I'm celebrating Anti-lent this year. I've decided to drink and smoke every day the next forty days. Some of my friends will be doing shrooms, hookers, crack etc. I figure I'm the mild one out of the bunch.
Nothing. Hate religion and Catholicism most of all, even though once upon a time I was a catholic (pre 12 years old). I do, however, proclaim to red dot anyone that actually posts something they are giving up for serious. The idea of lent is the stupidest and most meaningless sacrament in the entirety of religion. It, honestly, means nothing, it is an idea created well after any supposed fact and attached to some stupid made up meaning that normal church goers aren't intelligent enough to comprehend. Now I'm all for giving up something you normally subsist on, as an exercise in will power. But please, attribute it to yourself, not some false divinity. Ok...as I should have guessed, pretty much noone here is religious. And we wonder why this board maintains a certain level of intellect.
I don't see the point in giving up anything for lent. How is it supposed to benifit me? Is it really going to help me get into heaven? I mean, let's be honest giving up something for 40 days is not going to make up for the shit I've done that is sending me to hell!
On the topic of this, a thought went through my head as I was driving home tonight: It's recently surfaced that Pope John Paul II used to self-flagellate and sleep on the floor to bring him closer to god. A few years ago I recall reading about a high-end performance car (was it a Saleen? bleh) which, when purchased, came with a pair of custom-made shoes from the same cobbler who made shoes for the Pope. These two statements are only slightly incongruous, don't you think. But on topic proper, I was raised Catholic. Of course we were encouraged to give up stuff for lent, but nothing ever materialized. I didn't have video games, I didn't eat candy or chocolate, or anything worth giving up in the first place, so I never actually gave anything up. Oh, my mom would make me eat fish on good friday, but that was about it. I didn't like fish. I was given the choice: eat fish, or get nailed to a cross. One thing I never understood, either - why the hell were we not allowed to eat meat, but allowed - nay, encouraged - to eat fish? Why is the line drawn at fish? And then during the times when people were serious about never eating any meat on fridays, people used to throw animals down a well and "fish" them out, and eat them without any guilt. Clever motherfuckers. One thing I miss was the old shrove tuesday tradition of going over to my grandmother's place and being blindfolded while trying to crack a hardboiled egg on a table (that would be moved around mercilessly). Oh, and the shrove tuesday pastries. Which were shortly followed by the easter pastries. And you only had to wait five weeks in between! On the topic of giving things up for 40 days, this past summer I went five weeks without so much as getting a hard on, nevermind sex or masturbation. Sure was a fun weekend when it ended, though.
From my understanding of it, there is absolutely no real reason. The idea of not eating meat is simply an arbitrary device used for penance and to show respect for Christ. Of course, this idea was created by people who never knew Christ, and who likely sold salvation to sinners for some amount of gold or silver, all the while diddling whoever they pleased. Lent doesn't even make sense. What, give something up you like for forty days, minus Sundays, or else? Or else what? Like all Catholic/Christian holidays, this one sprang from something practical and was perverted in order to brainwash more poor commoners.
Hi everyone! This is me on Codeine! And even me on Codeine can appreciate the fact that it IS possible to have a thread about Lent without talking about how all religion is stupid as we marvel at how enlightened we think we are and shoot down the beliefs of billions of people because WE may not think the same! Me on Codeine is asking nicely to cut the shit! Yay!
My wife was trying to explain to our 4-year-old what Lent was, and that she (my wife) was giving up Coke for Lent. When my wife asked my daughter if she would like to give up anything for Lent, my daughter explained "I'm a princess, and princesses never give up!" Thanks to whatever Disney movie that came from. It was the best thing that happened to me yesterday. Since I was raised "Reformed Protestant," I always kinda throw 5 things into the hat to satisfy my wife. Whichever one I do without the longest becomes my "thing given up for lent." I wasn't raised guilty... err, Catholic. Screw that.
Not even a post in between. You've been asked nicely. I highly suggest everyone not do this. Next one that does gets a vaca. Wee! Sunshine, puppies and skittles. There now it's all nicey nice.
