Steve, There are many religions where fasting process goes on, sometimes during the festivals' season and sometimes in the case of eclipses, etc;
I've always wondered, as i lived in india, Many muslims, doesn't matter big or small, young or older, everyone follows fasting process during the time of "ramadan ", one of their most holy festival & month of the year..
No sarcasm, but you haven't seen or didn't know much about this, but it doesn't mean that they don't exist..
I'll tell you one incident which happened about a few years ago, when a girl was going to her high school, she began to faint desperately, and it came to the notice that she was low on B.P and as it was morning (about 8 to 9 O' Clock) when the prayers of the muslims are done, in simple words, as the prayer gets over in the early morning around 5 O' Clock, the fasting begins.. and the girl needed something to bring her back to normality, like glucose, But as it was already fasting, She couldn't eat anything.. not even drinking;
It went on for 10 minutes, he was crying with hunger and was fainting, But many gathered there to help her, and they possibly wanted to give her Energy drinks, but at the same time, the holy fasting was backing them and if they gave her the drink, the girl will be taken as a sinner not by anyone, but by their.. yeah, Quran.. maybe, so people were in real confusion and were in a guilty-feeling that they could do nothing, even though everything is with them.. and they know that they will be the un-appropriate reason for the sin if they give her something to eat or drink.. But, it went on for a good hour, and the girl hardly waited for the fasting to finish though there's a lot of time left for that.. and she kept on spitting and washing her face as some say even galloping is not allowed and i even saw many doing that.. But, the news came in that She was alright by the end of the day, as she was given energetic food to recover..
So, that's how the situations can get to, even knowing that, people do that only for the sake of what they are for, and because of whom they are in this world (As they Believe)
This doesn't happen only in particular countries, everywhere in the world, where there's a rule or a must, in a religion, all for good.. As many disagree with it, it's still good..
