An article written on the Huffington Post on Feb. 23 is about an atheist who gives reasons why he observes Lent.
Lent is is a solemn observance of many Christians for a period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday leading up to Easter Sunday.
According to him, this is his second year practicing Lent. He says:
"It's not that I've recently converted to Catholicism, or that I'm only now reflecting on the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, fasting and resisting temptation from the Devil. I don't actually believe in much, if any, of that--I'm as much an atheist now as I've ever been. But I find something really compelling and human in the practice of Lent, and I think it's something a lot of other atheists, if they'd like, can find enrichment from."
The atheist writer reviewed why he decided, somewhat on a whim, to try out being a vegan for Lent last year. His article, "Lent for Atheist" is also on Huffington Post.
Chituc said he was partly inspired by Alain de Botton's "Religion for Atheists," to try the perfectly good religious practice right in front of him.
Not only did Chituc say he is keeping up the tradition this year, but he has also shared what he's doing with other atheists who wanted to practice Lent stating they like traditions and rituals and practices, and they don't mind trying out secular alternatives.
Chituc concluded by saying:
"But I want to make it clear that I don't think that an atheist celebrating Christmas or Lent or whatever else is purporting to capture the full spiritual and theological and transcendental experience of the holiday that might make these rituals important to believers. Even though it might be trivializing, we're just trying to make the most out of our lives, finding inspiration from traditions who have been working on this problem a lot longer than we have."
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