A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
On Friday, over a hundred people watched on as 10 devotees were nailed to wooden crosses, among them Ruben Enaje, a 63-year-old carpenter and sign painter. The real-life crucifixions have become an annual religious spectacle that draws tourists in three rural communities in Pampanga province, north of Manila.
The gory ritual resumed last year after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has turned Enaje into a village celebrity for his role as the “Christ” in the Lenten reenactment of the Way of the Cross.
Ahead of the crucifixions, Enaje told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday night that he has considered ending his annual religious penitence due to his age, but said he could not turn down requests from villagers for him to pray for sick relatives and all other kinds of maladies.
Maybe I’m alone, but this seems fine to me. I think evangelicals should take a page out of his book. Spend less time being horrible, and crucify themselves instead.
As much as I don’t condone needless violence, even against oneself…
You have a great point. They should be putting their money where their mouths are.
They can’t even wash people’s feet, despite all the superbowl commercials.
Really sad people are hurting themselves over nothing.
Not over nothing, just for no results and under false pretenses
To everyone saying “it isn’t working” - you’re reading an article spreading the message of a Filipino villager in US media.
It’s not like that happens all that often.
So yes, it is working pretty well actually.
Not my choice for PR stunt, but to each their own.
But to what end? 5 minutes of fame and then back to exactly how it was before?
What are you even talking about? His name on US media is all it takes for “world peace”? In what fucking sense of the word? What part is working?
the part where he did something stupid for attention? sure… okay… we totally needed that
We really need more people to learn the difference between good attention and bad attention. That is how we get morons blocking ambulances in London, throwing food at paintings, and people getting crucified.
Be the change you want to see in the world doesn’t mean do performative stunts for likes, clicks, and views. It means you do the hard work of fixing issues.
If his goal is to popularize his own stupidity, sure… it’s working.
Well geez how much good has all that praying done so far?
It’s not working too well but maybe we should just try to crucify rich people
Yeah, they’re definitely crucifying the wrong people.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Matthew 24
Why pray for something that Jesus Himself said wasn’t going to happen?
These whackos are so far gone they literally crucify themselves… talk about natural selection
I thought this was an Onion article as I scrolled, wtf.
Surely it will work this time.
This just seems like blasphemy to me. He is trying to impersonate Jesus Christ with this reenactment. This goes beyond a church play to reenact the crucifying of Christ.
He should be more like Peter who refused to imitate Jesus and was thus crucified upside down.
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Really? I believe it is there to teach morals and principles. I feel like it’s a comfort for those who have lost others, or have lost hope. Some people take it to an extreme, and use it to justify actions that aren’t always moral. I don’t see how worship and faith are blasphemy, though. Could you explain a little more about that?
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I can’t say I’ve ever seen John 14:12 interpreted this way elsewhere, but I also can’t deny his conviction.
So if they nailed through their hands why isn’t there any blood? Especially when the nail is pulled out in the video? I would assume it would cause permanent damage too.
It’s like piercings that healed except the hole is in the hands? I want to believe he did something so that they didn’t have to mutilate his hands every 35 times they did this… But at the same time the face he makes when they remove the nails is not reassuring me :/
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… That has to be a fetish.
