10 May Feast or Fast

Published in The Independent 7th February 2005
I think that some element of restraint and discipline is a virtue. As the saying goes:
“To feast you must fast and to fast, you must feast”. However, with Ramadan and
Lent I think Muslims and Christians are having too much of a good thing, for two
reasons. First, you need to have the balance on a daily basis and not just at certain
times of the year and second, having a delicious dinner, enjoying a good rum and
having a fine orgasm are all part of our nature. God invented belching and the sense
of repletion and pleasure in doing a piece of hard work. He-and-She invented
homosexuality and heterosexuality. These are all God’s gifts to the human race and
the idea that we should atone for who we are as always struck me as ludicrous.