them correctly, Muslims would be wary of this kind of fasting. It resembles too much an attempt to change the mind of God, forcing his hand as it were by refusing to eat and to drink. God is above even the semblance of manipulation and He alone decides about to whom to extend his mercy and forgiveness. What his believers have to do is just to submit themselves to his will and trust that He will reward his faithful servants.

The fasting of Ramadan is foremost an expression of this belief. It is done not on one’s own initiative but in answer to God’s decree as revealed in the Qur’an. Fasting is an act of obedience and surrender to God’s will. It is an attempt to be on the side of God, not an attempt to get God on our side.

There seem to be different images of God behind the different traditions of fasting. The Christian God is that of a Father whose children may approach Him freely and almost playfully. The Muslim God is that of a Sovereign who is merciful as well but on his own terms.

Ton

Riots

Aston has a bad reputation; it is said to be unsafe and infested with gangs. It is therefore with some glee that I can report that by and large the recent riots in Birmingham have passed by Aston. There was some minor trouble in TESCO and a window of an optician was smashed at the roundabout near the supermarket, but those are the only scars of a neighbourhood that has remained peaceful on the whole.

This is not to say that we can shrug off the looting in the city centre as no concern to us. Disaffected youth are found everywhere, even though they express their frustrations in different ways and in different places.

What has happened reminded me of something I read a few years ago. It was an editorial in The Tablet, the Catholic weekly, of February 17, 2007. The editorial commented on a United Nations report, prepared by Unicef, about the treatment of children, which put "Britain at the bottom of a league table of 21 prosperous nations". The comment went on: "On a range of criteria, some economic but some directly measuring children's happiness and well-being, Britain's adults are failing to give the next generation what they deserve and need. This is a portrait of a nation that does not love its children enough. It does not bode well."

Alas, the prophecy has come true and the signs that were apparently there have not been sufficiently heeded. The Unicef report mentioned many economic and social reasons having to do with the family, the peergroup, education, employment etc., but for The Tablet these factors are not the only ones to consider. It surmises "a spiritual crisis behind the sociological one" expressed in these strong words: "Today British society is reaping what it sowed with its move towards a selfish consumer culture and focus on hedonism."

Is this too simple? Perhaps, but even so it is good to remember that the cultural and spiritual changes meant here do not occur in leaps and bounds. They are a continual process moving in small, nearly imperceptible increments over a considerable period of time, until a saturation point has been reached. The slow process makes it difficult to put the blame on anyone specifically. Somehow all are involved in the problem and likewise all should be involved in the solution.

Ton