SAINTED MASOCHISM - CATHOLICISM AND ITS SELF-HATING SAINTS
St Teresa of Avila: "The pain was so great that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it."
Catholicism is unique in world religions in how it venerates and canonises people who engaged in savage self-torment. Consider what I am writing in light of the Catholic doctrine that the chief way to venerate a saint is to learn from her or him and model yourself on that person. Prayers to the saint are only an outworking of that, an expression of it.
The apostles are the top saints and the fact that they have not been canonised is because they do not need it.
The apostle Peter seems to have written an allegedly divinely inspired letter in the Bible. It endorses suffering.
1 Peter 1 is insulting to suffering
people for it tells them to cheer up for they only suffer for a little while.
It is startling to think that if Christians help them at great cost then they
are telling themselves, "Let us help these nuisances for it is only for a
while."
1 Peter 4:1 preaches that since Christ suffered in
his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in
the body is done with sin. Suffering then must be as good as or better
than doing great good!
1 Peter 2:18-25 tells slaves that enduring suffering for doing wrong is not a thing to be praised and suffering for being accused in the wrong else. But a slave committing a wrong is not in the same league as a freeperson doing wrong. It is wrong that the person is a slave in the first place. And moreover a person making a mistake and taking the consequences with dignity is indeed to be praised. She or he cannot change the past. Christianity is not the great believer in forgiveness it pretends to be.
One infamous saint is Saint Mariana of Jesus de Paredes who was canonised in
1950. She starved herself so that she only got an ounce of bread every ten days.
The list of Catholic saints who underwent savage and chilling penances and were
canonised is as disturbing as it is long. For most of the last millennium the
popes only made saints out of those who hurt themselves the most. Before a
person can be canonised miracles have to happen through her or his intercession.
God does the miracles to show that the person has his favour and should be
emulated by the people. The miracles mean that God approves of the gospel of
pain and blood and unhappiness. If you think religion should make people happier
then you have to attack the doctrine that miracles show you what God wants you
to believe.
The gruesome miracle of the stigmata is a person having some or all of the marks
that Jesus had after his passion. St Francis of Assisi (1181/2-1226) had
stigmata which the Church said was genuine. The Church created a Mass to
celebrate his stigmata (page 6, The Stigmata and Modern Science). St Catherine
of Siena (1347-80) had invisible stigmata – it was lunacy for the Church to
accept that as a miracle which shows that reliability is greatly lacking in its
estimation of miracle occurrences. St Padre Pio (1887-1968) and St Gemma Galgani
(1878-1903) are two of the stigmatics who were declared blessed or saint by the
Church. The Church says these honours do not imply anything about their stigmata
or visions. But the Church’s own Bible says that true prophets or visionaries
who receive and do signs will not err when reporting what God says (Deuteronomy
18). These people all chose great suffering and that did not satisfy their God
who heaped the incredible sufferings of Jesus on them. Gemma wore a very tight
rope round her body for mortification.
Some saints “miraculously” re-enacted the crucifixion of Jesus with all its
horrors.
St Martin de Porres from Peru is a well-loved saint among Catholics. He
practiced brutal self-flagellation.
The roots of Christian masochism are to be found in the Bible.
The Bible offers blind faith that brings much suffering so it indirectly takes
up the cause of masochism.
It says that God comes first at all times and that God is to be valued supremely
meaning that it is better to suffer an entire lifetime than to live one second
without him which is extreme masochistic doctrine.
The prodigal son who Jesus praises in his parable did not say he was sorry
and would not do it again. He just said he did wrong and degraded himself by
saying how unworthy he was. He just regretted the bad time he had away
from home living as a profligate.
James 1:2, “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped
in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations”.
Philippians 2:17, “Even if my lifeblood must be poured out as a libation on the
sacrificial offering of your faith [to God], still I am glad [to do it]”.
Jesus said that those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness are
blessed unlike those who are not (Matthew 5:11, 12). They are to rejoice and be
glad for their endurance will be rewarded in Heaven. Jesus knew this was
impossible for they could not be that sure of the reward.
