A masked penitent kneels as he flagellates himself during the start of a procession as part of Holy Week celebrations through the streets of Taxco in the Mexican state of Guerrero April 9, 2009. Hundreds of penitents, bound and flagellating themselves, wound through the labyrinthine cobblestone streets of Taxco, an almost 500-year-old silver mining town built into a mountainside, in one of the most dramatic and heartfelt Easter rituals staged in this fervently Catholic country. (REUTERS/Henry Romero)
Filipino flagellants kneel in front of the church as they perform rites meant to atone for sins at San Fernando city, Pampanga province, northern Philippines on Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2009. Many Philippine devotees practice flagellation and penitence during the holy week in rites frowned upon by church leaders in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
[tags]pampanga province,san fernando pampanga,archipelago nation,maundy thursday,henry romero,getty image,easter celebrations,cobblestone streets,devout catholics,south east asian,passion plays,northern philippines,san fernando city pampanga,catholic nation,passion play,favila,catholic country,crucifixions,silver mining,religious ritual[/tags]
Filipino flagellants kneel in front of the church as they perform rites meant to atone for sins at San Fernando city, Pampanga province, northern Philippines on Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2009. Many Philippine devotees practice flagellation and penitence during the holy week in rites frowned upon by church leaders in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Catholic devotee has his hands nailed on the cross as part of reenacting Christ's suffering on the cross during a Passion play as part of a religious ritual during Easter celebrations in a village in San Fernando, Pampanga, north of Manila, on April 10, 2009. Devout Catholics stage passion plays and crucifixions recounting the sufferings of Christ as part of observance of Easter celebrations in South East Asian archipelago nation of some 90 million of which 85 percent are Catholics samidst sharp criticisms from the church. (JES AZNAR/AFP/Getty Image)
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[tags]pampanga province,san fernando pampanga,archipelago nation,maundy thursday,henry romero,getty image,easter celebrations,cobblestone streets,devout catholics,south east asian,passion plays,northern philippines,san fernando city pampanga,catholic nation,passion play,favila,catholic country,crucifixions,silver mining,religious ritual[/tags]
The fear of what is the after death, at its best.
ReplyDeleteYuck. Why not just live a holy, humble and generous life all year round rather than seeking suffering and attention through such extreme means?
ReplyDeleteChristian self-flagellation, by some Christians I should say, pre-dates Shi'i self-flagellation rituals, which themselves have little basis in Shi'i sources and represent mostly cultural practices adopted and then presented as "religious" practices.
ReplyDelete