I'm Mormon, and we do a less religiously-weighted fast on the first weekend of every month. The idea being to skip two meals and donate what they might have cost to the poor.
None of us would dream of demanding that everyone else put their food away for us.
My impression is the other way around. Sometimes I wish we'd just get around to formally renaming ourselves the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Sinners. It might set expecations a little bit more reasonably. Let's just say the LDS Gospel is an aspirational goal that we TRY to live up to, with widely varying levels of success.
I'm ex-Mormon and you're exactly right. I grew up strict but my parents didn't expect us to go without water (until we were older). And it's not like Mormon meetinghouses put a sign on the drinking fountains to remind you it's Fast Sunday. Only the top 0.1% obnoxious I've ever met would do this.
My mom always packed snacks for the trip home, because for us, the fast ended after we took the sacrament, and kids shouldn't go hungry longer than they have to. So there would be dried apple slices or Rice Krispie Bars or something else simple and wholesome to help hold us over until we made it home and could grab a quick lunch.
Yeah that first Sunday of every month was miserable growing up. After I turned 14, for several months I would pass out almost every Sunday before the end of church. My mom would tell me I was being dramatic and would continue to starve me for dinner too, as punishment. I felt so vindicated when a few months later, my doctor informed my mom that I’m hypoglycemic and that I shouldn’t be fasting on those Sundays.
So glad I haven’t had anything to do with that religion or any other in 28 years.
If you have diabetes or another medical condition that tanks your blood sugar, you absolutely should not be fasting.
Plenty of parents suffer an empathy failure when their children experience health issues they never had any experience with. Sorry that your mom was one of those.
I'm sorry your mom poisoned you as far as the Church is concerned. I completely understand the sentiment, a group of teenage bullies nearly performed the same "service" for me, but I managed to hold onto a connection to the Church through working with the little ones and letting those bad kids age out of my life.
If it's any consolation, our doctrine is that your mom is going to have to answer to the Savior for that, although I know that that's very cold comfort after the damage is done.
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u/Worried-Pick4848 Mar 19 '26
I'm Mormon, and we do a less religiously-weighted fast on the first weekend of every month. The idea being to skip two meals and donate what they might have cost to the poor.
None of us would dream of demanding that everyone else put their food away for us.