Lent it is important to people across the world, not just Catholics

Predominantly found within the Roman Catholic faith and seen some within different Protestant denominations, Lent is a time for reflection on Jesus’s forty days and forty nights in the forest, his crucifixion and resurrection (Easter). To pay homage to this period in Jesus’s life, people all over the world fast, give up bad habits (or take on new good habits) and pray for forty days and forty nights up until Easter. It is a way to cleanse the soul and set time aside for God’s will.

Only 61% of Catholics and 20% of Protestants observe Lent; they believe that “they are giving up things they want in order to focus on what God wants” (Burton, 2018). It is something that not a lot of people see as particularly appealing; giving up something that they love in order to better themselves and reflect on how God wants them to better their lives is not easy. A lot of people are not willing to give up social media, junk food, or something else appealing and tempting or adding something like the praying of the rosary or going to adoration that could take away precious minutes out of the short day. Straying away from a normal routine isn’t easy for most, however it is a way to commemorate Jesus in the days before his death. As Burton says in her article, “Why ‘secular Lent’ misses the point”, “Its purpose is to help believers come to terms with the more difficult aspects of their faith, and to disentangle themselves from worldly vices or distractions that turn them away from God” (Burton, 2018).

Though this is mainly found within the Catholic and Christian faiths, secular people all over have started to recognize Lent as a way of “self improvement” and as a “meditative” practice (Burton, 2019; Burton, 2018). Are they using Lent as another chance at New Years resolutions? Why would people who are religiously unaffiliated or agnostic participate in one of the most important Christian and Catholic holidays of the year?

According to a 2014 Barna study, American millennials are more likely to fast for Lent than their much more religiously affiliated elders. A large percentage of those who celebrate Lent are nonreligious, as some see it as an opportunity to “consider what connects us” and for “quiet reflection” (Burton, 2019). People like to get multiple chances in whatever they do to improve whatever they did wrong the first time around. Lent is an opportunity for the secular, agnostics and atheists at another New Year’s resolution, another chance to reflect on their lives and for self improvement. It is becoming more secular as time goes on, though not as intense and consumeristic as Christmas is (Burton, 2019).

All in all, Christians, Catholics and seculars use this time of Lent as a chance to focus on themselves (and God). It gives people an excuse to get back on track with their New Year’s resolution that they dropped mid January, and gives people a chance to connect with God. Whether or not someone is Christian or Catholic or has no affiliation at all, Lent is a time of self reflection and betterment, whether it is through God or not. It is just a simple difference of “spiritual aspects (we should give up sweets to focus on God)… or practical aspects (we should give up sweets to lose weight)” (Burton, 2018).

Burton, Tara Isabella. “When Lenten Fasting Is Indistinguishable from a New Age Cleanse.” Religion News Service, 28 Feb. 2019, religionnews.com/2019/02/28/when-lenten-fasting-is-indistinguishable-from-a-new-age-cleanse/.

Burton, Tara Isabella. “Why ‘Secular Lent’ Misses the Point.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 14 Feb. 2018, http://www.vox.com/2018/2/14/17007284/why-secular-lent-misses-the-point-christian-ash-wednesday.

Physician Assisted Suicide vs the Catholic Church

When first deciding to write this topic of physician-assisted suicide, I had slight background knowledge on it due to my own experiences being Catholic and what I’ve heard about it within the Church. Before researching more about it, I had known that Catholics are generally more opposed to terminating life partially because of the Pro-Life stance (life begins at conception) and opposition to Roe v. Wade (legalization of abortion). I had also known about their opposition to assisted suicide when Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old terminally ill woman decided to “die with dignity” through this method and when the physician assisted suicide was put on the Colorado ballot in a recent election.

Relating this topic to the article “It Isn’t Easy to be Catholic” by Leslie Tentler, one can see that the Catholic Church has had a long history of wanting to regulate sex and marriage, including the regulation of contraceptives of married couples. This belief extends the idea that God will grant a person the amount of children that He deems fit and “Will provide, somehow extra for the children He sends” (Tentler, 2004). This piggybacks off the idea that “God holds exclusive authority over the transition from life to death”, or as it’s also called, absolute dominion (Burdette, et. al., 2005). All in all, Catholics generally believe that God holds power over all life (including the regulation of sex and contraceptives) and death. With contraceptives and physician-assisted suicide, this gives people the power to use these powers of God, and Catholics in general don’t believe that is right.

When researching more, I found that reading the article “Religion and Attitudes Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide and Terminal Palliative Care” by Amy Burdette et. al. opened my eyes more to what the general Catholic population believes outside of my knowledge. While it is obvious that “conservative Protestants and Catholics tend to exhibit the greatest opposition” to physician-assisted suicide, some Catholics are also starting to be a bit more progressive in their ideals and morals in relation to their heavily Catholic counterparts because the church cannot regulate “the attitudes and behaviors of individuals” as well as they used to. All of this depends on their upbringing in the Catholic Church (whether or not their families took them to church on a regular basis or if they’re a “seasonal Catholic”) and how much of the teachings they actually stand by and believe (Burdette, et. al., 2005).

Like Catholics, more conservative Protestants are more likely to be anti-physician assisted suicide because they attend church more often, read the Bible more frequently and are more likely to take the Bible literally. Physician assisted suicide to them is almost directly contradicting the Word of God and “challenges” and “questions” God’s power (Burdette, et.al, 2005). Both conservative Protestants and Catholics believe that “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim from himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being” (Donum Vitae, V, 1987:9).

In conclusion, though Catholics generally are against physician assisted suicide, much like other conservative Christians, because it “undermines the power of God”, some are more open to the idea because of the lack of restraint the Catholic church has against its members and their beliefs. They are more likely to vote for it depending on their strength in their religious beliefs than conservative Protestants. This war between the Catholics/conservative Protestants and the government/proponents on whether or not to legalize physician assisted suicide is a never ending battle of who’s morals fit into the puzzle of today’s society. Different times and different people will offer up different opinions, thus the battle will continue.

Burdette, Amy M., et al. “Religion and Attitudes Toward Physician‐Assisted Suicide and Terminal Palliative Care.” The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Wiley-Blackwell, 11 Feb. 2005, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00266.x.

Tentler, Leslie Woodcock. Catholics and Contraception: an American History. Cornell University Press, 2008.