Is Friday's feast of fried fish a folly?

Living in the Milwaukee, WI area going on 16 years, I'm still amused by the Friday fish fry which reaches a fever-pitch during lent.  Restaurants are packed with lines of customers waiting to get a beer-battered cod fry; and if you own an establishment in Wisconsin that doesn't serve fish, you're SOL.  Even the gourmet establishments have learned to set aside their discerning palette to serve fried cod to stay in business.  I'm not disparaging religion, but the practice of not eating meat other than fish on Fridays is specific to Catholics; which is the populous faith and appears to wield great power over the eating habits of our state.  You start out the year with good intentions; eat healthier, get in shape - but this religious ritual throws you completely off track.  It serves up a golden platter of deep-fat-fried, fatty-whitefish in an artery-clogging beer batter with fries, caloric-laden tarter sauce, and a slice of bread with butter.  It's hard to resist the fragrance of fried food, and equally as hard to be that one guest at the table who orders the eggplant parmesan.  Maybe it's God's way of testing us...?