Happy Atheist Forum

Okay so as I'm sure everyone knows...Lent is upon us. I think this could be my least favorite "holiday season" of the entire year. Why?- Well...hang on to your hats, kiddies. Lent is SUPPOSED to be about giving up something that will help you as a person or that makes you closer to God (Yes I'm an atheist so just keep reading). However, many protestant churches have gotten on the Lent bandwagon in the past few years and seem to use it as a means to assert their superiority over Catholic/Episcopalian doctrine as well as to bitch about the things individual followers "give up." Firstly, giving up chocolate or coffee is not only insulting to the very idea of Lent, I personally don't want to listen to you whine about how difficult it is to not have your morning cuppa' joe. Secondly, most of the protestant churches (especially the holier than thou mega churches so popular in the South) not only criticize but outright demonize the Catholic church the rest of the year. Lent is NOWHERE in protestant doctrine- it's just not. Why choose this time to make excuses to do Catholic things? Oh...right I almost forgot...it's so I can listen to you brag about how much you're saving by not buying 3 pounds of peanut M&M's each week.

Fellow atheists...what do you think? Am I right to want to punch Lentists (feel free to use this word, it's quite catchy) in their stupid, misinformed faces?

im still a little confused about what lent is.

Lent is a period of 40 days preceding Easter when Christians sacrifice.  Jesus fasted for 40 days before he was tempted by Satan.  He then turned away the temptations despite his hunger.  This is the story in the Bible.  Lent is 40 days of sacrificing in remembrance of Jesus' suffering and sacrifice.  Christians are supposed to give up something significant to reflect on what Jesus did for them.  It starts with Ash Wednesday, which was this week, and continues 40 days until Easter Sunday.  Mardi Gras developed out of a pagan festival, and falls on the day before Ash Wednesday.  It is a day of excess preceding 40 days of sacrifice.  It's the last big party before what is supposed to be 40 days of no partying.  

Lent doesn't annoy me.  I laugh when I hear of someone sacrificing something for lent, while I eat all the chocolate and drink all the beer I want.

As long as they continue spending money in a way that makes some trickle my way, I don't mind much.  

Quote from: "YaarghMatey487"Fellow atheists...what do you think? Am I right to want to punch Lentists (feel free to use this word, it's quite catchy) in their stupid, misinformed faces?

I think you should give up hitting Lentists until Easter, it will bring you closer to god.  Yes wait until Easter then hit them and take their chocolate.

Y'all kinda missed the point of lent, which is fine, you have to have a religious background of some type to see it. No problem. This is the way a lot of christians view it:

Lent is the 40 days before Easter, a time when christians ponder all that Christ did for them, dying, saving them from their sin, etc. Giving up a certain food or drink for lent is something that WAS required by Catholisism, but not anymore. It is advised by Catholics, the logic being that since Jesus gave up all for us, we should give up something back to honor/respect him. Protesants don't neccesarily endorse fasting or giving something up, but they won't stop you either.  I have never heard of a protesant church using this time to slam and distance themselves from the Catholics, but then again, theres a lot I don't know!
Lent also includes Holy Week.

Take it or leave it!

Just clarifying the terms!

Peace out!

--FT

In the UK if you blink you miss it. You know something is happening because the supermarkets start selling frying pans and pancake mix for a couple of weeks.  

Um, *kicks a rock*, pretty much everything religious people do annoys me to some extent, because it's so nauseatingly proud, self-pitying, and delusional. So yes, Lent annoys me. Come around me with ashes smeared on your head. I dare you.  

I was raised Catholic...Lent never made a lick of sense to me. The whole "choose something to give up for a while and god will like you more" thing was a bit rediculous. I thought his love was meant to be unconditional and forever, but apparently not unless you give soem bullshit up for a while...wha?

I had never heard the word "Lent" until today. I saw it all over the internet, so I looked it up.

Quote from: "Tank"You know something is happening because the supermarkets start selling frying pans and pancake mix for a couple of weeks.  

Is that so they can make Jesus pancakes?

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clickorlando.com%2F2006%2F0209%2F6880206_200X150.jpg&hash=cb81c39bf4a1d662727d7e5bbf03c5932bd6ad7f)
Couple Claims Jesus Appeared On Pancake (http://www.clickorlando.com/news/6880241/detail.html)

Quote from: "Whitney"Is that so they can make Jesus pancakes?
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clickorlando.com%2F2006%2F0209%2F6880206_200X150.jpg&hash=cb81c39bf4a1d662727d7e5bbf03c5932bd6ad7f)
Couple Claims Jesus Appeared On Pancake (http://www.clickorlando.com/news/6880241/detail.html)

Looks more like Ginghis Khan to me...

btw...I don't get annoyed by lent.  Regardless of the reason, I think it is good that people give up stuff that is bad for them.  

