Mardi Gras also known as Fat Tuesday is to millions of humans as a celebration w ith revelry, dancing, lusting, intoxication and

merry making. It is also a relig ious celebration, as the last day before the season of lent which is 40 days of suffering in the flesh with fasting and prayer. The Mardi Gras is also known as carnival which is CARNE VALE . Carne meaning the FLESH or meat and Vale which means leaving. Leaving the flesh. Flesh in a religious term has to do with SIN. living in the flesh in the christi an meaning is to live in SIN. Every human being is born into sin because of the time in which the first human MAN and WO'MAN committed sin in the garden of Eden, by disobeying God, after bei ng deceived by the serpent also known as the devil and Satan. Since we are all born in the flesh, and not in the spirit as the Christ was born in the spirit then we who are servants of the Lord are they who have accepted J esus as the son of God and our intercessor between the Lord through the Holy Spi rit, we must strive to overcome the temptations in the flesh which would cause u s to sin. SIN is evil which is immoral. Such as murder, rape, theft and causing injury to others, hate, jealousy and what is considered capitol crimes, and even telling a lie. All sins are the same in the eyes of God not one sin is greater than the o ther for all is sin. Carnival or Mardi Gras is the last day in which there are no limits to the sin w hich you may commit and be freed from penalty according to the pagan beliefs. S o any crime was okay during this period of sinning. Mardi Gras has its roots in ancient Greek history 3500 years ago, and a connecti on with Osiris the ancient Egyptian god. The ancients who were part of these festivities could only be cleared of their c rimes if they wore a mask while committing these violent acts of sin. According to the Columbia University Press, CARNIVAL is defined as: communal celebration, especially he religious celebration in Catholic countries that take place just before Lent. Since the early times carnivals have been acco mpanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had t heir origins in pre-christian pagan rites, particularly fertility rites that wer e connected with the coming of spring and the rebirth of vegetation. One of the first recorded instances of an annual spring festival is the festival of Osiris in Egypt; it commemorated the renewal of life brought about by the ye arly flooding of the Nile River. In Athens during the 6Th century, a yearly cele bration in honor of the god Dionysus was the first recorded instance of using a float. It was during the Roman Empire that carnivals reached an unparalleled peak of ci vil disorder and licentiousness. The major Roman carnivals were the Bacchanalia, the Saturnalia, and the Lupercalia. In Europe the tradition of spring fertility celebrations persisted well into Chr istian times, where carnivals reached there peak during the 14Th and 15Th centur y. Because carnivals are deeply rooted in pagan superstitions and the folklore o f Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was unable to stamp them out and finally acc epted many of them as part of church activity.

The immediate consequence of of church influence may be seen in the medieval Fea st of Fools, which included a mock mass and a blasphemous impersonation of churc h officials. Eventually, however, the power of the church made itself felt, and the carnival was stripped of its most offending elements. The church succeeded i n dominating the activities of the carnivals, and eventually they became directl y related to the coming of Lent. The major celebrations are generally on shrove Tuesday (fat Tuesday) Mardi Gras. The pagan beliefs of carnival (mardi gras) were of fertility which was the pract ices of being naked both men and women and the worship of the male and female se xual parts. Idol worship and porn which is the sin of fornication . The City of New Orleans, is probably best known in the festivities of Mardi Gras , for the words when mentioned will bring about the conversation of carnival or the days of sin known as Mardi Gras. Some even in modern day give this day the freedom to kill, if your enemy is foun d you can kill that enemy as long as he was killed on the day of carnival. At le ast that's what it was a few years back in South America.