I've been thinking about giving my car up for Lent but the decision is proving hard to make.  My first qualm arises from the fact that I'm an atheist.  Theoretically Lent shouldn't mean anything to me, why should I deny myself pleasure or comfort in honour of a God that I do not believe in?  Yet, it's hard to dismiss the feeling that giving something up at this time of year is worthwhile - both for body and, dare I say it, soul.

Why should I be able to get all the fun of Christmas, all the flipping of Shrove Tuesday and all the chocolatery of Easter without giving something in return?  It seems easy in this country to pick and choose the bits of religion that seem fun or exciting and to leave the difficult bits to the true believers.  But even this causes problems - is it really that difficult to give up chocolate, or sweets or coffee for 40 days?  Does that really and truly bring Christians closer to God.  Somehow I don't think Jesus's suffering in the desert was quite the same as not having your morning Frappucino or evening Pinot Grigio.  So, those are my problems with Lent in general; it doesn't hold religious significance for me and it's often hypocritical and far too easy.

However, as faithless and degenerate as I am there is something which I care about deeply and which, if I prayed, would be in my prayers constantly.  That is the future of this planet and whether we can turn from the path that we have been running headlong down for so long.  Lent, then seemed like a good excuse for me to see if I could live without my car - 'great idea' I thought, and felt smugly satisfied with myself.  It was the same feeling as planning to go to the gym or for a run - plans which in my case do not often come into fruition.  There seem to be a lot of barriers to the 'no car' lifestyle.  How will I visit my boyfriend who lives 50 miles away, how will I get to university with all my heavy books AND my computer, how will I get home to my parents who live 150 miles away?  Public transport is, of course, the answer but the trains from here are not great and I'm not sure if there is a bus.  I'm a student and so, by definition lazy but I desperately want to be able to do this and prove to myself it is possible.

What, after all is the point of getting my PhD if I can only teach for a handful of years before the planet drowns in its own pollution?  Or having a boyfriend if our (hypothetical) children don't have a world to grow up in?  As an atheist I don't have the believe in a God that will save us, we have to save ourselves.  So, teetering on the edge of this time of self-denial and life-enrichment I am too, teetering on the edge of a no-car lifestyle.  Will I do it? And, should this be something that more people should be doing? By Wednesday I will have made my decision.