Hey everyone!
I'm Gotham Chopra and this is Holy Facts,
the show where we take you on a tour of the
weirder side of religion and spirituality,
from peyote ceremonies to sacred cats.
On this episode we’re diving back into our
most popular and gruesome topic from season
one and taking another look at how far some
people are willing to go to show they’ve
got the spirit.
These folks see your devotion and raise you
a million percent.
Take, for example, the Catholic devotees in
Pampanga, a province in the Philippines.
Every year volunteers gather on Good Friday
to recreate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t your typical reenactment
where grown-ups run around in costume and
play make-believe for a few hours.
These folks go all the way, driving real nails
through their real hands and feet before being
hung up on real crosses where they stay for
several real minutes.
I guess they missed the message about Jesus
dying on the cross so the rest of us didn’t
have to.
Other Good Friday celebrants walk the streets
wearing black hoods and beating their own
backs with whips.
Participants don’t take painkillers, probably
because that would ruin all the fun of beating
yourself until you bleed.
If that’s not hardcore enough for you, at
the Grishneshwar Temple in India, both Hindus
and Muslims participate in a 700-year-old
ceremony where babies are thrown from atop
a tower.
After falling some 50 feet, the babies are
caught in blankets by men waiting below.
The practice is believed to make the babies
healthier and happier.
Because if there’s one thing that makes
babies happy and healthy, it’s … sleeping!
Sleeping was the right answer.
Though baby-tossing was banned in 2011, it
made a comeback in 2012 and participants argue
that it’s their religious duty to attend
the ceremonies.
And Indians aren’t the only ones who use
babies to prove their devotion.
American members of the “Quiverfull” movement,
like the Bates Family of Tennessee, believe
children are a blessing from God, and having
dozens of children means dozens of blessings.
The Bates’s sectional sofa, however, disagrees
and kindly suggests it’s had enough and
can handle no more children.
These requests have been ignored, and most
other ardent members of the movement believe
in forgoing all types of birth control and
leaving their family planning in God’s hands,
as if He didn’t have enough to worry about.
But in other parts of the world, devotion
doesn’t mean acquiring more possessions
or more children, it means giving up absolutely
everything, down to your socks and skivvies.
Monks in the Jainist sect of Digambara go
totally nude 24/7 to prove that they’re
so devoted to a higher calling, they don’t
care if they’re cold or wet or shocking
the neighbors.
The monks’ only possessions are a water
gourd and a peacock feather broom.
We’re not sure what the feather broom is
for, but my guess is tickle fights.
Although it’s extreme, it’s probably nice
in the summer months in India to only have
to worry about sweating through your prayer
beads.
Does the intensity of the ritual really correlate
to the intensity of faith?
And why are some people driven to such extreme
measures to show they’re devoted?
Seriously, I need to understand this.
Please comment and educate, or upload a response
video and let me know what you think.
