The Fasting Topic

This is one of those topics that wouldn't have come up prior the immigration 'era' (2013-to-present), but the chief legal Minister (the Justice Minister) of Hessen....Eva Kühne-Hörmann (CDU) has now openly discussed in the past day or two on a state topic.....Islamic parents 'forcing' their kids to observe Ramadan.  She thinks it's wrong for juveniles to be forced into this religious habit.

So to explain it to the non-Muslim folks.....Ramadan occurs on a yearly basis, and involves a 29-to-30 day period where you 'fast'. 

What kind of 'fast'?  Well....from sun-up to sun-down.....no smoking, no beverages, no food....period.  If you ask a Muslim how this is achieved....he'll respond that you get up around 45 minutes before sun rises, and guzzle down a significant amount of water and tea.  Most will suggest two liters will be consumed in this period.  Smoking (if the guy uses cigarettes) will involve smoke after smoke until the sun starts to rise.  Same for food.  Then as the sun starts to go down.....you go into a massive water hydration situation, and eat as much as possible.

The calendar does revolve, and it's possible for this to come up in January....meaning you only have to 'survive' from roughly 7:30 (Germany), and the sun sets around 5 PM.  Most Muslims will tell you that it's manageable. 

If this Ramadan occurs in July?  Well....the sun typically rises by 4:45 AM, and it doesn't set until 9:45 PM. 

Most folks will tell you that it's near impossible to make it seventeen hours. 

So this idea coming up in Hessen that Muslim parents would persuade or force their 8-year old kid to do this?  A number of health experts would strongly suggest that this is a bad idea. 

What the Justice Minister is suggesting is that a law needs to be on the books....to ensure it doesn't occur.  Oddly enough....even the SPD chief for the Hessen Family Ministry also talked about this and agreed.

Do they have a law on the books now?  They could use a federal code (171), which means if you don't handle the education of your kids, or screw-up on their care....you could go off to federal prison for three years (with a fine).  This law wasn't really designed for religious business like this.  I'm guessing that the state folks (the Greens and CDU for the Hessen coalition) will sit and discuss how you'd draft a law to prevent parents from pushing a kid (say under age 16) into 'fasting'. 

Then after you finish that....some health professional will say that twelve hours of fasting with no water in the midst of July heat (say 35C), would be a serious health issue for an adult. 

It just opens up various doors that people will shake their head over.