I'm an atheist who usually makes sacrifices for Lent. It's definitely not because I secretly believe in some higher power. I just think the concept of making self-sacrifice periodically is a good practice to make me better appreciate what I have in life. Sort of like a periodic fast. There's no particular reason I do it at Lent season -- probably because Lent's just when I started thinking about this idea 15-20 years ago when I first started doing this. I tried following basic Ramadan rules a couple times, for the same reason, but that's really hard.

I usually give up booze or various food groups, but in years when I'm feeling motivated, I vow to do affirmative things like exercise or do work for causes I support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP you quoted. Let me state for the record I have no horse in the race here because I'm a practicing nothing. But I just don't understand RantingAthiest's point that people will use Lent as a means to give something up. Outside of Catholics, I have never once heard of someone doing this. Just seems odd is all. It's just been my experience that people will latch onto the fun (for lack of a better terms) things.

Fair point. But I'm the atheist from page 1 of this thread @12:35, and I've been doing it for nearly 20 years now. I've met other non-Catholics who do it, and scads of non-practicing Catholics who also do it. Obviously OP's boyfriend is doing it, and a couple other non-Catholics posted on this thread that they do it too. So while more people will be attracted to the fun celebrations, there are clearly some of us weirdos who like the other stuff too. Hey, some people run ultra-marathons for fun ... every salad tastes better if you add a few nuts ... ya know?

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP you quoted. Let me state for the record I have no horse in the race here because I'm a practicing nothing. But I just don't understand RantingAthiest's point that people will use Lent as a means to give something up. Outside of Catholics, I have never once heard of someone doing this. Just seems odd is all. It's just been my experience that people will latch onto the fun (for lack of a better terms) things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's one thing to get drunk and flash strangers, or participate in an egg hunt. Ditto with decking the halls. Typically what people take from religious holidays and choose to "practice" (although I use that term loosely) are the fun things. If you're going to give something up, you don't need Lent to do it. You would, however, look like an idiot decorating a Christmas tree in July, Hallmark be damned. And if you're really aiming to give something up for good, as most people with the impulse to give something up do, choosing an event that lasts for only 40 days isn't the way to do it. It really just means that on Easter you plan to indulge, provided you make it that long. So nope, still not seeing your logic. Sorry.

Well, clearly there are people who choose to celebrate alongside other religious viewpoints (e.g., Xmas, Mardi Gras, Diwali), and people who choose to engage in other less-celebratory rituals as well (e.g., Lent). The people doing that might be of another religion, or no religion at all. They surely have all sorts of different motivations. The point is ... who are you to stop them from engaging in whatever ritual they want? If some other person finds a ritual that's meaningful to him or her -- particularly a ritual that we all agree is a positive one, and which many different cultures share -- why does it bother you so much?

If what's really going on here is that you just don't like people criticizing your religion, then you should address that problem directly.

Anonymous wrote:It's one thing to get drunk and flash strangers, or participate in an egg hunt. Ditto with decking the halls. Typically what people take from religious holidays and choose to "practice" (although I use that term loosely) are the fun things. If you're going to give something up, you don't need Lent to do it. You would, however, look like an idiot decorating a Christmas tree in July, Hallmark be damned. And if you're really aiming to give something up for good, as most people with the impulse to give something up do, choosing an event that lasts for only 40 days isn't the way to do it. It really just means that on Easter you plan to indulge, provided you make it that long. So nope, still not seeing your logic. Sorry.

RantingAtheist wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... if you're really aiming to give something up for good, as most people with the impulse to give something up do, choosing an event that lasts for only 40 days isn't the way to do it. It really just means that on Easter you plan to indulge, provided you make it that long. So nope, still not seeing your logic. Sorry.

You may want to let Irish Catholicism know they're "doing it wrong."

http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=3539

Anonymous wrote:... if you're really aiming to give something up for good, as most people with the impulse to give something up do, choosing an event that lasts for only 40 days isn't the way to do it. It really just means that on Easter you plan to indulge, provided you make it that long. So nope, still not seeing your logic. Sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

RantingAtheist wrote:Why would a non-believer want to participate in Mardi Gras? Or Easter? Or Christmas? Why would a non-Jew go to seder, even if invited?

To the main question: The impulse of resolving to give something up is a universal one. In our culture, either Lent or New Year's are the two dates most associated with doing so. It seems pretty logical that someone raised in the US would choose one of those two days. Sorry, you can't patent or copyright cultural memes. If you want to keep your rites to yourself, you should do what other religions like Mormonism and Scientology do and keep 'em secret.

It's one thing to get drunk and flash strangers, or participate in an egg hunt. Ditto with decking the halls. Typically what people take from religious holidays and choose to "practice" (although I use that term loosely) are the fun things. If you're going to give something up, you don't need Lent to do it. You would, however, look like an idiot decorating a Christmas tree in July, Hallmark be damned. And if you're really aiming to give something up for good, as most people with the impulse to give something up do, choosing an event that lasts for only 40 days isn't the way to do it. It really just means that on Easter you plan to indulge, provided you make it that long. So nope, still not seeing your logic. Sorry.