Originally Posted by Commie8507

Breath Taking Pictures
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/201...an_begins.html

#24 is amazing. Thanks for the share!

Don't know much about the holiday but hope everyone is enjoying it!

Originally Posted by davied

Don't know much about the holiday but hope everyone is enjoying it!

Thanks, but it's actually not a holiday, Ramadan lasts for about a month.

hey firstly happy ramadan everyone

secondly, just wondering, but does ramadan occur at a different time each year? cus im pretty sure last year my friend was fasting while we were still in school. so does that mean islam follows its own calender ( like i know in the Hindu religion all the events and stuff like diwali occur on different days each year cus the Hindu calender is different than the everyday one and celebrations/religious events rarely lines up on the same day consecutively.)

Originally Posted by Chevalier

hey firstly happy ramadan everyone

secondly, just wondering, but does ramadan occur at a different time each year? cus im pretty sure last year my friend was fasting while we were still in school. so does that mean islam follows its own calender ( like i know in the Hindu religion all the events and stuff like diwali occur on different days each year cus the Hindu calender is different than the everyday one and celebrations/religious events rarely lines up on the same day consecutively.)

islam follows the lunar calendar. the lunar calendar is 10 days shorter than the normal calendar. So each year ramadan starts 10 days earlier than the year before.

Originally Posted by tyrant

happy ramadan guys, but can anyone tell me the point of starving yourself when it

1)affects your health (gorging yourself in the morning and night and you're bound to pack on a few pounds)

2)probably reduces your daily productivity, on account of hunger.


it kinda makes me hate religion for telling people to do something so pointless.

Ramadan has much deeper meaning , it is not to be confused with starving. Fasting is a form of self restraint , self restraint from anything majorly harmful to the smallest of bad habit. "Not eating" is symbolic of that.
If your hogging each evening or morning , youre doing it wrong , fasting takes place for about 14-15 hours max , dont eat like you havent eaten for weeks.
Also research shows that not eating makes the blood stay within your brain instead of moving towards the stomach and thats when your concentration is at its peak. ( notice how we feel sleepy after lunch)
If
If you have doubts about a religion "not making sense " just think about the millions of other followers they wouldnt be a part of it if it was senseless and theres very less chance of you being the only intelligent being who can look through it.

I know your question was innocent , The above might sound bitter but its not meant to be

Syria gets the best Ramadan ever.

Originally Posted by Hopefull

Ramadan has much deeper meaning , it is not to be confused with starving. Fasting is a form of self restraint , self restraint from anything majorly harmful to the smallest of bad habit. "Not eating" is symbolic of that.
If your hogging each evening or morning , youre doing it wrong , fasting takes place for about 14-15 hours max , dont eat like you havent eaten for weeks.
Also research shows that not eating makes the blood stay within your brain instead of moving towards the stomach and thats when your concentration is at its peak. ( notice how we feel sleepy after lunch)
If
If you have doubts about a religion "not making sense " just think about the millions of other followers they wouldnt be a part of it if it was senseless and theres very less chance of you being the only intelligent being who can look through it.

I know your question was innocent , The above might sound bitter but its not meant to be

glad to here your view, but when you say not eating means concentration is at a peak (which im not so sure is true), are you trying to say everyone would get more accomplished if they didn't eat everyday b/c their concentration is at a peak? I know at least one person that doesn't work for. (ME! I eat food every 2-3 hours and have consumed 1700 calories by the end of the day)

also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right. How many millions of ppl are born into a religion without a choice (such as islam or any other for that matter), or are indians tired of being dalits (untouchables) that turn to islam in desperation not comprehension.

I just want to go on record and say I am against ALL religions (from catholocism to islam) b/c i believe all of them are man made constructs. some of the philosophies help people out (give to the poor), and some are just for selfish gain. (giving a figurehead such as king or pope power over everyone) And in this day and age religion is for the most part OUTDATED. For example, im sure that banning contraceptives in some religions was simply so women were able to push out more future soldiers to prevent that area from becoming captured from a rival army. But in todays society where the world is overpopulated and millions are starving b/c food is scarce, is having more kids really a good idea? Or is taking safety precautions to minimize unwanted childbirth the correction solution? (I would go with the latter)

"also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right."

