Hi there,

I never have been able to fast because I have diabetes, but my sister who lives in Hawaii is always complaining about not being able to drink water on fast Sunday. :( ? Apparently it's a rule over there for her at least, and to be honest, I can't understand the explanation on that one. I never recall hearing that water was banned, but in Utah being so dry I can understand why. Hell, my family would drink Powerade to make sure they weren't losing electrolytes as well.

What are you experiences with fasting?

It is dangerous not to take enough fluids so I suppose I broke the rules.

However, I'm in the mission field where common sense prevails. Fasting was not seen as a commandment over here, more a way to put members on a high so they can appear more righteous and feel the buzz that they interpreted as the 'spirit'.

Those who fasted to the max (mostly the rabid tbms) didn't smell very nice and I would escape the building as quickly as possible.

Briggy

[oops, not even sure how I just posted]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2012 05:06AM by hexalm.

From lds.org

"We are taught that there are three aspects to a proper fast day observance: first, abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals or, in other words, 24 hours; second, attending fast and testimony meeting; and third, giving a generous fast offering."

So, water is not allowed for it to be a proper fast. I would say though that if there are medical reasons why going without water would be harmful then Church leaders wouldn't quibble.

The math never added up for me (true enough, I'm not a great student of mathematics). But. How is 24 hrs equivalent to two meals? Don't most people in our society (who have access) eat at least three meals in 24 hrs?

As an adult convert, I understood that we were required to fast from before supper the night before Fast Sunday, and then to skip breakfast and lunch on Sunday, to equal three entire meals. That is how I tried to do it, although I have always found it difficult to go to bed without eating supper first.

I was really embarrassed one time when one of the top families in the ward, with several RM sons who were now stake missionaries and my new member class teachers, invited me to lunch on a Fast Sunday and I blurted out "I can't, I'm fasting". We all looked at each other quizzically and one of the RMs told me that it's OK to eat lunch, as they always did, and I innocently inquired, "But how is that a 24 hour fast?" I realized after that it may have been rude but I was merely intent on getting the rules/dogma down straight, always hard to do in Mormonism, in my experience, even about something as relatively simple as fasting.

I don't think I ever heard that you can't take sips of water though.

Just like Mormonism. Keep everybody wondering and uncertain and scared to ask questions and above all, leaders, don't make anything clear, even the basics.

Confusion abounds.

I always worried, too, about how it was possible for members to have large families and many expenses, including missions for all their sons and maybe daughters too, plus giving 10% of lifetime gross income, plus "generous" fast offerings, plus contributing to the general missionary fund, plus any other offerings requested, plus all the ward classes and activities that, in my experience, individuals and teachers funded themselves.

What THE HELL does the church pay for to give its members a break?

Well, if you eat dinner on Saturday and skip 2 meals, it'll be 24 hours when it's time for Sunday dinner. In my experience, only skipping breakfast was common, though.

Right, so how can TBMs eat Sunday lunch? I had joined and was trying to do the right thing and was happy for the invitation but didn't know how we could eat again that early. Why don't they just say we skip breakfast on Sunday and then we can break our fast with Sunday lunch?

All hypocrites though, they're all chewing gum and getting sugar from it. And even the sugarless gum, they're getting substance from it.

is like putting your dog in a crate on top of your car.

The nasty old ladies used to pinch me on fast Sunday if I used the water fountain, when I was growing up.
But my family is plagued with headaches, and fasting from water Is actually dangerous, not to mention a good way to get a headache, so it was not banned at our house.

Still, they encouraged us kids to "voluntarily" give up a meal or two "as soon as we felt we could". Love the pressure.
Then when we dissolved into whining, crying, starving children, they'd punish us for not focusing on the spirit enough.
Dicks.

Fast Sunday for me was just skipping breakfast. I was never really good at it.

Growing up, we also had to do the Saturday dinner to Sunday dinner with no food OR water. By the time I was in middle school, I'd learned to hord some food the day before and hide it in my bedroom. I also snuck a cup into the bathroom in the morning to sneak a drink from the shower. Later, I just had a thermos with some water in it. I always felt SO guilty. I wish I could go back and put my arm around my 13-year-old self and say, "don't even think about it, you're awesome."

But because I remembered that, I never forced fasting on my children. I figured that way I could be the sinner for not teaching them right and they would be innocent. If they were getting pressure from SS or YW lessons or something, I'd let them fast breakfast but told them that fasting does not include water. By the time they were in high school, I didn't care, but I certainly didn't encourage it.

Sound like the same advice where tea and coffee are bad but soda is okay. Going all day without water can be dangerous, especially in high altitudes. When it comes to health advice, I wouldn't look to the lds church.

Seems like it was the typical "Follow the law and make your own adjustments as necessary." type of thing here.. Figures.

Not sure I understand why my mom still believes in this crap being an MD and all. She openly drinks water and Powerade still, sometimes at church, lol. My dad too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2012 09:37AM by notsurewhattothink.

