It’s 4 pm on a Friday afternoon and you’re really craving a cheeseburger (aromatic elevators do not help this cause, see post below), but if you’re Catholic, it is encouraged to give up meat on Fridays during Lent. Do people still abide by this “rule?” I attended church for the first time in, oh, eight years this past weekend, and learned that Meatless March is indeed still in effect, only to read today that more modern fastings are taking place across the world.
Ariel David, AP Writer, discusses in today’s Boston Globe how dioceses and Catholic groups in Italy have called upon a text messaging ban every Friday in Lent. The “SMS-Less” day seeks to draw attention to years of conflict in Congo fueled in part by the struggle for control of coltan mines, the mineral being an essential material in cell phones.
Not at bad idea, but I would lose touch with all of my friends over the course of these five weeks. The article also suggests other things you can do to better yourself and the environment during Lent: Leaving cars at home and taking the bus, stop throwing chewing gum on the street (I have a beef with this) and enjoying the week without the Internet or iPods.
A priest at a Roman church says it best with, “If the use is capricious, then abstinence is welcome, but if the technology is needed for work it makes no sense.”
Maybe I’ll just stick to the traditional fasting and avoid eating meat. Who wants to grab a veggie burger on Friday? I’ll send you a text.
PR Nonsense: High-tech global PR and other detritus 