Article: Abstinence

Abstinence is a voluntary forbearance from indulging a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol, or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical considerations.

Abstinence has diverse forms. In its oldest sense it is sexual, as in the practice of continence, chastity, and celibacy. Commonly it refers to a temporary or partial abstinence from food, as in fasting. Because the regimen is intended to be a conscious act, freely chosen to enhance life, abstinence is sometimes distinguished from the psychological mechanism of repression. The latter is an unconscious state, having unhealthy consequences. Freud termed the channelling of sexual energies into other more culturally or socially acceptable activities "sublimation".

Abstinence in religion

It may arise from an ascetic element present in most religions, or from a subjective need for spiritual discipline. In its religious context, abstinence is meant to elevate the believer beyond the normal life of desire, to a chosen ideal, by following a path of renunciation.

For Jews, the principal fast day is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For Muslims, the period of fasting lasts during the whole month of Ramadan, from dawn to dusk. Both Jews and Muslims abstain from pork in their regular diet. Among Christians, Catholics abstain from food and drink prior to taking Holy Communion, and abstain from meat on Fridays. They distinguish between fasting and abstinence; the former referring to the discipline of taking one full meal a day, and the latter signifying the discipline of eating no meat (fish is allowed). Many Protestants have preferred to abstain from imbibing alcohol and the use of tobacco. Mormons abstain from certain foods and drinks by combining spiritual discipline with health concerns. The Seventh-day Adventist Church encourages the consumption of only clean meats as specified in Leviticus and strongly discourages the consumption of alcohol, smoking and the use of narcotics. ^[1]

In India, Buddhists and Jains, and a number of Hindus abstain from eating meat on the grounds both of health and of reverence for all sentient forms of life. Total abstinence from feeding on the flesh of cows is a hallmark of Hinduism.

Environmentalism

The environmental movement does not necessarily advocate abstinence from bodily pleasures such as sex, but it does promote a lifestyle in harmony with the simplicity of nature, due to the limitations of non-renewable resources. Echoes of the temperance movement, organized by women such as Susan B. Anthony to persuade people to abstain--fully or partially--from alcoholic drink, can be seen in the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement advocates universal, voluntary abstinence.