>>>Fasting doesn't prove anything other than a need to feel like a good person.
>>
>>So you say.
>>
>>I think when performed as a ritual as a community a deeper meaning is instilled in the individual.
>>
>>The sort of meaning that leads to a change in actions.
>
>Hey! If we have a national day of feasting we can kill all the poor people.

We do down here; it's called Thanksgiving. But oddly enough, we tend to feed the poor people more then. Kind of the opposite to what Helland is proposing. Seems we give more when we eat more...