Fasting

== Political application ==
Fasting is often used to make a political statement, to [[protest]], or to bring awareness to a cause. A [[hunger strike]] is a method of [[non-violent resistance]] in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. A ''spiritual fast'' incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of social injustice.<ref name="Garcia, M. 2007 p. 103">Garcia, M. (2007) ''The Gospel of Cesar Chavez: My Faith in Action'' Sheed & Ward Publishing p. 103</ref>

The political leader [[Gandhi]] undertook several long fasts as political and social protests. Gandhi's fasts had a significant impact on the [[British Raj]] and the [[Indian subcontinent|Indian]] population generally.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harinarayanan|first=A.|date=1986|title=GANDHI'S FASTS : AN ANALYSIS (Summary)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141630|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=47|pages=696–698|jstor=44141630|issn=2249-1937}}</ref>

In Northern Ireland in 1981, a prisoner, [[Bobby Sands]], was part of the [[1981 Irish hunger strike]], protesting for better rights in prison.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/18/newsid_2514000/2514727.stm ON THIS DAY 1981: Violence erupts at Irish hunger strike protest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417055938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/18/newsid_2514000/2514727.stm |date=17 April 2019 }}, ''[[BBC News]]''</ref> Sands had just been elected to the British Parliament and died after 66 days of not eating. 100,000 people attended his funeral, and the strike ended only after nine other men died. In all, ten men survived without food for 46 to 73 days.

[[César Chávez]] undertook several spiritual fasts, including a 25-day fast in 1968 promoting the principle of nonviolence and a fast of 'thanksgiving and hope' to prepare for pre-arranged civil disobedience by farm workers.<ref name="Garcia, M. 2007 p. 103" /><ref name="Shaw, R. 2008 p.92">Shaw, R. (2008)''Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the struggle for justice in the 21st century'' University of California Press, p.92</ref> Chávez regarded a spiritual fast as "a personal spiritual transformation".<ref>Espinosa, G. Garcia, M ''Mexican American Religions:Spirituality activism and culture''(2008) Duke University Press, p 108</ref> Other progressive campaigns have adopted the tactic.<ref>Shaw, R. (2008)''Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the struggle for justice in the 21st century'' University of California Press, p.93</ref>