Some bloke has done it for 29 years non-stop, mental, clearly mental. He must have got used to the pain by now. All we need is for him to stay up for as long as Jesus did, then taken down, put into a tomb covered with a huge stone. Three days later he somehow manages to move it and hopefully there should be a trace of his body on some white clothing.

It shows me how very different the minds of others are from mine.
I consider religion as a mind consuming replicating pattern, much like a tune you can't get out of your head, but more persistent.
Behaviors like this, physically damaging, must have some compensating benefits or they could not persist. 
Support from the community?
Status?
Without more context, I just don't get it.

I went to the Thaipusam in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia.
It does seem insane at first.
However, when you're there on the ground, it's very spiritual.
The people are so friendly and the mood very festive.
There's no pain because the participants fast and meditate until in a trance, which you can see in their eyes.
If anyone's in Malaysia during that time, I highly recommend it. It's an eye opener. :-)

(April 3, 2015 at 6:13 pm)JuliaL Wrote: It shows me how very different the minds of others are from mine.
I consider religion as a mind consuming replicating pattern, much like a tune you can't get out of your head, but more persistent.
Behaviors like this, physically damaging, must have some compensating benefits or they could not persist. 
Support from the community?
Status?
Without more context, I just don't get it.

I think there are plenty of religious people who cannot relate to self-flaggelation and devotional crucifixion and other forms of "mortification of the flesh."  It is an extreme thing to do, though such things have been going on for a very, very long time.  So it is not unique to any particular age, nor to any particular religion.  But most adherents of most religions don't go to such extremes.

It is also not unique to the biggest religions in the world either.  See (don't click on any link below if you are too easily upset):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_ritual

There are also some bloody initiation rites in some cultures, and often they are pretty well required rather than being purely voluntary (unlike devotional crucifixion):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarification

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile_subincision

The above is just a short list of things that were found with just a little poking around online; there is much, much more of this sort of thing.

There are quite a lot of strange things that various people have done in many different cultures that involve either self-mutilation or being mutilated by others for religious and possibly other reasons.

(April 3, 2015 at 6:32 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: I think there are plenty of religious people who cannot relate to self-flaggelation and devotional crucifixion and other forms of "mortification of the flesh."  It is an extreme thing to do, though such things have been going on for a very, very long time.  So it is not unique to any particular age, nor to any particular religion.  But most adherents of most religions don't go to such extremes.

It is also not unique to the biggest religions in the world either.  

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See (don't click on any link below if you are too easily upset):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_ritual

There are also some bloody initiation rites in some cultures, and often they are pretty well required rather than being purely voluntary (unlike devotional crucifixion):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarification

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile_subincision

The above is just a short list of things that were found with just a little poking around online; there is much, much more of this sort of thing.

---

There are quite a lot of strange things that various people have done in many different cultures that involve either self-mutilation or being mutilated by others for religious and possibly other reasons.

I didn't chase those links.  But thanks.
A common theme seems to be behaviors encouraged or required for inclusion in a social group.
I wonder what equivalent behaviors I exhibit.  
A suit and tie seems pretty tame.
Though being polite at some family get togethers has been pretty stressful. 

Doing things to fit into a group is not necessarily a bad or stupid thing to do. It depends on what, exactly, it is, and why one is doing it.

Being polite and wearing clothing that is socially acceptable (as long as the clothing is not doing actual harm [e.g., excessively tight corsets, etc.]) seems reasonable to me.

In the case of the subject of this thread, devotional crucifixion, there does not appear to be great pressure to do it, but there might be in some cases. I don't think most of the people in the societies in which it is practiced, or anywhere near most, engage in that sort of thing. So it isn't a requirement for fitting into society at large. It is much more problematic and disturbing when ritual mutilation is required of someone.

The people doing these things think they are becoming more holy as they inflict themselves.
The devil laughs at their stupidity.

(April 3, 2015 at 6:28 pm)Little lunch Wrote: I went to the Thaipusam in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia.
It does seem insane at first.
However, when you're there on the ground, it's very spiritual.
The people are so friendly and the mood very festive.
There's no pain because the participants fast and meditate until in a trance, which you can see in their eyes.
If anyone's in Malaysia during that time, I highly recommend it. It's an eye opener. :-)

Hmmm, it is interesting that meditation can make them indifferent to the pain. I read about that in a meditation book, but I was skeptical.

According to the gospel accounts, Jesus was in a state like that for his crucifixion.

Hypnotists sometimes test the trance by poking the person with needles. Interesting, interesting...

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(April 3, 2015 at 7:57 pm)professor Wrote: The people doing these things think they are becoming more holy as they inflict themselves.
The devil laughs at their stupidity.

That's the devils' achilles heel. I plan to make him laugh so much at my stupidity that he is incapacitated with hiccups.

(April 3, 2015 at 7:57 pm)professor Wrote: The people doing these things think they are becoming more holy as they inflict themselves.
The devil laughs at their stupidity.

Doesn't the devil laugh at any delusional beliefs?  I do.

Yes Julia, being the author of them, he has a right to.