Lent fast re-branded as "Christian Ramadan":
Dutch Catholics have re-branded the Lent fast as the "Christian Ramadan" in an attempt to appeal to young people who are more likely to know about Islam than Christianity.
The Catholic charity Vastenaktie, which collects for the Third World across the Netherlands during the Lent period, is concerned that the Christian festival has become less important for the Dutch over the last generation.
"The image of the Catholic Lent must be polished. The fact that we use a Muslim term is related to the fact that Ramadan is a better-known concept among young people than Lent," said Vastenaktie Director, Martin Van der Kuil.
Well, whatever's popular with the kids these days I guess. It's not like you can use the tradition-rich two-thousand year history of the Church to get their attention. Maybe with a little more "polishing" and "re-branding" Dutch Catholics can get beyond the hangup with this whole Christianity thing altogether.
(Via Ryan Anderson at First Things Blog.)
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