Ash Thursday

Today is Ash Thursday, the Catholic Church's celebration in honor of the god Baal. The church has designated this day as a day "just to let your pagan side hang out a bit" to quote a 1923 papal encyclical. Typical celebrational activities on Ash Thursday include blood sacrifice of virgins, ritualistic fire-side dances, and good-luck incantations. While the Church is confident in its stance that Christ is the true savior, it figures it is allowed one day to revel in old ways; in the good old days, as well as give itself a little insurance policy, just in case the pagan gods of old feel neglected and vengeful.

Happy Ash Thursday, Catholics!

!!UPDATE!!

Kevin asked me if the encyclical to which I referred was Rerum Novarum, because he was pretty sure that Ash Thursday was not in there.