Gruesome crucifixions mark annual Philippines Easter ritual

[rayofreason]

Source: AFP

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AFP) — Devout Roman Catholic Ruben Enaje donned a crown of thorns as he put himself through the agonising ordeal of being nailed to a cross -- for the 22nd time.

The 47-year-old decorator was the first of 19 men in this northern Philippines village Friday who underwent the gruesome Easter crucifixion ritual, an extreme form of penance by devotees wanting to thank God for answering their prayers.

On the one occasion he skipped it eight years ago, he said, he was struck down with stomach ulcers and his wife was taken ill.

"It is painful and difficult. But I will continue doing this for as long as I can. This is my pledge to God," the father of four told AFP as he prepared his ceremonial garb at his modest wooden home.

Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXVBxX7xrXpyodLPzP9fw1wPdHhg

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It hurts so good?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Yikes! I'm sorry but I have a hard time understanding a God that would require that

of His/Her children. I know I would never ask that of mine.

[Lerkfish]

6. actually, he/she doesn't.

supposedly, Christ was sacrificed for all.

these particular adherents do things way outside of mainstream christian principles.

[texastoast]

30. Neither does Yaweh

It was all made up by the religious politicos many, many years ago. Most Christians do not know how the Bible was put together. God gave us free will. What we do with it is up to us. Oh, crap.

[rodeodance]

2. They have a passion for their faith. They are not advocating for all.

[Catch22Dem]

21. Passion for their faith or just batshit insane?

The lines are so thin and blurry.

[maseman]

3. I ate at a crappy Italian chain restaurant for lunch today

That was my painful sacrifice.

[edhopper]

15. You have

brought this upon yourself. Get thee from the Olive Garden.

[maseman]

28. Ohhh the gaseth haveth settled in now

[Javaman]

4. I can think of better ways to spend an afternoon. nt

[Lerkfish]

5. they've been doing this for decades. I don't agree with it, but that's how they

commemorate the event in their religion.

I don't consider this breaking news. (not meaning the OP, just talking about the news story)

[Judi Lynn]

7. Truly. It's been done in tons of countries reached by the Christian churches, for

hundreds of years. EVERY YEAR. Predicably, it happens every single year, all over the world.

Even in countries which pride themselves on being more European, they STILL drag out their pagents, passion plays, rituals re-enacting the crucificion, or even mount movies in which people sit for hours watching someone else getting beaten, like Mel Gibson's movie. Who remembers stories like people getting violent and fighting after seeing that movie?

From Sweden:

Apparently, around Easter time, Swedes go out and buy birch twigs with feathers on them. They bring them home and put them in water. After a few days, they start to produce buds.

As most people know, many of the little rituals that take place around Easter time are of pagan origin, and have to do with the advent of the coming of spring. This bizarre sort of birch twig-worship comes from that as well.

It almost makes sense. The yellow feathers: the power of the sun and the, erm, chicks (they're yellow, right) from the eggs (the egg, the symbol of fertility, has a yellow yolk), the twigs that start to blossom, etc. I'm not sure what other colours are used for feathers, but I'm sure that, whatever they are, they have some deep symbolic meaning as well.

But apparently, these twigs serve another purpose among the good Christian Swedish folks. Some people use birch twigs to whip themselves on the back at this happy time of year. This is to pay hommage to the man who got whipped while he was carrying a couple of big pieces of wood that were tied together, a long time ago, at around this time of year.

Convincing people that self-flagellation is acceptable and normal behaviour at Easter time is simply wrong. The Swedish public should be encouraged to enjoy this activity at any time of the year. It's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think.
(snip)

http://mdabase.blogspot.com/2006/04/saturday-april-15th-2006bald-easter.html

Tedious, old, stale, time to move on.

[libbygurl]

31. It is NOT a widespread practice! It's an Easter tradition a few people participate in for -

- various reasons - to beg for a cure for some illness, help for a catastrophic event, and as penance for sins committed during the year, as the most common. As the other poster said, it's been an old ritual dating back some fifty years in this province, and is part of the reenactment of events leading to the crucifixion of Christ. Not officially condoned by government or Philippine Catholic Church.

You may not like the gruesome practice, but think about this: Hindus will recoil with horror at the thought of others eating the flesh of a cow.

[Lucky Luciano]

8. What a moron. nt

[libbygurl]

32. What a moronic comment. You don't even know the history and reason for it. Not that I...

...approve of it, but this is such a condescending comment.

[Lucky Luciano]

34. still a moron.

I never lent much credibility to silly religious rites.

