The church still tells people to fast for 40 days. I’m in Greece right now visiting my partners family and they’ve just ended their 40 day fast. So not sure where you get that from, unless you’re referring to the Western churches, in which case yes, the fast has been abandoned. But in eastern churches all meat, fish, dairy, egg, alcohol, rich/fatty foods and olive oil (depends on the church that one), is banned and followers are expected to spend those days focusing on their faith, attending church and praying. The very religious restrict themselves to one meal a day after sundown, usually a bean soup of sorts or bread and water (my father in law does this). The faithful are also expected to abstain from things like video games, television etc and engage with family, volunteer and do something for nature and people, but that’s not really followed by many.

Unfortunately the Conservative groups in this country want us to have a fully privatised system. They’re already working to rid the country of mentally ill people, disabled people or anyone who could be a “drain”. There’s so much rhetoric at the moment about mentally ill people or those with ADHD and Autism receiving benefits I’m actually scared, they’ve made sure that the waitlist for therapy is a year long. I was forced to go private for my therapy or wait “up to 36 months”. I was suicidal and my mum couldn’t risk us waiting, so she sold half of our land to a builder to pay for it :/

Yup. Whenever someone tries to justify underage marriage with “most fertile period” or “it’s always been the norm”, you know they’re a pedo. Teenage pregnancies are risky because the pelvis hasn’t fully developed, and the girl is more likely to suffer severe depression as well. Most fertile age is more like 19-32 not 12-18. Also, I live in the UK and marriage records kept by the church from the 1400s show the vast majority of girls married for the first time in their early twenties, not teen years :)

Same in the UK :/ although I’d never want an American style healthcare system