What did you give up for Lent, if anything?

[Sims2789]

Just curious, has anyone given anything up for Lent? As I am an Athiest, I obviously gave up nothing. But I was joking around about giving up my virginity for Lent. Note that I did not give it up.

 

[cegman]

Nope well I did give up saying halalua or whatever and I didn't really go to church so I gave that up to lol.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

I gave up Christianity.......about 10 years ago. Man I can make my lent promises stick.

 

[student]

Although not a follower of Christianity (I am a deist), I think giving something up for lent just because in my opinion some deprivation focuses one's self. Unfortunatly, I forgot to give something up this year.

 

[CenturionV]

Lent? is that some kind of religious holiday or is it a catholic thing? I don't celebrate holidays of any type (christmas, easter, halloween, etc) and I'm not really versed in "giving up" something for any of the ones I do know about. So no I never have.

 

[WillJ]

Assuming agnosticism counts as athiesm, then last option for me.

Hehe, giving up your virginity, good idea.... Oh, and isn't Lent specifically a Catholic thing (not Christian in general)?

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

That is correct WillJ

 

[Bootstoots]

I have Protestant friends who follow Lent, so it must not be specifically Catholic.

I'm agnostic, so I didn't vote here.

 

[Archer 007]

Lent is mostly a Catholic thing. I didnt give up anything.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Originally posted by Bootstoots
I have Protestant friends who follow Lent, so it must not be specifically Catholic.

I'm agnostic, so I didn't vote here.

Well I am sure there are protestant sects that are close enough to catholicism to follow somewhat similar practices.

 

[cgannon64]

I didn't really give up anything either. In fact I didn't really try to make myself a good person either.

I never liked the ideas of being "extra good" in holidays. Because, if you can actually acheive a higher level of goodness, why turn it off? Why not be that good year round? (See A Change at Christmas by the Flaming Lips).

I try to be good to people year round. If I'm suppposed to be even better during Lent, or if giving up chocolate or soda actually has any meaning, I just don't get why.

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by cgannon64
If I'm suppposed to be even better during Lent, or if giving up chocolate or soda actually has any meaning, I just don't get why.

Isn't it supposed to represent Jesus going into the wilderness and not eating for a month or so?

 

[stratego]

I'm not Catholic, but I tried to give up something for lent just for fun. I gave up using any device that tells time, my watch, my calendar, my mental note etc. That 15 days felt like 40 days.

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by stratego
I'm not Catholic, but I tried to give up something for lent just for fun. I gave up using any device that tells time, my watch, my calendar, my mental note etc. That 15 days felt like 40 days.

How'd you know when to stop?

 

[Vancouver 2010]

I'm atheist. And I didn't give up anything; instead, I grabbed for one more thing: NHL Playoffs on Hockey Night in Canada!

 

[stratego]

@WillJ, I didn't. I stopped after 15 days cuz I thought it was over.

Actually it was hard to give up my mental note because I still needed to go to class.

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by stratego
I didn't. I stopped after 15 days cuz I thought it was over.

Oh yeah, I didn't catch that last senetence. (Now I'm a bit confused as to whether you're joking or not.)

 

[stratego]

Did you think I was joking at first or did you think I was serious?

 

[amadeus]

I gave up going to church four years ago. I figure God has something better to do than sit around and listen to a sermon about himself, so why bother going to church when he probably isn't even there? God probably just made a cardboard cutout of himself and placed it inside the church just to fool everyone into really thinking that he's there.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

you have also wondered about the cutout phenomena. When I was 8, and still required by one of my parents to go to church (against my moral objections), I remember the sunday school teachers insulting my intelligence by trying to explain Christianity by using cardboard cutouts of the various figures. It actually made me physically ill. From that point on I refused to ever go back, and whenever I think of my own experiences of church, I think of pathetic cardboard cutouts.