A test to “measure” one’s own lifestyle and its degree of “sobriety” is being proposed not by a woman’s magazine, but by the official website of the Dutch Catholic Church – www.katholieknederland.nl in preparation for Lent. The aim of the test is to stress the actuality and richness of Lent. After replying to sixteen questions, visitors to the site, on the basis of the number of points they have scored, will discover which of the four profiles of sobriety they fit, and are offered advice about how to score the maximum number of points during Lent, which begins on 25 February, Ash Wednesday. The questions comprised by the test relate to dietary habits, number of hours watching TV, propensity to consumerism, what definition of life suits us best, how much we are willing to spend on good actions, what we do on Sundays, how many pairs of shoes we possess, how much we smoke, what we eat. Only after having replied to all the questions, does the total number of points we have scored enable us to find out to which of the four profiles we belong: ascetic, moderate, pleasure-loving, or hedonistic. This isn’t the first time the Catholic Church has promoted such an initiative on the web. Last year, tests on the moral standards of the Ten Commandments were put online. The present test on sobriety is the third in the series and will be repeated on TV in the programme Kruispunkt on 22 February, when various Dutch VIPs will submit to the test.
