Sacrifice

A rich man lived upon a tall hill in a mansion and he was served by a devoted servant boy. One day, while sitting before a feast at his table, the man felt generous (or pity perhaps) and gave the skinny boy four delicious warm buns to enjoy. The boy thanked the man profusely in an effusive, over-the-top fashion, then threw one of the rolls on the ground, picked it up and crushed it, and then poured goats blood on it and offered it back to the man. "Why on earth did you do that" asked the shocked and perplexed rich man. "Because I wanted to prove to you how devoted I am to you by showing that I'm willing to suffer deprivation in your name". "What", asked the fellow again. "I'm showing that I'm willing to suffer deprivation to prove how devoted I am", said the boy. At which the man replied, "what kind of master takes pleasure in his servants suffering?"


This is an obvious metaphor for religious sacrifice, where some 'god' is supposed to have given us worldly bounty as a gift, and we in turn destroy part of it in a "sacrifice" as a means of giving it back and showing that we're willing to suffer for our beliefs. Now, the rich man can respond in one of two ways. He could enjoy the boy's suffering, and even carry this pathogenic mindset even further by instilling fear and guilt in the boy and convincing him that his suffering will "cleanse" his soul, OR he could be a decent person and see that this boy gets help.

The 'god' of the bible resembles the former option, not the latter. What this relationship takes the form of is obvious. It's sadomasochistic.

Now, lest you think I've got this all wrong, consider Church history and dogma regarding the "mortification of the flesh", the idea that virginity is "pure", and that the "Passion of the Christ" to some extent, helped pay for sins. It payed a "ransom" as Matthew put it. In fact, it seems that 'god' cannot forgive sins without the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22), and consider that Jesus is offered as an innocent virgin sacrifice to make 'god' happy, much like Jephthah's virgin daughter offered up as a human sacrifice to YHWH in Judges 11, which is remembered and honored even still, as the chapter tells us in it's closing verses.


Christianity often teaches that suffering is "good for the soul" as part of it's reoccurring dogmas.
Indeed. Jesus himself sacrificed of himself to the point of destruction, all the while telling us that this is the moral ideal, and that the fellow who planned this (his father) is morally right by insisting that Jesus be destroyed before he ('god') can manage to forgive other people for not being impossibly perfect. What greater example of martyrdom and masochism is there?


http://www.religious-vocation.com/redemptive_suffering.html

[[Saint Gemma Galgani, letters Jesus spoke these words; "My child, I have need of victims, and strong victims, who by their sufferings, tribulations, and difficulties, make amends for sinners and for their ingratitude."]]


[[Saint Faustina Kowalska, diary, January 1934, .279"And the Lord said to me; 'My child, You please Me most by suffering. In your physical as well as your mental sufferings, My daughter, do not seek sympathy from creatures. I want the fragrance of your suffering to be pure and unadulterated. I want you to detach yourself, not only from creatures, but also from yourself. My daughter, I want to delight in the love of your heart, a pure love, virginal, unblemished, untarnished. The more you will come to love suffering, My daughter, the purer your love for Me will be'."]]