It is as though fast justifies our actions henceforth, otherwise how else do you explain people who end up worse than before when they completely abstained from so called vices.

As in case of Rio de Janeiro carnival that is held 3 days prior to Roman Catholic Lenten season, it is actually a one last ditch at indulging oneself before fast begins.

Aren’t fasts supposed to purify us, such that our lives become holier? But today, most of us are taking these rituals as some kind of a short-term break that gives us some leeway for a longer period of indulgence. Its your religious passport to one more (technically 11 months) of hassle-free indulgence.

Fasts are good, provided they are adhered to in its spirit. They must not be seen as a means to an end, but instead be enjoyed as another opportunity to better oneself as a continuing process. Otherwise these very fasts may actually become more deadly vices than we can imagine.

To fast or to fast in spirit, that’s a question?

And while I'm bothered when somebody drags "My God" into a controversy, i am a little worried for the plain "God" who doesn't have any takers.

It also reveals that we want to ascribe to our religious beliefs in a way more than religion itself dictates. I do feel that most of time culprit is not "God" who by way was never clear about his real identity and thus created plethora of confusion among us, but rather our very own religious egos.