Anti-Lent

February 22, 2012 By Bengie 41 Comments

Indulging for two

Filed Under: General, Humor 41 Comments
About Bengie

Graphic designer by day and web cartoonist "Bengie" by night; drawing a weekly webcomic every Wednesday for the Friendly Atheist blog. Bengie also 'arts' the bi-weekly audio comic Slackjaw: The Working Dead
www.slackjawcomic.com

  • Anonymous

    I wonder how many of these ash-wearing people laugh at Hindus who paint dots or other designs on their foreheads.

    • http://squeakysoapbox.com/ Rich Wilson

      But you see, Jesus is the son of God who died horribly for our sins and then rose from the dead, while Ganesh is a myth about a man with an elephant head.

      So they’re totally different.

      • Jusan Potter

        LOL . No its not ! And FYI Jesus is Not the son of God Nor God himself. Until you can prove this to me , I believe Ganesh is the man Or lord with an elephant head – is the ultimate Lord of the universe . I think that is more plausible than a God who doesn’t know if he is the Son of God or God Himself. And Plz don’t Quote the bible as your supporting document . Cause if you do i will Quote my daughters Diary and share it as a fact.

        • http://squeakysoapbox.com/ Rich Wilson

          So if I give you a Bible quote, you’ll spill your daughter’s diary?  Cool!

          ok, and oldie but a goodie,

          Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.

          Judges 19:24

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/FDGYHBEWVNGUG763L5X4TON3JQ Nazani14

       At least the daubs of paint and rice paste worn at religious festivals have a pleasant meaning.  Be careful, though, the vast majority of bindis you’ll see on women have no spiritual significance at all, and are purely a fashion statement.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Adam-Patrick/100000027906887 Adam Patrick

    I’ve already seen several people with ash on their foreheads at school today, and it’s only 10:30. 

    I want to know if someone can give up lent for lent.

    • Jon. O

      People with “Self Defeating Personality Disorder” might give up lent for lent. It makes sense that if you enjoy suffering, not being able to suffer is in fact a form of suffering… :)

  • http://skepticalredneck.tumblr.com/ SkepticalRedneck

    Well, as for me, I am giving up basic medicine, potable water, and electricity. I’ll eat nothing but rocks and rats, and I’ll pray every day that the insurgents don’t bomb or gun down my relatives.

  • Evelyn

    ok, ex catholic here, and I try extremely hard to be a real liberal.  So as long as you don’t try to indoctrinate me, or push your views on me then I can accept your religion even where and when I don’t support it.  That being said, I have had the great conversations on lent lately.  I know a lot about it being an ex catholic.  I strongly encourage people to do something for their ritual, instead of giving up.  The idea of giving up is selfish and the will power, self discipline thing is only about themselves.  not about the greater good, finding their relationship or tightening their relationship with their God.     I do this in not the sake of religion but as a community person.  If that community is my family, my school, my city….  I am going to take out the garbage for 40 days lol, its a contention in my home on how I can be very dividing on what chores I will or will not do and what should be done by whom and when.  I will show to my family, my community that I can do a task that I do not enjoy for the sake of my community and give to them.

    • http://criticallyskeptic-dckitty.blogspot.com Katherine Lorraine

      See, I like this a lot better than the giving up of a vice.

    • Mairianna

      Before I dropped Catholicism for Reason, I also didn’t “give up” anything during lent, but instead gave myself goals to achieve,  such as doing volunteer work or (aghast!) learn some lesser known prayers, or clean my closet for donations to Goodwill, etc.  I always thought giving up stuff was goofy, too. 

      Everybody do the sinners cheer:
      mea culpa! mea culpa! mea maxima culpa! 

  • J LB

    “For” Lent, I’ve decided to donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk as a virtual team member for the Foundation Beyond Belief.

    This is a great way to give to a worthy charity and highlight the disparity of values between humanists and religious people: action to better society vs displays of piousness to inflate one’s reputation as moral.

    What Are You Doing For Lent?
    http://www.jesuslovesbags.com/2012/02/what-are-you-doing-for-lent.html

  • FSq

    I like walking up to the smudged foreheads and licking my thumb, ala the mother spit on hair, and then go “you have a little schmutz on your head, let me get that for you”….hijinx ensue!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IKVVNPKPMBDXQJDAIREAS5IQLM Mike

    It’s Lent? To who? For how long?

  • http://twitter.com/Lofcutus Jon Loftus

    I work at Notre Dame….hard to contain myself today.  ”Ihave a wet wipe right here, you want it?”

    • FSq

      YES!!!!! …..offer them a nice moist towelette and watch the hilarity ensue!!!

      Cue the candid camera crew and the “Benny Hill” soundtrack!

  • Annie

    This was my favorite Lenten message that is floating about the interwebs…

    http://www.landonville.com/rick-astley-on-lent

  • Edje54

    Is it wrong that I make a point  of eating bacon-cheeseburgers each friday in Lent?

  • Emma

    Am I the only one who’s always annoyed that no one knows how to spell vacuum?

    • Bengie

      Typos are an issue we take very seriously in the comic industry. Misspellings are no joke! (corrected)

  • http://profiles.google.com/dale.cope Dale Cope

    I don’t think I have ever seen anyone with ash on their foreheads… guess not too many Catholics around here. 

    • Michael Appleman

      At work today I saw someone with it. I was wondering wtf it was, but didnt’ say anything to the customer cause some of our customers are just straight up strange. I have learned to just smile and pretend everything is normal. Only now after reading the comment do I realize what it was. It looked like a child scribbled on her face with a marker.

    • Gus Snarp

      I grew up never having seen it, now I live in a very Catholic town and I still remember the first time I saw it wondering what on earth people had on their foreheads. I still have to think about it.

