On Ash Wednesday

Well, today is the actual Ash Wednesday. So, here is Ash

looking badass

And here is Wednesday

The original goth. The rest are just emo

But further than that, if you're a person with a pretty wide social circle, you then know at least a couple of devote Christians, which you will recognize by the dirt on the forehead they'll bear today. So what's that about?

As you might know, Jesus supposedly spent 40 days in the dessert just hanging around alone (his friends say fasting, but when you're the Son of God, you can pretty much have a cheeseburger appear, brought by a Hooters girl). During this time, Satan is said came to troll him. He offered lots of cool things, but Jesus said no way Jose. Satan then thought about it and just left saying "dude, I just realized no trolling I'll ever do will be compared to your own holy old man letting you being accused, beaten, whipped, raped and killed to atone for others' faults, so, see ya later"

Well, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this 40 days. During this time, called Lent, many believers will pledge to abandon some kind of pleasure, trying to imitate Jesus fasting during those 40 days.

Or you can just give up sex for the sake of a bad comedy movie
that ends up with the protagonist being raped.

The idea behind the ashes is to show sorrow for the sins committed. Along this, the fasting and penitence takes place, preparing the person for Easter. This is something quite hard to understand (or maybe, something that just needs to be done instead of understood), the idea that repentance should be done through self denial and visible actions towards God. Whatever we do, if we feel it's wrong, will most likely have a negative effect on others. And it is towards these others that our repentance shall go. It useless to look at the skies and say "God, forgive me" if nothing is done towards the ones who actually suffered from our actions.

We share this planet with others and if we expect to live a quiet happy life, it will be very helpful to have good relations with those who surround us; for our own sake not because God is telling us. As a non-believer I don't need a deity to tell me to be a good person. And if I wanted to be a bad person, well, I think I can find a justification in that same deity.

Happy Ash Wednesday