May I add a few points there?

I think being a true Muslim is a decision driven by both mind (first) and (then) heart.

Once your mind recognizes that:
1- Indeed, there is nothing worthy of being deified except the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth (Allah),
2- Muhammad (PBUH) is a true (and the final) prophet and messenger of Allah.
3- The Qur’an is the verbatim word of God/Allah.
4-That the painstakingly authenticated Ahadeeth (sayings) and Seerah (life) of Muhammad (PBUH) are true…

…then you’d accept (or should accept) everything else (all the details) blindly without rationalizing, since the mind has already fulfilled its role and a solid rational basis has been established for faith.

That said, if one must look for a rationalization for fasting as we Muslims are ordered to do, I think one could say it’s about realizing the blessings that one enjoys at other times of the year and about sympathizing with people deprived of those blessings.

Some might say: “Well we understand the part on food, but what about water/drink? How many people out there really spend the whole day without a glass of water or drink?”.

Such people (the posers of the question) fail to realize that there are many African communities in dire need of fresh (drinkable) water who toil all day to fetch some impure water to their families, only to expose them to potential unavoidable health hazards”.

Other people might say: “Well what about sex?”.

Again, only if you’ve been leading a religious God-fearing life and abstaining from pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relationships would you appreciate the blessings that an intimate marital relationship can give to the husband and wife.

And… Wa’llahu a’alam (God knows best)!

What I found interesting from your comment is that you now have a little taste of what Muslims feel on a daily basis. It seems like you are trying to show that actions of some Christians does not equal Christianity. Just because some Christians do not follow the scriptures or don’t understand the meanings behind things like fasting etc., that doesn’t reflect poorly on Christianity because a religion is based on its scripture, not its people.

That’s exactly what Muslims want to educate the world on. Just because you see some Muslims that are not educated about Islam doing wrong actions, that does not mean that that is Islam. If you want to know about Islam, you need to go to its scriptures.

But, I guess you already agree with me on that.

“It was normal for all of us Greek Orthodox to fast before Easter and go out and have fun at the exact same time – without feeling an inch of guilt.”

^^ This is the norm for whom eactly? The general Greek Orthodox public? Your personal experiences? Your particular generation or growing up in your particular region in Greece?

Don’t you think that by making bold type statements like this you are stereotyping an entire society? If you want to point out that there are hypocrites who call themselves Christians that is fine, for all societies are full of people who fail to live in accordance to their religion, however since you were once Christian I would assume you had mental capacity to understand from a young age what fasting consists of in the Christian Orthodox world, and it is not simply about avoiding certain foods and going out to have ‘fun.’

From St. John Chrysostom, Homily III;

“I speak not, indeed, of such a fast as most persons keep, but of real fasting; not merely an abstinence from meats; but from sins too.”