Lent is somewhat ubiquitous and some of the things people give up are humorous. So what the hell. I gave up space flight for Lent.

What? Oh, you mean multiple Fish Fry Fridays.....

Lent as in "I LENT my neighbor my post driver & never got it back" kind of LENT?

Why would I give up something I enjoy for lent? Life is difficult enough without giving up something every year.. what about giving up religious for lent?

Guilty of what? Sound daft!

Agnostic/atheist site get real

Lint? WTF? I'm an Atheist! I don''t know about such strange things.

I've forgotten the reasoning or message of lent. I wasn't a very good catholic kid. I would give up things like sauerkraut or something I didn't like anyway.

I respect my catholic friends and relatives who honor that tradition, but it never really did speak to me.

Now that I'm an atheist and recovering catholic, I feel a little bad eating malasadas and attending Fat Tuesday parties, when I am not actually participating in lent myself, but I do like to have fun.

I've heard various takes on lent, for the non-religious... things like for each of the 40 days, perform a random act of kindness, or throw out/donate one thing in your closet you no longer need.

I'm sure we all could think of an equivalent that makes sense for us or does someone good or improves the quality of our lives. Of course that could be done during any month or set of days.

If Lent is something you believe in as being a Catholic, then by all means honor it. I'm not one of those people who would point and laugh at you for doing it. Yes, i think It's silly, but I don't believe the same things they do that practice Lent. If those people on the other hand wanted to talk about why I don't practice Lent, then we could talk about it. But it would be a talk about the religion as a whole, not one specific practice of it. I don't, nor will ever feel guilty for not practicing a religious practice I don't believe in at all. Instead, it's almost a feeling of empathy. Hopefully they will read and research, and figure out that's it's a sham, and it's just another form of control and slavery. But until then, they're not hurting me, but I'm not drinking the koolaid... I hope this helps. Thanks.

Ash wednesday makes me laugh, not feel guilty. When Jesus was rewriting the old testament, he tried to change people's eye for an eye type values. One such value dealt with fasting and other such self-imposed suffering. I was told that he said when fasting we shouldn't look like we were suffering when in public. That we should bathe, dress well, and not give any signs to others that we were deprived. And what happens on ash wednesday? When our 40 days of self-imposed torture begins? We put black ash on our heads, announcing to the world our suffering is about to begin.

Since I've finally seen the light (I've been a born again Agnostic for about 10 years), I get a little smile on my face then think, "Len's for children, like Santa and the tooth fairy". No guilt ever crosses over me. I do however have sadness and anger about the whole religion BS. I had a relationship with religion for a long time. I was an altar boy. I went to seminary camp for a week two summers in a row. I wanted to become a priest. I believed in all that shit. I grew up with extreme depression. No friends, I have a family but I never felt remotely liked by any of them. Nope, not even mother or father. I believed the glory of Jesus and heaven was going to be paradise and Nirvana and save me from all that. It's just not so. There was a big hole in my heart and head after I gave up on the empty, unreality of it all, but Ifigured it out. I feel free and my life is much better.

Fish sandwiches are on sale @ McDonalds on Fridays....fuck the rest of the religious rapists priests bullshit

I believe the past tense is "loaned" and not lent. But that's cool. I got a $50 bill and I am pretty attached to it so if I lent it to someone and they didnt return it I'd be pretty pissed.

I think there's value in exercising self control, in denying oneself an occasional whim, in using that energy to help others instead. But I don't agree with the theological motivation behind Lenten observances that obscures the benefits, and I certainly disagree with it as a mandate. Since leaving my Catholicism behind many years ago, I've never once felt guilty for my lack of Lenten participation.