So, we are to rejoice in our sufferings and be glad we have them. But in that
case they are rendered useless. You might as well be out on the town drinking
champagne and downing caviar as lying in bed ill when you like being ill.
Moreover, the suffering is the state of feeling that you existence is useless so
“rejoice in your suffering” is a contradictory command. You can be happy and be
in pain showing that is pain not suffering. Nobody can tell you to suffer for a
purpose for if suffering is the illusion of worthlessness how can it truly make
you a virtuous person at least when it is happening? To say that others should
be permitted by God to suffer so that you will help them is to attack the fact
that the human person and human life is of absolute value. It’s the most
valuable thing there is. If the person is absolutely valuable that means the
person should never have to experience a valueless existence. To believe in God
is to approve of the evil of suffering being permitted by him and to say it has
a purpose is extremely evil because you are most sure that person is valuable
for you are more sure the person exists than you are that God does.
All this proves that religious masochism and the preference for pain are
unhealthy. It is having pain for nothing other than to enjoy it. The saints were
sexual perverts. Their penances were a gruesome and morbid form of masturbation.
The saints had no right to condemn the harming of other people when they
regarded the harming of themselves and encouraging others to do the same as
virtue. Their casting ashes over themselves and rolling in nettles and all the
rest were not acts of humility but of pride when they liked to frown upon cruel
people. They should have told the victims that if they did not approve of being
abused that was their own concern.
It is pride to hurt and torment yourself even helping others for a belief, your
belief that you made.
A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL
The gospels say that Jesus Christ said that nobody could be his disciple unless
she or he lifted him his cross to follow him. The cross may be the burden you
should bear. But we have no need to assume that the cross is figurative. Jesus
could have been asking for his disciples to keep working for him though it would
lead to crucifixion. He did tell his disciples to flee to another town if
persecuted in any town. The two statements can be made to agree if it eventually
happens that there is no escape. Then Jesus wants it to be cross for them. For
the rest of us, it has to be something as terribly painful as the cross but not
necessarily a literal cross.
The apostles were brought before the Jewish courts and charged with slandering
the Jewish leaders. The apostles were saying that the Jews had crucified Jesus.
Acts 5 says that the apostles were delighted and pleased to have had the honour
of suffering humiliation in the name of Jesus. Note that they did not say they
were glad because the maltreatment would have some good results but it was the
humiliation and the suffering they enjoyed. If people are allowed to enjoy their
own pain, then they can enjoy seeing others suffer too! And especially if the
other people are in Hell forever! The example of the apostles led to the sadism
of the Inquisition.
In the second century, St Ignatius of Antioch went to the lions and provoked
them to torment him to death.
Origen, born around 185 AD, cut off his organ of reproduction as a sign of
devotion to Jesus. He thought that it was a sin to have it when it drew him into
sin. Christians argued that since nobody can be forced to sin he should not have
done this. It was going too far.
The rule of St Benedict, who was the fifth century founder of Western
monasticism called for monks who disobeyed the rule a lot to be battered with
rods.
Wearing their hooded robes with red crosses on them the Flagellant Brethren
walked in procession all over the place during the Middle Ages. Their peak was
during the Black Death when they did severe penance to persuade God to stop this
terrible plague. They whipped themselves until the blood ran. In Germany and the
Netherlands, some sects shot out of the movement claiming that the sacraments
were no good and that any spiritual benefits they allegedly gave could only be
obtained by whipping yourself.
Today, the Penitentes sometimes even undergo crucifixion as penance for sins
around Good Friday. They are certainly into inflicting pain and misery on
themselves. They are active in the Philippines and Northern New Mexico and
Southern Colorado. They say that since Jesus learned obedience through horrific
suffering in the form of crucifixion (Hebrews 5:8 – verse 7 proves that he
suffering of the cross is meant) we need to do it through worse for we are
sinful unlike him. And Jesus had suffered severely before he even went to
Jerusalem where he was arrested and that was not enough. It did not even get God
to go easy on him when he was sentenced to death because God let it happen. God
needs people to suffer more than they can bear all the time. Their argument is
valid.
Also today, the Roman cult, Opus Dei, orders its members to whip themselves to
become holy.
