Did you give up anything for Lent?

My son's best friends gave up things they enjoyed for Lent. The female friend gave up porn and the male friend gave up novels which bothered my son far more than giving up porn. He would probably shrivel up and die if he could not read novels.

I didn't give up anything for Lent....
but I gave up men...for Sue

I am abstaining from the top 20 multinational corporations (based on their revenues for 2000). I'm succedding a little. It's amazing how dependent my life is on them. I guess that's why they're the top 20.

I've given up giving things up.

Yes, even though I don't really believe in all that. I just do it to avoid a big conflict with my mom. I gave up cookies. Except, on the very first day, they gave out cookies at school, and I forgot about it.

No.

No

My parents are Protestants. I participate in any religious observances with them when I am present. They do not make any special observance of Lent, so I never have either.

And I eat meat on Fridays. I figure if I'm not already going to hell for my other sins, then it doesn't matter what I eat or sacrifice.

I don't practice lent.

No, I'm not Christian.

Lent isn't a Christian practice

I gave up regular pop (that is, I now drink diet pop), and wanted to give up sweets, such as candy. I have done great with the pop. Last weekend, my cousin flew up from Florida, because none of us had met her baby. We had a family party. At the party, the cousin from Florida brought me a regular Coke, because she couldn't find any diet pop. I took it, because I didn't want her to hurt her feelngs, but was only able to drink about half of it, because it tasted like syrup. I have had sweets about four or five times, but am still doing pretty well.

It isn't???? What kind of practice would you say it is?

I am not religious.

Mainly Catholic

Last time I checked, Catholics still considered themselves Christian.

Catholic is a form of christianity.

There are also many non-Catholic Christians who observe Lent.

The Methodist Church I went to as a child observed Lent.

I gave up Diet Coke, because I used to drink at least 3-4 a day. Its been hard to give it up, but that's the whole point.

I don't like to eat meat on Fridays, either.

There are no forms of christianity. There are different religions though.

Methodists aren't christians

Oh,really! Then what are they?

I'm sorry, Oscar, but the word 'Christian' is considered by very nearly the entire world to mean any religion involving worship of Jesus Christ (thus the name). You can consider Christian to mean "born-again", and I can consider Christian to mean "purple", but neither one of us will be speaking English.

Just what the name implies...methodists.
the etymology of the word christian implies "little Christ".

Whatever!

It's not? I thought that Lent was in rememberance of the 40 days Christ spent in the desert/wilderness being tempted by the devil. Or did I think it had something to do with the resurrection (being between Shrove Tuesday and Easter)? I don't recall, but I certainly thought it was a Christian thing.

You're right about Lent - it is a remembrance of the time Christ spent in the desert being tempted. It's also a time of preparation for Easter. Unfortunately, it's not at all unusual for people to think that their form of worship is the only valid one, and this occurs even between different types of Christians. I think what Oscar is implying is that the more liturgical churches (Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, etc.) are not really Christian. Which is just as ridiculous as the Pope claiming that the Catholic church is the One True Church.

God is too big for one religion.

Thanks for clarifying that

and remember, God is good, God is great, God's a big invertebrate

thanks for reminding me!

No, but I did happen upon some images of girls taking off their shirts at Mardi Gras (on the Internet, of course). Does that count?

happen upon????????
uh huh

Well, I didn't pay for them...

you're going to hell for that!

Maybe you should do your homework before you speak.

So what are Christians, in your opinion?

Catholic is a form of christianity.

So? It doesn't then follow that Christians are Catholics... therefore labeling something Christian because Catholics do it is wrong.

http://www.kencollins.com/holy-04.htm
The link above states that the roman catholic church celebrates lent.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03712a.htm
States catholics are christians.

Where is eneduhanna when you need her?

I think you're slightly missing the point here. I can't see anywhere in this survey where anyone has claimed that all Christians are Catholic. There is a wide variety of opinion among Christians as to what constitutes Christian practice; unless you are of the opinion that the only "true" Christian practices are those that are common to all Christians (in which case it's a very short list!) then I think it's reasonable to say that something Catholic is Christian. If you want to be a bit more pedantic (and if so, I'd be with you on this ) then it's fair to say that something Catholic is something which represents a certain sector of Christianity.

But, in this case, it's not really relevant, as Lent is by no means an exclusively Catholic practice - it's also observed by Orthodox and Anglican churches, as well as many smaller denominations.

I was addressing lara and asexybabe's original replies to Oscar... because surprisingly no-one else seemed to have. There they did essentially claim that all Christians are Catholic (though Lara did later followup with the real reason Oscar is wrong ). I'm of the opinion that the only practices that can be labeled Christian (as opposed to "Catholic", "Anglican" etc.) are those practiced by the majority of Christians (not necessarily all of them, that'd get more than a little absurd)... I'm sure you would agree that if one tiny tiny subset of Christians practiced something it would be absurd to call it simply "Christian", likewise I think that applies to any one subset of Christianity.

I thought it was relevant because I hate people trying to attack a wrong argument... with another wrong argument! You are right that Oscar was wrong - but not for the reasons people originally stated.

*shrug* Pet peeve of mine.

In fact it was a double pet peeve, because they were asserting A is also B, therefore B must be A. Which is something that pretty much without fail pushes my buttons.

Yes, that's fair enough - and I agree totally with your A:B/B:A peeve

However, Lent is definitely something observed by the majority of Christians, so it fits any sensible definition of the term "Christian", at least in my opinion.

Just put my penny's worth in ... I am a born-again Christian, and so are my parents. My Father is a pastor, and has pastored 5 different churches. We have never recognized Lent, neither have any of my Christian friends. That's not to say that Christians as a whole don't celebrate Lent, it just depends on the denomination. Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Penetcostals, etc all seem to come under the covering of "Christian", but they are different denominations. Not necessarily different belief systems, but different ways of expressing their love for God.
...and that's my little penny's worth

I started to, but.....