Derp derp derp, before you go slinging words about how certain practices in religions are stupid, at least do your damn homework. 40 days and 40 nights is how long Jesus spent in the desert fasting, and while doing so was tempted by the devil with bitches and sweet food but turned it all down because that's how Jesus rolls. The idea of Lent is to do the whole walk in Jesus' shoes, make yourself stronger by denying carnal pleasures and all. I think that the not eat meat part is left over from older times when it was considered more of a delicacy. As for fish, that was the main staple of food back when Jesus was around, so I'm pretty sure the whole Fish Fridays thing is because of that. More importantly, relax dude. I know complaining about religion is the super cool thing to do on the Internet, and while I (and probably the majority of people on here) agree that there are a shit ton of things wrong with religion this is probably not the best place to go on rants like that because it's not funny, and you're basically repeating the same thing that has been said by everyone ever, making it not very "intelligent discoursey." And come on, I'm not very religious at all and yet I know all that stuff, and if I didn't I would have... looked it up before going OSMGWHYISRELIGIOSNDFOSOBAD nuts. [edit] This is oh so totally an informational post so that people will know why Lent exists in Christianity, that's all.
When I was a Christian, the denomination I belonged to didn't observe Lent. We were encouraged to do fasting on occasion to try and bring ourselves closer to God through self-sacrifice, but that was about it. I never did, but that's because I eventually figured out that I didn't really give two shits about being closer to God. Anyway, I know a guy who is...I think...Episcopalian. He does all sorts of things that I never would have attributed to a Christian - he'd actually fit in well on this board, being both intellectual and depraved. Anyway, every year he gives up alcohol for Lent. He has a Last Hurrah the night before, then doesn't touch a drop until after Easter. I don't understand his walk with God, but I do respect that it makes sense to him.
Hehe, all apologies. Just like to highlight that my post was made within about 20 minutes of this one: Sometimes gibberish comes out when you are on the home stretch at work and the 12 beer buzz from the afternoon has turned into a nightmare of a hangover. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, carry on.
IANA cultural ecologist, but the best explanation I've heard for the use of fish, and other food-based religious issues is that the eating of certain animals was bad for society. In the case of moving from other meats to fish, it improved sustainability of the livestock that they were using; focusing on fish meant that they couldn't overeat their other meat supplies. Obviously, making it just on Fridays is done for ceremonial sake. Pigs were useful in Judaic and Islamic societies because they were free garbage disposals/fertilizers, so they weren't worth killing. See also the numerous rules in Leviticus on shellfish and other awesome things.
If I were Catholic, I'd give up the Ten Commandments for Lent. It'd be hard, but somehow I'd pull through (especially on the adultery bit).
I give up gay sex for Lent every year. Surprisingly it's not a difficult vow for me to keep. On the plus side Lent means I am supposed to sacrifice by not eating meat which means 5 Fridays worth of fried fish, shrimp, crawfish, gumbo, and oysters. It's a terrible burden to bear.
The other reason pigs weren't eaten was because of trichinosis, which killed a lot of people. So while it may seem like an arbitrary religious thing, it was based on the fact that uneducated people needed to be persuaded that eating pigs was bad. So not as crazy as it appears at first blush, and yes, I realize now that this has become tradition in the Jewish faith. And you know what? Tradition isn't always a bad thing. Man, I want some bacon. Like right now.
Now I realize that there are a lot of people on this board that are non-religious and I honestly don't have a problem with that. Whatever floats your boat, you know? Anyway, this is my first post but I have been a lurker for quite some time. I was raised Catholic, married a relaxed-practicing Baptist, but still like to follow the practices of Lent. Like it was posted earlier, Lent represents when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert rejecting temptations from the devil. While the Catholic faith has evolved to allow "cheat" days on Sundays and while I am not going to get into all of the other things the Catholic church does that I don't necessarily agree with, I do appreciate the thought behind Lent. It's a chance to better yourself and gives you the opportunity to give up something that you don't necessarily want to...it's a new beginning, so to speak. So while a lot of people may not agree with organized religion in general, the thought behind a lot of these things in my opinion are still valid. Focus: soda, cigarettes, elevators