You asked about fasting, so we gave you our personal reasons as to why we choose to do it. These are our opinions, and no one is forcing you to believe that they are "right". Please be respectful of our decision to follow a religion.
There's no need for you to launch a massive argument in this thread about why you hate religion.

Originally Posted by tyrant

glad to here your view, but when you say not eating means concentration is at a peak (which im not so sure is true), are you trying to say everyone would get more accomplished if they didn't eat everyday b/c their concentration is at a peak? I know at least one person that doesn't work for. (ME! I eat food every 2-3 hours and have consumed 1700 calories by the end of the day)

also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right. How many millions of ppl are born into a religion without a choice (such as islam or any other for that matter), or are indians tired of being dalits (untouchables) that turn to islam in desperation not comprehension.

I just want to go on record and say I am against ALL religions (from catholocism to islam) b/c i believe all of them are man made constructs. some of the philosophies help people out (give to the poor), and some are just for selfish gain. (giving a figurehead such as king or pope power over everyone) And in this day and age religion is for the most part OUTDATED. For example, im sure that banning contraceptives in some religions was simply so women were able to push out more future soldiers to prevent that area from becoming captured from a rival army. But in todays society where the world is overpopulated and millions are starving b/c food is scarce, is having more kids really a good idea? Or is taking safety precautions to minimize unwanted childbirth the correction solution? (I would go with the latter)

Come on man, you don't have to go on a rant in this thread. I'm also not on board with a lot of things religion does, but it's an individual choice (usually) and you have to respect that.

Originally Posted by ooburii

"also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right."

You asked about fasting, so we gave you our personal reasons as to why we choose to do it. These are our opinions, and no one is forcing you to believe that they are "right". Please be respectful of our decision to follow a religion.
There's no need for you to launch a massive argument in this thread about why you hate religion.

believe it or not this has nothing to do with your personal beliefs, his argument against it not "making sense to me" is that millions of others people are doing it so therefore they must be on to something.The quote you have above was more a defense of my self, and justifying my reasoning than an attack on you.

Originally Posted by TedMosby

Come on man, you don't have to go on a rant in this thread. I'm also not on board with a lot of things religion does, but it's an individual choice (usually) and you have to respect that.

I am done. I'll leave the intelligent debates for other threads i guess.

Sorry that people are ragging on you, I don't really see a problem with anything you write. And my goal is to try to explain it to you with as much focus on the self as possible, as opposed to focusing on a God. I'm not entirely sure whether or not you're spiritual in any way, but assuming you're not, no amount of people exclaiming "we do it for God!!" will make it less nonsensical for you.

I think the main thing to note about the whole no food part of fasting (because fasting involves more than just no food or water) is that it's generally less of a big deal than people make it. That being said, yes, it makes you less productive. As the day goes on, regardless of any of this blood and detox and whatever, you will be hungry and thirsty and not want to do any work. That's fine. You will also be sleep deprived.

However, none of this is as extreme as people think. No one goes 30 days without sleep, food or water. People eat and drink in the evenings, and early in the mornings. It's just a long time in between meals, not some sort of 30 day super detox diet. What you said about eating small meals throughout the day is correct - it is more healthy to eat a bunch of small meals. But like I said, this isn't as big a deal as a lot of people think.

"also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right."

You're quite correct. In fact, I would venture to say what a lot of people do is often wrong. But that's the entire point of faith isn't it - you're believing in something without credible proof. Some people might say "how can you live like that?" and others can respond with "how can you not?"

Your final paragraph is also quite interesting. There are definitely certain rules in most religions that are based on the necessities of the times. For example, pork is haram (not permissible) in Islam and I think Judaism too? (correct me if I'm wrong here). But that's because someone is likely to get trichinosis from eating uncooked or improperly cooked pork.

