Odd bloke

[brionon]

Look at this strange man !
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38958

[Gromit]

He is not so odd. There are a couple of very large buildings near to where I live, with a few equally devout elderly gentleman. They are best left alone, but if one does accost you and proclaim "Jesus Loves You" you are entitled to knee them in the nuts.

[brionon]

Gee thanks,mate.

[Louisa 69]

I remember reading a story about some Japenese soldiers that were found deep in the jungle 20 or 30 years after the second world war had ended. They honestly believed that the war was still being fought and were scared to go back for fear of what might happen to them.

[Louisa 69]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/ 4585287.stm

Heres the link

[Clanad]

I hope you haven't been entirely taken in by this or other articles in The Onion. This is a satirical newspaper begun by two University of Wisconsin students that enjoys tweaking its readers noses, so to speak. Its style of writing appears to be straight forward and serious (although, any perusal of it varied and sometimes bizarro articles should raise suspicion) leads many readers to buy into the well planned parodies... the article cited is just one of those...

[brionon]

Clanad, Don't worry it would take an idiot to be unaware of the nature of the Onion-But this is a valid point put in a humorous way. They DO think that they eat the flesh of their god-quite a pagan idea.

[Octavius]

I don�t get what is so �odd� about it. Admittedly it is not for everyone, but a vow of celibacy is an individual lifestyle choice like many others. It is what Roman Catholic Priests and nuns do (or don�t do if you prefer).

[brionon]

Octavius -To be Celibate and advise people on matters of Sex ? Not Odd ? To have no children and want to be called Father ? Not Odd ? To eat your God's Flesh ? Not Odd ? What is then ?

[Whickerman]

Not that odd in fact. In the history of religion celibacy was a common trait in religious orders. In fact, the Greek Goddess Cybele had a priesthood that used to castrate themselves. So did the Goddess Atagartis from ancient Syria.

As for eating the God, the biblical tale is that: "The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." Catholic theology believes that this literally occurs every time the Eucharist is celebrated. Is that odd? A lot of middle eastern religions believed this occurred too, so it's no real surprise to see it happen in a Jewish offshoot.

In fact, it's a common thread in British and Irish Celtic beliefs, whereby the harvest is seen as literally the body of the gods of the earth. (It's called Theophagy btw)