Humanist Fasting

I feel there is an unspoken belief in Humanism that aestheticism is bad and irrational. However, I disagree with this notion.  A Humanist life is the constant search for truth and rationality. Rationality requires self discipline and the ability to control your urges for the sake of operating at a higher level. I think that moderate aestheticism can be a great source of self discipline and self discovery.

Thus, this past Monday I took a fast. I promised myself no food or drink other then water for 24 hours. The first 12 hours was not bad, I at a light snack at 8:30pm Sunday, and went about my normal evening activities.

When I woke up, I at a few crackers so that I could take my pills. I think this is an important aspect of fasting as a humanist. On a strict fast this would have been unacceptable, but I knew as a rational being that without a small amount of food, my pills would be useless, and I could run the risk of hurting my self. Thus, I followed the middle ground, and came up with a satisfactory solution to meet both needs – my fasting experience would not be disturbed by a few crackers, and my medication would have it’s full effect. This is practicing moderate asceticism.

The afternoon went by fine; however, by the time 4:00 came arround my hunger was becoming more and more noticeable. by 6:00 it was very hard for me to concentrate on my work. By 8:00 I felt slightly ill. I quickly realized how fast the human body, and mind, degrades when it is deprived of something it wants and needs – it made me feel slightly vulnerable.

When 8:30 rolled around, I ate ,normally, and went about my evening activities feeling accomplished and having new thought to reflect upon.

Overall, I think this was a good experience, and i recommend fasting to anyone who wants a good test of self discipline; however, I advise you to be rational when you do it. If you take medication that needs food, there is nothing wrong with eating a bit when you take your pills. There is nothing wrong drinking  water. If you can’t concentrate anymore have a small snack. I believe the key to good humanist fasting is to be reasonable when you do it; understand you are doing it for self discipline, not to win favor with god or whatever.