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| Hunger Strike victim or X-Ray? |
Hunger
may indicate a personal decision to refrain from eating, such as the religious
practice of fasting during the season of Lent. While not recommended for
children or the elderly, supervised fasting is a safe and acceptable custom.
Anorexia and bulimia, not so much.
More
deadly is the ritualized hunger strike. While the practice itself is not a
crime, often the undertaking of a hunger strike is prompted by criminal action.
Just as Buddhists protested unfair edicts in 1963 by drenching themselves with
gasoline and setting themselves ablaze, people who refuse food also risk a
painful death.
A
notable hunger strike that ended very badly took place in Ireland’s Long Kesh
Prison, during the summer of 1981. It is not my intent to assign responsibility
for the deaths that occurred or to judge peers and superiors who allowed the
strikes to commence or persist. You can draw your own conclusions from reading Afterlives, The Hunger Strike and the Secret
Offer That Changed Irish History by Richard O’Rawe.
Fasting;
hunger strike; keeping fast; Lenten fast; without food; and strict fast; all
fall under the heading of Xerophagy.
The
axiom:
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”
doesn’t apply only to
firearms.
Great post, and I'm thrilled to find another A to Z blogger posting to a crime theme! Off to check out your earlier posts!
ReplyDeleteJ.C. Martin
A to Z Blogger
Hello, Gail! Interesting post and this word is the first I've seen for X today!
ReplyDeleteI think it's super cool you live in Honolulu. My husband and I went to Oahu on our honeymoon (four years ago) and it was fabulous!! We absolutely loved it there and look forward to visiting Hawaii again some day. :)
Have a lovely weekend and happy A to Z!!
J.C., I haven't run across many blogs posts focused on mystery or crime. I'm eager to check out your site.
ReplyDeleteAloha, Laura. It is always paradise in Hawaii and now that the rains have slowed to sprinkles, it is a sunny paradise!
I had never heard of Xerophagy before - always happy to learn something new. I would never be able to pull off a hunger strike - I've tried a few diets and have no self control.
ReplyDeleteI love learning new words. You really have me thinking now as well. I'm not sure you can force feed someone so I suppose if you starve yourself..you have done it to yourself. Good post! Good luck with the last couple of letters.
ReplyDeleteI guess the point of a hunger strike is to protest being imprisoned in the first place? And to incite anger in the people who care about you on the outside? For prisoners I think it's the one bargaining chip they really have. It looks bad if they're allowed to die, right?
ReplyDeleteInteresting post!
A-Z @ Elizabeth Twist