  • Alexis

    I give up fish for lent. I’m looking forward to some nice prime rib on Friday evening.

    • Gus Snarp

      Too bad we can’t get a Lent discount for helping to rid restaurants of their excess supply of beef. I could go for a steak.

  • Itsjustme51251

    Meh. Ashes on the forehead and not eating meat or what have you may be an exercise in futility, but I’ll save my mockery/scorn for the parts of religion that make believers a threat to others’ liberty and well-being. To Christians their ashy Wednesday foreheads and to Hindus their bindis; there are bigger fish to fry.

    • Guest

      Yeah, every Friday…

      • Itsjustme51251

         somebody got my bad pun. :)

  • Matt Womack

    I always eat bacon cheeseburgers on ash Wednesday and Fridays during lent.

  • Parse

    I go out of my way to eat hot dogs on Fridays during Lent; I find that the hot dog buns make them extra-sinfully delicious!

  • Johnk

    There was a time when almost everyone understood that ideas like humility, sacrifice, and humbling oneself were good for humanity. Is it possible that those things are good for our well being, even if you believe that we are non-spiritual beings?

    • http://www.slackjawcomic.com Bengie

      Yes. Its the veneer of spirituality that is questionable.

  • Jay

    Why all the derisive comments? If ya walked around with a stardust Neil de grasse Tyson silhouette on your foreheads I wouldn’t say one thing or try to wipe it off. So much for the enlightened non-believer.

    Atheism has turned into cynicism…and most aren’t very good at it.

    God bless

    • Braavos

      Why on earth would any non-believer do such a thing, except as a joke, though? That’s the thing about non-believers: I can’t think of any thing most/many do that’s silly in the same way that most/many religious believers/Catholics do that merits, or can even sensibly be, ridiculed.

      • Jay

        Explain to us how you were appointed the arbiter of silliness again, please. I’m certain your explanation of this is grounded in sound reason and not blind narcissism.

        • Bengie

           Actually, I think many people have missed the point of this comic entirely. The atheist is being so silly, he becomes the punchline. (or at least on par with the ash anointing Catholic)

    • Johnk

      Welcome to the “friendly” Atheist!

  • gurudwara

    As a Catholic child, I was taught by my parish priest that as soon as the lenten mass was over, the ashes should be promptly washed off.  It wasn’t a tool to show the world what a good Catholic you are; it’s only meant to be between god and you.  Now when I see someone walking around with their ashes still on their head, I want to scream, “Yes, we all see what a good little church-goer you are.  Now, wash that shit off!”

    True story:  When I typed that last sentence, I typo’ed that I see people with asses on their heads instead of ashes.  Praise jeebus for proofreading.

    • Demonhype

       I have a book, a memoir of an ex-nun, and in the beginning she describes her childhood leading up to her entrance into the convent.  It’s funny, she talks about all the good catholic children getting the ash on their foreheads on ash wednesday, then being horribly persecuted by all those horrible protestant kids laughing and saying they have dirt on their face.  What mortification for Christ they went through!!!!  Sure, the catholics used to torture and burn the protestants, but that was simply child’s play compared to the awful, terrible atrocity of being told you have a dirty face!!!!  The horror!

      See, it’s not just about showing off your piety, it’s also about inviting others to make any sort of unpleasant or uncooperative comment and thereby have an opportunity to be martyred for your faith!!!!  (You know, without actually suffering in any way.)

  • Your Friendly Theist

    I’m a practicing Catholic, and yes I also wore the ash on my forehead–it symbolizes our mortality, our humanity, and the need for grace and love. Of course, for you, we are simply satisfying our flawed (evolutionary?) desire for comfort, chasing after a fairy-tale. But to me, given the totality of my worldview (which does also take science seriously, although I’m sure you will roll your eyes at that idea…) makes lent an intelligible activity in which we make sacrifices so that we may become more aware of our spiritual need for God.  

    I know your thought immediately goes to: but you think that some dude was born of a virgin and resurrected from the dead, right! Haven’t you heard of science? 

    Yes, I have. Science is great. In fact, without science, I wouldn’t be able to communicate these thoughts on this blog. But at the same time, I’m not sure what principle justifies the claim that scientific laws holds our necessity in all circumstances. (Is that itself justified by science? If so, we have a bad circle of reasoning here.) The various claims of miracles are supposed to hang together with other beliefs, and when seen in their totality, they make sense of one another. 

    I know theism looks to you like something that only the irrational and ignorant would buy into. But I think that theism makes better sense of the world and of us. It provides us an explanation of the consistency of the laws of science. (Isn’t it miraculous that the laws of science continues to hold? Why couldn’t the the rules of chemistry and physics just simply stop holding tomorrow?) It also makes sense of the inherent beauty of nature, and of why we have the capacity to observe it. 

    Anyways just a few quick thoughts. And no, I didn’t believe that what I said above is sufficient for a defense of theism, which would take a lot of careful, patient discussions. And I also don’t think that atheism makes you irrational. I’m just simply trying to claim that believing in God doesn’t make you irrational. 

    • http://www.slackjawcomic.com Bengie

      at the same time, I’m not sure what principle justifies the claim that scientific laws holds our necessity in all circumstances. (Is that itself justified by science? If so, we have a bad circle of reasoning here.)

      Understood, now replace ‘science’ with ‘god’ and you can start asking yourself some tough questions. The thing is, that a god provides no real answer at all “How does lightning happen?” “God.” “Yeah, but how?” and only raises more questions like “The problem of evil”

      One truth that I do know is that an unjustified belief can be justified by anyone who wants to do so.