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.

  • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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    8 months ago

    what the hell lmao

    didn’t expect literal 8th century religious bigotry to show up on lemmy. cringe, buddy.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Hey I am not against you having your equinox party. Go right ahead and honor the goddess Estor. I just find it amusing that you lot call yourself monotheistic. It isn’t bigotry that I know your religion better than you do.

      • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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        8 months ago

        ok troll, tell me again what my religion is based off of pure extrapolation from nothing (you were wrong from the start)

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Nietzsche said it best: Christianity is Platoism for the masses.

          Paul and the Gospel writers took the very worst part of Greco-Roman thought and Judaism then combined it together. Then as it infected the Empire it grabbed holidays from various pagan groups.