[lit-ideas] Re: Ask the Ayatollah
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2006 10:55:24 -0700
> But in Christianity fasting is a personal thing for special occasions and it
> is not made public -- one does not let anyone know that they are fasting.
> It is a very private way of submitting one's whole being to God.
How private is it? I posted this link lst night.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0305-09.htm
Here's an excerpt from it.
Pope Steps Up Anti-War Crusade with Call for Christians to Fast
Pope John Paul II stepped up his crusade against a looming war in Iraq, urging
the world's Christians to stage a fast for peace on the same day as his envoy
is to meet US President George W. Bush.
The pope said the day of fasting on Wednesday would remind people of the long
years of suffering endured by Iraqi citizens as a result of the international
embargo against the country.
The fast will coincide with a meeting Wednesday between Bush and the pope's
special envoy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, who the pope has entrusted with a special
plea to restrain the US leader from waging war against Iraq.
The fast is the latest in a series of efforts to avert a war by the pope, who
has emerged as one of the most prominent opponents against a US-led conflict
with Iraq.
In recent weeks, he has received leaders ranging from Iraq Deputy Prime Minister
Tareq Aziz to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the US' key ally on Iraq, and
Tuesday held talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The pontiff said the day of fasting Wednesday should "provide greater
understanding of the difficulties and sufferings or our brothers confronted by
hunger, misery and war."
The appeal has also been passed on by World Council of Churches in Geneva and
the Synod of the Church of England.
An informal opinion poll carried out on a private Italian television channel
also found that 55.7 percent of viewers said they were willing to follow the
appeal to fast.
--------------
I have a number of (Protestant) friends right here in Portland, who let it be
known openly and beforehand that they are going to fast (usually for a day) as
part of some anti-war protest. The extent to which people on lit-phil have been
willing lately to generalize about 'Christians,' 'Catholics,' 'Protestants,'
'religion,' 'Muslims,' 'philosophers,' and the like is really quite
extraordinary.
Robert Paul
Reed College
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