Husain Abdullah: Fasting Football Player

Starting tomorrow (August 11, 2010) Husain Abdullah—a football player for the Minnesota Vikings, will be observing his religious beliefs by engaging in the Muslim practice of fasting during Ramadan. For the entire month he will not eat or drink fluids when the sun is out. As a football player who has to go to practices, this is obviously dangerous. It is fascinating how this guy will sacrifice his health and mental well-being because he believes his version of the 'all-powerful creator of the universe' desires him to suffer. One would bet that if Husain Abdullah was told that his god wanted him to have all his fingernails pulled off by pliers, that he would follow that ritual as well. Husain Abdullah was probably not told to fast by Allah—chances are he was told this by people who were told to fast by other people and so on. Husain's faith does not rest in the desires of a supreme being, but rather in the accuracy of claims made by fellow humans.   

Fasting is common across many belief systems and in the right circumstances it can be a healthy thing to engage in—however this is not one of those cases. Not eating or drinking (drinking more-so than eating) when exerting that level of physical activity is just asking to be rushed to a hospital for severe dehydration and heat-exhaustion; because of this guy's superstitious beliefs, he is putting his life in jeopardy. While I personally am not all that concerned about this individual's health—I find it amusing how self-destructive some religious beliefs can be. It is fairly obviously that Husain Abdullah is just sheepishly obeying tradition, regardless of how irrational or self-destructive it happens to be. Along with harming himself with his religious beliefs, he is also harming his team as well. I believe this is reflective of the self-destructive nature of many religious beliefs (not exclusively Islam).

Does a supreme-being really exist that cares whether or not humans eat or drink during a certain rotational position of the earth during a particular time of year? Both the Christian god and Allah have many things in common—one of those being the enjoyment of human suffering—what a lousy target of human adoration. Perhaps we should start worshiping the aids virus or maybe cancer. If human suffering is such a great thing in the eyes of a supreme being then should we all fill our shoes with broken shards of glass while shoving needles into the tips of our fingers? Why is senseless pain viewed as a display of religious faith in so many of our belief systems? Is it because as humans we believe that it takes suffering to feel as if we have accomplished something? Is it the feel-good chemicals that get released in the mind during times of pain that make people believe they are doing something productive? Either way such belief systems are certainly strange to have in the 21st century, especially for people who live in a modern nation.

For example, what if I was to dip my hands into hydrofluoric acid to show the gnomes that I believe in them. How quickly after I enter the hospital explaining my religious beliefs would I be thrown into a mental institution and be force fed medication?

As said by Buddha:

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."