Now I understand why candy is so popular in Utah...eat sweets until you're diabetic, then you don't have to fast...

Water--bad
Beer--good

When we lived overseas in a hot climate we were told that the water part of fasting did not apply. This was 2003 when we moved there.

I never understood the water part of fasting. The idea is to sacrifice and give to the poor. Are you saving money on your water bill or something? Going without water is dumb, it's not nutritive. Of course lots of LDS doctrine is dumb when you step back and think.

We were not expected to fast at all until we were baptized. I remember going to a baby blessing when I was 7 and I took a drink of water in the foyer. Two of my cousins started chastising me for not keeping my fast.

The rule at our house was no eating after lunch on Saturday until lunch time after church on Sunday. That gave 24 hours with two meals skipped. The headaches from dehydration with no water could be especially harsh during harvest time on the farm.

After I left the church, I started fasting once a week as part of my workout routine. I will fast 24 to 36 hours, but it definately does not fit the mormon fast. I drink black coffee & unsweetened green tea besides a lot of water.

The worst part is having fasting forced upon you. If they let you fast and you decide to fast on your own, that's okay. When you're a child or on your mission, you are forced to. And on a mission, you fast for everything. When I left BYU and became an adult, I never fasted again.

On fast sunday weekends we usually tried to eat as late as possible the night before. The only food allowed was the sacrament, the only water allowed was the sacrament.

We often had an early dinner, but the rules were strictly enforced.

I hated fast sundays, I would always end up with a massive headache... Somehow I never equated that with feeling the spirit.

Agree...as soon as I made the connection between my migraines and missed meals fasting went away. Best decision ever.

Fast Sunday...what a joke!....the only thing it taught me was not eating made me VERY hungry...and it constituted child abuse IMHO...

Ron Burr

I was always taught that fasting meant no water. I always felt guilty when I forgot and stopped by the drinking fountain for a sip during church - especially if someone else saw me!

I, being hopelessly rational, never understood fasting. If it's charity, I can afford to give and then eat my meals too, so that must not be it. Is it that being hungry is a symbolic sacrifice? Well, symbolic things don't accomplish anything in case you hadn't noticed. In fact ritual and symbolism are abominations that way. Useless. I am here to enjoy my brief life, not make myself uncomfortable for some illogical reason. It's all BS, folks. And it's bad for you.


RationalGuy edits his posts often, mostly for typos. (Fat Fingers)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2012 02:09PM by rationalguy.

OP here, I find it fascinating that Mormons (at least my ward) claim that there is scientific proof that fasting is good for you, and yet every article I've read about fasting talks about maintaining proper hydration and to actually eat something WHILE fasting! Something very small or something like soup, but the point is, is that the Mormon way of fasting is not what science talks about...

The Gospel Principles Manual is probably as authoritative as you can get as far as being an official church statement:

https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-25-fasting?lang=eng

"Fasting means to go without food and drink."

"One Sunday each month Latter-day Saints observe a fast day. On this day we neither eat nor drink for two consecutive meals. If we were to eat our evening meal on Saturday, then we would not eat or drink until the evening meal on Sunday."


To be fair there are a number of statements about drinking water being OK when it is a safety concern such as very hot climates, etc.

Our MP once asked us (the whole mission) to fast from the end of supper on Saturday to the breakfast on Monday.
He said that because members were now (back in the 90s) generally eating supper very late on the Saturday and eating Supper very early on Sunday that we as a church had stopped fasting the proper way and we needed to learn more about fasting by 'truely' experiencing it.
As an obedient missionary I did as I was told.
and I probably was the only one... My comp had a good reason because she was taking some medication that you couldn't take on empty stomach.

The night between the Sunday and Monday was a very difficult night indeed.

not be eaten. It makes sense to MORmONS !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOJcunaFE38

I'm the opposite. I never, in 30 years of being a very active Mormon, heard it was OK to drink water on Fast Sunday. The rule was very strict, whether on my mission, living in Utah or living in California. You don't drink or eat anything - not even breath mints. That's why the gum is so popular.

The only reasons for not following the fasts were diagnosed medical conditions and pregnancy/nursing. Even at that, my mom has blood sugar issues and she only eats plain bits of protein on fast Sunday, in order to keep the spirit of the law, even if her doctor won't let her keep the letter of the law.

In the Morridor, it was always no food and no water for 24 hours. Many of the parents with small children would withold all the nasty little snacks they normally brought for Sacrament meeting, which meant that church was guaranteed to be extra noisy and unpleasant during Fast and Testimony Meeting. Then members would get up and tearfully gush about the blessings of their fast while the little kids screamed, whined, crawled under the pews, and otherwise acted up.


A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting an out-of-state LDS family member. I attended chuch with that person and heard several different members claim that they felt all kinds of super spiritual energy and power from fasting, that they didn't get hungry or thirsty, etc.

In my experience, it only led to headaches, crankiness, fatigue, and stomach-rumbling hunger, even when I prayed and dedicated my fast to some worthy goal or cause. I rarely made it through the 24 hours.