Blog Post 8: Religious Self Harming

Religion? Self Harming? You are probably wondering what's the connection between self harming and religion. I was too, until I have researched about it. Religious Self Harming or as they like to call it Self Flagellation is an act of hurting one's self as a form religious ritual. Many of us recognize self flagellation (in Philippine History) as the "Penitensya" or Penitence often done during the Lenten Season to commemorate such christian values and history of faith and sacrifice. Let us take an overview to Religious Self Harming.



According to this article entitled No pain, No gain: A brief look at religious self flagellation by Mark Griffiths, Religious Self Flagellation is a voluntary mortification of one's self and offering the pain or discomfort to God. It has been endorsed by the Popes as a way of following Christ, who suffered and died in a bloody crucifixion. It is done for symbolic purposes during penitential processions to remind devout believers that Jesus Christ was whipped before he was crucified. Some even engage in "Passion Plays" where people reenact the painful scenes and practices of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  The purpose of penitence according to the Brotherhood of Canindenziho is to Purify their soul and redeem them on unholy acts , such as women and alcohol, as a step closer to God, and Thank God for granting them graces they previously petitioned. Usually, the procedure of self flagellation goes like this: the selected penitents take their shirts off at once and hit their backs with razor blades attached to the end of string relentlessly for  an excruciating 20 minutes. Children from age 10 and up can also participate in the ritual. However, women on the contrary cannot because they are already believed to be 'sufferers'. After the self flagellation, the penitents put their shirts back on as if nothing had happened and go home to cleanse their wounds.  

Mr. Griffiths' latter words on the article was, "During my research for this article, I came across numerous academic papers that noted religious and cultural factors may influence self-harm but none of these papers indicated how prevalent religious self-harm was (but I am assuming it was rare given the lack of statistics). Given that we know little about the incidence or prevalence of such behaviour, this is certainly an area worthy of further academic research." I agree on this statement he wrote. I personally think that self flagellation or religious self harming, though done with religious beliefs and virtue is not right. The price have been paid. Jesus Christ himself suffered on the cross for his believers not to. I think it is a form of blasphemy to God when they hurt them self because he personally gave his son's life for the humanity not to suffer and yet they are doing it to themselves again.

Furthermore, I have read this article by Kieran Mccartan entitled Why do some Catholics self-flagellate?. It says here that Self Flagellation is a widespread symbolic practice in some parts of the Catholic Ministry up to the 1960's but is uncommon today. But in some countries like the Philippines, it is called the Passion Play wherein as I said, in my previous article is a public reenactment of the suffering of Jesus Christ. For others, it is a more private expression of faith. It is thought to have come to prominence in Western Europe around 600-800 AD as an extreme version of bodily penance according to a catholic theologian at Durham University.Early Christians believed that in doing self flagellation, they can control their emotions in order to fully worship God. 

Its also says here that, the late Pope John Paul II did also self-flagellate according to his nun who helped to look after him at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome. However, the revelation didn't surprise the catholic scholars for the pope is a firm believer of the New Testament tradition of suffering.

I would like to quote what Mr. Mccartan have written about as to why self flagellation seems to have disappeared, "Early Christians thought the body was evil and needed to be controlled. Quite simply, we now have a greater understanding that such practices are not healthy." I cannot agree more to this statement. I have no intention to break or disagree on anyone's religious belief or virtue but in my opinion no one should feel that they should carry the burden of being a sinner and need to be punished because the son of God already paid for that price.