Rite vs. Right

hey yall, I posted this blog a while bacck, but my account was messed up. So I am reposting it. The blog is a little old and the event I am talking about is long past, but I feel what I had to say is still relevant.
Bon Apetite!



What is the purpose of Ash Wednesday? History will give us the understanding that it is to commemorate repentance and humility and the sorrow for sins committed. It is a ritual that began around 590 BCE and has become a ceremony that is celebrated on an annual basis. There is a lot more to it, and if you are interested feel free to look at this link:
http://www.theholidayspot.com/ash_wednesday/origin.htm
My problem with this ritual of protestant decent is that most people are oblivious to why they actually partake in this ceremony in the first place. This problem goes farther than just Ash Wednesday and Lent, it includes any other holiday celebrations like; Valentines day, where people buy vast amounts of candy to express their shallow love to another individual; or Easter where the focus is more centered around a giant six foot bunny that sneaks into your house every March and hides hard boiled eggs in random places; or, god forbid, Christmas-the worst mass celebrated and bastardized holiday of them all. I won't even open this can of worms right now…
Getting back to my original point, I feel Ash Wednesday has lost its actual importance in society and has merely become a required ritual by those of that affiliated faith partake in. Essentially, what I am saying is that most people go to the Ash Wednesday ceremony, have some ashes of burned bamboo placed on their head in the form of a cross, then go about their day with no other connection to the ceremony except for the burnt remains inscribed on their forehead. My opinion of religion is that you have to buy the whole cow; you can't just nibble off small portions of your liking through the year as you please or else the meat will rot. I myself was raised Catholic, and after coming to my own realizations and development of my own ethos, I am no longer a practicing Catholic-so I no longer attend the ceremonies I did before. I have thought about going to Ash Wednesday in the recent years that have passed, but I realized that I would be a complete hypocrite if I did. Hypocrisy is most apparent in the modern day conception of religion, and in fact it has been apparent since its formation. What I am ranting on about is that people need to realize why they take part in these rituals, instead of doing it because they are socially and morally obligated. Individuals do not need to be the sheep of a religious heard. Think for yourself damit!
Now of course I know that there are people out there who celebrate and partake in this ritual because their faith/ethos is structured around this moral set of standards and the truly believe that what they are doing is right. Great, good for them. These people are not the individuals I am talking about. They have every right to believe what they want. I have full respect for individual beliefs as long as people practice what they preach and are not just going along with what is socially correct for the masses.
This may be one designer's opinions and I may be talking out of my ass, but I feel that people need to think for themselves and decide on their own if what society places as the norm is right for them. Break the mold that binds you! Be an independent speaker and thinker. If you don't know why, or care why, you put ashes on your forehead on the second Wednesday in February then don't do it-It is that simple! The same can be said for any other religious holiday.
I honestly could talk on this matter until I am blue in the face, but it is nearing two o'clock and I have class at 2:30.
Someone respond to this. Tell me if I am full of it or not.