Lent has become quite popular this year. Starting with the trending #ashtag, where people took pictures of themselves wearing ashes, then posted them to social media, Lent has made its presence felt across Facebook and Twitter.
Buzzfeed, the massive newsite, published a roundup on the trending #ashtag, and they also published a quiz on what you should give up for Lent.
Buzzfeed may not look important, with the flurry of cat GIFs, but at the start of 2014, their circulation was larger than the Washington Post, the New York Times,Time, and Life, combined, in the 1950s. They are also one of the few news sources left that provide in-depth, original reporting.
The Atlantic looks at this trend from Buzzfeed, and is not convinced they are treating Lent with the seriousness it deserves. Associate Editor Emma Green suggests that this might be a prolonged prank on Christian faithful, but acknowledges the quiz has been viewed well over half a million times.
I think this is a positive sign, one that signals that liturgical Christians have begun to separate ourselves from the vast evangelical-fundamentalist-Protestant-monolith that usually passes for Christianity in America.
What do you think?