The thing that's interesting about Islam is that it refers to itself as a "way of life"; in other words, it's just a set of guidelines that gives the person a conservative, safe, disciplined life style.

Go ahead and ask some more questions here if you're interested - or if you're scared of offending someone or something feel free to send me a PM >_>

Originally Posted by tyrant

glad to here your view, but when you say not eating means concentration is at a peak (which im not so sure is true), are you trying to say everyone would get more accomplished if they didn't eat everyday b/c their concentration is at a peak? I know at least one person that doesn't work for. (ME! I eat food every 2-3 hours and have consumed 1700 calories by the end of the day)

also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right. How many millions of ppl are born into a religion without a choice (such as islam or any other for that matter), or are indians tired of being dalits (untouchables) that turn to islam in desperation not comprehension.

I just want to go on record and say I am against ALL religions (from catholocism to islam) b/c i believe all of them are man made constructs. some of the philosophies help people out (give to the poor), and some are just for selfish gain. (giving a figurehead such as king or pope power over everyone) And in this day and age religion is for the most part OUTDATED. For example, im sure that banning contraceptives in some religions was simply so women were able to push out more future soldiers to prevent that area from becoming captured from a rival army. But in todays society where the world is overpopulated and millions are starving b/c food is scarce, is having more kids really a good idea? Or is taking safety precautions to minimize unwanted childbirth the correction solution? (I would go with the latter)

also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right.


Hi everyone, I just want to say Happy Ramadan to everyone who is celebrating it. Even though I am not Muslim, perhaps I can offer some knowledge on why people fast. People belonging to any religious group, whether they fast, pray, or go to church do it for many reasons. One of the reasons that people engage in these rituals is a way to connect with their ancestors. These rituals have existed for many generations and by partaking in these rituals people feel in-touch or connected with their loved ones and ancestors.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

Sorry that people are ragging on you, I don't really see a problem with anything you write. And my goal is to try to explain it to you with as much focus on the self as possible, as opposed to focusing on a God. I'm not entirely sure whether or not you're spiritual in any way, but assuming you're not, no amount of people exclaiming "we do it for God!!" will make it less nonsensical for you.

I think the main thing to note about the whole no food part of fasting (because fasting involves more than just no food or water) is that it's generally less of a big deal than people make it. That being said, yes, it makes you less productive. As the day goes on, regardless of any of this blood and detox and whatever, you will be hungry and thirsty and not want to do any work. That's fine. You will also be sleep deprived.

However, none of this is as extreme as people think. No one goes 30 days without sleep, food or water. People eat and drink in the evenings, and early in the mornings. It's just a long time in between meals, not some sort of 30 day super detox diet. What you said about eating small meals throughout the day is correct - it is more healthy to eat a bunch of small meals. But like I said, this isn't as big a deal as a lot of people think.

"also just because several ppl are doing something, our following a certain philosophy doesn't make it right."

You're quite correct. In fact, I would venture to say what a lot of people do is often wrong. But that's the entire point of faith isn't it - you're believing in something without credible proof. Some people might say "how can you live like that?" and others can respond with "how can you not?"

Your final paragraph is also quite interesting. There are definitely certain rules in most religions that are based on the necessities of the times. For example, pork is haram (not permissible) in Islam and I think Judaism too? (correct me if I'm wrong here). But that's because someone is likely to get trichinosis from eating uncooked or improperly cooked pork.

The thing that's interesting about Islam is that it refers to itself as a "way of life"; in other words, it's just a set of guidelines that gives the person a conservative, safe, disciplined life style.

Go ahead and ask some more questions here if you're interested - or if you're scared of offending someone or something feel free to send me a PM >_>

Hey Kamran, I appreciate you hearing me out. The pork example was the first that came to my mind as well, no one is going to get trichnosis from eating twizzlers or chewing hubba bubba yet I've still seen some of my friends checking the back of packages to make sure there is no gelatin in the food.

If anyone wants to respond to my comments I'd love to discuss it with them, but until then Im done. HAPPY RAMADAN!