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In This Issue

• The Spec's Front Page (PDF)
• Matthew Fox Strips Naked, Insults Graduates
• Krishna vs. Christianity
• Last Book of Potter Pilfered, Rowling "Shocked"
• Secret Society No Longer Secret to Sniffer-Outers of Secrecy
• New York's Preschools Seek Swingset Leaders
• Bitches Got the Right to Shut the Fuck Up
• Before They Were Great Quotations
• An Inconvenient Truth Is Unsafe at Any Speed
• Spectator Copy Editor Shares Typical Evening
• Dancing Tops Crappy American Exports to UK
• Columbia Spectator: Op-Eds (PDF)
• Spec Staff Editorial: What the Fuck, Man
• Spec Sexportations: Delivering Our Children
• Spec PERSPECTIVES: Importance of History
• Spec: Corrections
• Spec: Letters to the Editor
• Prezbo v. Hamiltron
• THEY Watch

Christine DeLong

After 40 days of Lent, that cow is starting to look pretty tasty.

The Christian holiday of Lent has been practiced for thousands of years. Those who observe it must choose some habit or vice of theirs and forgo it for a period of 40 days. This is meant to recall the 40-day period for which Jesus fasted in the desert. Typically, observers of Lent will choose to “give up” some sort of staple in their lives, such as a certain beloved food or beverage. Bread, chocolate, soda, and alcohol are all commonly given up for this somber holiday.

However, Raj Patel, CC ‘09, did not choose typically. He shocked his friends and family by choosing to give up his Hindu religion for Lent.

“I have to say that I was pretty surprised by his decision,” said one of his friends, “I had always known him as a Hindu. And then he came up to me and said, ‘I’m giving up Hinduism for Lent.’ I thought he was joking, because obviously that’s not possible, since you have to be Christian to be observing Lent in the first place. But he’s really serious about it. Although he said he’s definitely going back after 40 days.”

It’s been difficult,” admitted Patel, “It’s hard to figure out what exactly giving up Hinduism entails. So my friends were telling me: Raj, you have to start eating meat in order to give up Hinduism. So I figured, OK, that’s reasonable. And I started eating meat. But then one Friday they were like, Raj, you can’t be eating meat right now! I was so confused! They told me some rule about not being allowed to eat meat on Fridays.” Patel also complained that eating meat did not seem to be good for his health. “I guess it’s since I’ve never really eaten meat in my life, so my digestive system is not used to it. It gives me a stomachache every day, except Fridays of course.” When asked whether he had started to go to church, Patel responded that he did not. “I am not temporarily becoming a Christian for Lent, or any other religion for that matter. I am just giving up Hinduism. So, as I said before, I have to figure out what exactly one does in order to give up Hinduism. Usually these would be things that run contrary to Hindu principles and doctrines. A few days ago I wrote a graffito on one of the desks in Butler; it said ‘monotheism’ in all capital letters. I felt strange after that, so I erased it. Other than that, I’ve done some things to try to get worse karma. This is a tricky one, because some of the things that would give you bad karma could get you in trouble in other ways as well.” When asked what he had done to lower his karma, Patel replied: “I won’t tell you, but I haven’t cheated on any tests.”

A Columbia College senior completing her religion major, upon learning about Patel’s story, had this to say: “Lent is exclusively a Christian holiday. It is devoid of meaning if one does not believe in the Christian faith. Thus, Patel has merely decided to become an atheist for 40 days. Is this some kind of joke?”

Patel denies this. “It came to me in a dream,” was all he had to say.