Hypocritical.

At a previous job I was pretty much the only non-Catholic in the office. Everything was Catholic, Catholic, Catholic. I would purposely eat a Whopper on Friday just to prove that I’m not Catholic (I was baptized as a Methodist.) Now I feel that anyone is free to honor their spiritual beliefs in any way that they see fit. But there’s some things I just don’t get about the Catholics.

I don’t get the “can’t eat meat on Friday” thing.

From what I understand, back in the day if you ate meat on Friday you went to hell. Then it was decided that the no-meat edict only applied during Lent. Well what about the people that had already gone to hell for eating meat on Friday outside of Lent? Did someone decend to hell and say “Whoops! Our mistake! You can go to heaven now!”

I didn’t think so.

Apparently now it’s o.k. to eat meat on Friday during Lent if St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday.

What?

Isn’t that like saying “Sorry dear Lord, I know we honor you by not eating meat on Friday during Lent, but I’m really jonsing for some corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. So we’ll set aside the whole honor thing while I chow down on some corned beef and green beer.”

Again, I fully believe that anyone can honor and engage in their spiritual beliefs in anyway that they feel is appropriate. If you want to bow before a lilac bush, then bow before a lilac bush. If you want to dunk your head in a bathtub when you reach age 25, then dunk your head. Whatever makes you happy. But if you’re going to do it, do it all the way. If your beliefs include no meat on Friday during Lent, then no meat on Friday during Lent it is!