Sometimes I say..'think Deliverance...but not that open minded'
Scary, very scary
injest.
You brought up an excellent point, prompted by
Becky's post:
The intense interest in a man's physical suffering, bordering on a passionate thing...which is why when they reenact it (and they DO with great fervor) they call it a Passion Play! There is a church here that on Easter puts a man in rags and makeup and he drags a cross around the loop around the city! Last night there was a pickup in front of me with a huge cross laying in the bed with some 'repent ye' sign on it.
I think they have really strayed from Christ's message...I wonder if some of these people secretly think of this like people who go to see scary movies...that same sick thrill that SOME people get from seeing people hurt...and since they are not allowed to go to the movies or watch TV they have to substitute religion and persecution for their entertainment.
There are a fair number of people who belong to religions such as Christianity for which suffering is a major part of their creed. You have to suffer. You have to revel in it. Somewhere along the way, the religious expression of pagans in pleasurable things was taken to its opposite extreme by early Christians trying to be different. They found their god in pain and suffering and took pleasure and felt purity and righteous in it.
Is it any wonder the ancient Romans were baffled by the Christians who were executed? Indeed, some writers of the era didn't think much of their martyrdom, because they did it out of sheer stubborness and not because of any real suffering.
So now, many of these type religious people feel they and everyone around them has to suffer or be put through suffering for them to be really religious. It's totally bizarre if you think about it.
Many Christians in this country have a persecution complex. Despite a church being on every street corner, the entire country celebrating a major Christian religious holiday and a born-again Christian in the highest office of the nation, they are on the defense. Declaring with complete sincerity that Christianity is under attack and they're on the verge of being persecuted and martyred for their religious beliefs.
This from people who are living very free and comfortable existences. It's as if they feel they have to make up some sort of persecution to avoid Divine Punishment for not suffering during this lifetime.
Very very strange people.