I gave up sodas for lent one time when I was young (didn't know what lent was just that all my friends were doing it because their friends were doing it and it apparently made God happy).  I had withdrawals for like 3 days but never picked back up the habit (at least not to the point of addiction...still have sodas on occasion).

Quote from: "AnimatedDirt"Looks more like Ginghis Khan to me...

That right there is my buddy Petter. :hmm:

@Whitney- that's my point though. Lent isn't supposed to be about just giving up something that gives some people fat asses. It's about actually sacrificing something that affects you in a negative way. For example: if you know that you gossip you should cut out gossiping since it actually affects your person on a spiritual level. Giving up bullshit like candy and fried foods may make you lose weight but in the end most people give them up for self serving reasons.

Quote from: "YaarghMatey487"@Whitney- that's my point though. Lent isn't supposed to be about just giving up something that gives some people fat asses. It's about actually sacrificing something that affects you in a negative way. For example: if you know that you gossip you should cut out gossiping since it actually affects your person on a spiritual level. Giving up bullshit like candy and fried foods may make you lose weight but in the end most people give them up for self serving reasons.

Anything someone might do to make their "spiritual" self better is self serving....including cutting out gossiping.  Giving up Candy and junk food is giving up glutony, which has spiritual implications for most religious people and being overweight affects people negatively both physically and emotionally.

I'm not sure I can think of something anyone could give up that wouldn't be self serving because ultimately they would be doing it to make themselves fell better about doing what they are told is the right thing to do...even giving of their free time to help the homeless would be self serving because helping people makes you feel good.


Basically, the modern practice of Lent seems like a religious version of new years resolutions that you plan to give up in a relatively short time.  They should change it to "this year, what can you give up forever?"

The thing that annoys me the most about Lent isn't the pansy "fasting" or the obviously pagan implications of decorated eggs on Easter or anything like that, it's the fact the whole cluster-eff of holidays this time of year are movable.

I'm sure most of you must have noticed by now, but Lent (and by extention, Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras, Easter, ect.ect.) takes place at a different time every year, the date of which are based on calculations by the Vatican. If Good Friday was indeed the day Jesus was crucified and Easter is truly the day he was resurrected, why is it on a different day year to year? How can one man die and be reborn on a different day depending on the placement of the moon?  Forget all the self-serving Lenten purification whining and Friday fish fries (which I actually really like), the very bases for the holiday is what sends me to rages.

If ever there where more proof how laughably unbelievable this all is, it was this.

^^^ When was mythology ever logical?  

Quote from: "Tank"^^^ When was mythology ever logical?  :pop:

Quote from: "Asmodean"

Quote from: "Tank"^^^ When was mythology ever logical?  :pop:

It probably lent him an air of authority so what he says was logical was, in fact, quite logical, sir!

I find it odd that they only give up bad habits temporarily.  Wouldn't you be more noble in god's eyes if you let go of these things?

My family owns a seafood restaurant, so Lent means slam-packed Friday nights for us.

It also means Mardi Gras season, king cakes, parades, Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, Cadbury Eggs, and Robin's Egg Whoppers. I will take your paganized Christianized pagan holiday magic in the form of delicious candies, thank you.

Quote from: "februarystars"My family owns a seafood restaurant, so Lent means slam-packed Friday nights for us.

It also means Mardi Gras season, king cakes, parades, Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, Cadbury Eggs, and Robin's Egg Whoppers. I will take your paganized Christianized pagan holiday magic in the form of delicious candies, thank you.

Where do you live  

Quote from: "Tank"Where do you live  

South Mississippi. Right in the middle of the bible belt, but close enough to escape to the delightfully sinful and liberal city of New Orleans when necessary.

Edit: I just noticed that you live in England, and it would be kind of presumptuous to tell somebody from Coruscant that I live in Mos Eisley if they didn't know the geography of Tatooine.

Mississippi, much like Mos Eisley, could also be considered the "armpit of the galaxy."

Quote from: "februarystars"

Quote from: "Tank"Where do you live  :drool

Just curious, where in North England do you live? For my senior trip in high school, I visited Scotland and a few areas in England. I thought London was going to be the most awesome place ever, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I enjoyed the northern part of the country so much more.

Quote from: "februarystars"Just curious, where in North England do you live? For my senior trip in high school, I visited Scotland and a few areas in England. I thought London was going to be the most awesome place ever, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I enjoyed the northern part of the country so much more.

Well I was born in Worthing on the South coast of England in Dec' '59, but my first living memory was of Paddock Wood, a little tiny village in the countryside of Kent. Moved to Farnborough, also in Kent, when I was 5 and where I grew up, it's on the South Eastern edge of London. Moved around South London till I moved to Leeds in West Yorkshire 25 years ago. And I must say the quality of life in Leeds is generally a lot better in Leeds than London.

Of the four cities I've been to in England, York is my favorite one.

Quote from: "Cecilie"Of the four cities I've been to in England, York is my favorite one.

A very nice city, 20 minutes away from where I live.