http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17978154/

Quote :

"SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines - Seven devotees were nailed to crosses on Good Friday in a northern Philippine village where the rites drew thousands of tourists and spectators. The Lenten ritual is opposed by religious leaders in the Philippines — Southeast Asia’s largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation. But it has persisted to become one of the country’s most-awaited summer attractions in San Fernando City’s San Pedro Cutud village. The devotees’ palms and feet were attached to wooden crosses with 4-inch nails soaked in alcohol to prevent infection after a nearly mile-long walk to the mound, each carrying a wooden cross on their backs. Story continues below ?advertisement Among the yearly penitents in San Pedro Cutud was Ruben Enaje, a 46-year-old commercial sign maker who was nailed to the cross for the 21st time on Friday. ‘They take this religion to the extreme’ Earlier in the day in the same village, dozens of half-naked men hit their bloodied backs with bamboo sticks dangling from a rope in a flagellation rite meant to atone for sins. IMAGE: Re-enacting the crucifixion Joel Nito / AFP - Getty Images Ruben Enaje grimaces Friday as he is lifted onto a cross in San Pedro Cutud village, the Philippines, in an annual Good Friday ritual. More than 100 foreign tourists flocked to this year’s Good Friday rites, with many of them seated on a stage at the side of the mound. “They take this religion to the extreme,” observed Gomas de Miguel, a tourist from Spain. “In Spain, we say we are Catholics but we don’t do this anymore I think.” “It’s not my belief, but I know that they are sincere in what they are doing so I respect it,” said American tourist Dennis Smith."

fucking idiots

4/6/2007 10:28:09 PM

4/6/2007 10:33:08 PM

wow

all i can say is at least they didnt take their perhaps overly religious actions to a state where they hurt others

but still...wow

4/6/2007 10:34:55 PM

i can't tell if they are stupid and did this because they are religious or just because they are filipino

4/6/2007 10:39:44 PM

the nails don't go through bone, right?

OUCH!

4/6/2007 10:41:53 PM

they do that shit every year. they are all up on national geographic every once in a while

4/6/2007 10:43:28 PM

I do this shit all the time! Whooooo!

4/6/2007 11:04:24 PM

Filipinos are stupid

4/6/2007 11:28:37 PM

Was this some part of a vacation package?

"Experience the Crucifixion from a Whole New Angle!"

4/7/2007 10:45:25 AM

[old]

4/7/2007 11:47:44 AM

Aren't they cheating in those pics? Like, I thought Jebus got a nail through his feet as well. Those guys have something to stand on.

And wouldn't getting a nail through your hands fuck up the nerves and tendons that control your fingers? Doesn't matter, I think these people are morons for doing this shit.

4/7/2007 12:20:16 PM

^ that's what i was thinking (about hands getting fucked up), but some of these idiots do it every year.

and it has become a tourist spectacle now, with tour operators offering special packages to go see this, and other signs of commericalism, such as LIMP BIZKIT blaring in the background (no not live, just his music) if these people were really doing it out of devotion, they wouldn't make such a bog show of it, let alone even being photographed.

4/7/2007 12:32:32 PM

Quote :

"“It’s not my belief, but I know that they are sincere in what they are doing so I respect it,”"

4/7/2007 12:44:15 PM

lol @ hispanic asians

4/7/2007 1:15:37 PM

i'd rather have them crucify themselves then run into a coffee shop and blow themselves up

4/7/2007 1:26:48 PM

performance art

4/7/2007 1:34:48 PM

they're standing on ledges....what abunch of pussys.

4/7/2007 1:52:58 PM

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"

4/7/2007 8:51:03 PM

4/8/2007 3:54:14 AM

Quote :

"Aren't they cheating in those pics? Like, I thought Jebus got a nail through his feet as well. Those guys have something to stand on."

Yeah but that's what kills you, you will suffocate if you don't have something to stand on.

They don't actually want to die.

4/8/2007 4:50:23 AM

If they were reallyhard core they'd break their legs and spear them in the abdomen.

4/9/2007 10:47:08 AM

weak sauce.

4/9/2007 10:52:06 AM

^^ Jesus didn't have his legs broken.

4/9/2007 3:01:26 PM

^oh my mistake, thats right. I mixed that up with the usual cruxifiction that the Romans practiced

4/9/2007 3:25:21 PM

Quote :

"...that's what kills you, you will suffocate if you don't have something to stand on."

Why is that? Does hanging by your arms restrict the diaphragm somehow?

4/9/2007 3:39:49 PM

it does

4/9/2007 5:18:44 PM

^^^ Yeah, that was standard practice. Without their legs to prop themselves up they would die quicker, they were going to do it to Jesus but he was already dead so they didn't. Just pointing it out for those who might not know.

4/9/2007 6:08:19 PM

They do this every single damn year. I don't know why this is news.

4/9/2007 6:35:57 PM