[mikita]

9. this guy needs to see Zeitgeist n/t

[2Design]

10. a rw wish - the fundamentalist in any organized religion are in need

of psychological counseling to unbrainwash them - the ultimate brainwashing is organized religion

[DWilliamsamh]

11. Is any further proof needed of the insanity of believing in fantasies?

[Divine Discontent]

14. uncalled for. one of a handful of billions of believers do this bizarre torture ritual

and you know this.

[DWilliamsamh]

35. Yeah but it's still emblematic of teh insanity. (n/t)

[mitchum]

12. Brought to you by The Nazarene Death Cult

[fascisthunter]

13. Could You All Imagine Jesus' Reaction to the Very Symbol He was Executed on?

I mean, it is like you and me wearing electric chairs around our necks to honor somebody put to death in today's age.

Who was it originally who made that comparison? Well, it's a good one and just felt like repeating it.


People truly are sick and twisted.

[Divine Discontent]

16. surely He shakes his head at this... I cannot thinking otherwise, it's just BIZARRE! thanks EOM

[dysfunctional press]

17. i think that sam kinison had a routine about it...

:shrug:

[spoony]

18. What?

I'd point out the theological weight of the symbol of the cross, but this is a thread about people crucifying themselves, not wearing a cross around one's neck.

[fascisthunter]

19. I Know What the Cross Signifies... thanks (nt)

[juno jones]

23. Says something about our culture that

many revere an instrument of torture.

[pegleg]

24. Has nothing to do with revering an instrument of torture, but reverence

for the reason it was allowed to be done.

[juno jones]

29. I understand that personally

But I see stuff like Gibson's 'passion' as needlessly focusing on the gruesome details (most of which aren't even in the bible).


The point is supposed to be the resurrection and redemption.

Maybe this sounds nuts, but I think that by obsessing on Jesus's crucifixion, we keep him spiritually hanging on that cross. That we never really acknowledge that he came and walked with us again. That we never really allow ourselves to become part of that redemption. Maybe we should let him off the cross and bless his memory with the fish that was his original emblem before organized religion got to it.



Of course I'm a silly old multi-theist anyways and really suspect that perhaps this ceremony has far more to do with traditional rites of these peoples (sort of like the trancendent self-torture of an Native American sundance) than it does christianity.

[pegleg]

36. The description of Jesus' crucifictionin the OT added to that in

the NT let's one know that it was as gruesome as the Passion shows.

[jmowreader]

38. Have you heard Carlin's "An Interview with Jesus Christ"?

In it, the interviewer asked him what he'd do if he could do it all over again.

"I think I'd start one of those Eastern religions, like Buddha did. Buddha's smart. That's why he's laughing."

'You wouldn't want to be a Christian?'

"No, I would never want to be a member of any religion whose symbol is a man nailed to a cross--especially since it's me."

[newburgh]

20. Sponsored by Coca Cola!

"The festival is sponsored by Coca-cola and a company called Smart Telecommunications."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/19/weaster219.xml

[pegleg]

22. Very much steeped in tradition and not too unlike traditions in

many other religions. Just because you don't understand it or approve doesn't mean that it's not important to their culture. Saying that something is batshit or crazy or pure superstition is anyone's right, but it also reflects a certain ignorance of other customs and in some cases, just plain bigotry. God knows there's enough of that already in the world and certainly no shortage of it here on DU.

[Trajan]

26. Perhaps it reflects a familiarity with human neuroses ....

One doesnt have to accept every cockamanie ritualistic practice simply because someone else performs it .... The mere fact that many people do something like this doesnt infer it is reasonable behavior ... It simply infers that many people are batshit crazy ....

Signed,
FORMER Catholic ....

[pegleg]

27. It's all relative.

[onager]

37. Actually, it can reflect knowledge of other customs

I've spent about 5 years living in Middle Eastern cultures, where honor killings of young women are common and go virtually unpunished.

Honor killings are certainly "important to their culture," as you would know by a quick scan of any local newspaper. Would you care to defend that good old ancient cultural practice?

But thanks for the knee-jerk response. Those are always fun. I'm surprised you didn't work in a quote from Gandhi. You know, the guy killed by one of his co-religionists who thought bashing Muslims was "important to his (Hindu) culture."

[Trajan]

25. People act out strange, ritualistic behavior based on a fascinating myth ...

I am not surprised when people do crazy assed shit like this .... It goes with the belief system ....

I suppose it is better than burning down synagogues full of innocent families, like they used to do for Easter ...

See ... a silver lining ....

[libbygurl]

33. It isn't 'acting out' - these people have reasons for doing it - asking favours,

doing it as penitential rite, and it is limited to a few people participating in it in this small town outside the capital.