I Don't Think Jesus Meant This When He Said "I Have Given You an Example...."

This story was on Drudge over the weekend, and it might just be my pick for the bizarrest story ever told: a British journalist spent Good Friday in the Philippines, seeking to crash the local ritual (pictured at right) and be crucified. Literally.

Not to be outdone, he had a camera crew.

No, "bizarrest" is not a word. And, yes, this world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Anyways, the guy's saying that God told him not to go through with it. And it will all make for absolutely captivating television, even if it isn't necessarily in sync with what Jesus meant when he said "take up your cross."

From The Times:

Dominik Diamond broke down and wept after watching nine Filipinos take their turn to be whipped and nailed on crosses and realising that his turn was next. “God wanted me only to pray at the foot of my cross,” he sobbed, sinking to his knees and praying as local people and tourists started to boo.

You couldn't make this up if you wanted to.

Five, the television channel, denied it was disappointed that Diamond, a radio and TV presenter and outspoken Daily Star columnist, had decided against being crucified. No date has been set for the broadcast of the programme. If shown, it may have to change its original working title, Crucify Me....

Repeat: you couldn't make this up if you wanted to.

Negotiations had taken place to bestow on Diamond the privilege of becoming only the second Westerner to take part in the event, known as Karabrio. The ceremony is held in the village of Cutud, 50 miles (80km) north of Manila. Men dress in white robes and flagellate themselves with glass-tipped paddles and bamboo whips, in penitence for their sins.

Diamond, who said that he had had a crisis in his faith, decided to go on a pilgrimage taking in the Vatican and a Jesuit retreat in Italy, and culminating in the crucifixion to restore his faith in God. Despite his failure to go through with the exploit, producers insist that the documentary would still be aired.

After pulling out of the challenge, Diamond said: “At no point was it ever conveyed that I would definitely be crucified. At all times in this journey I have been guided by my God in ways I could never have predicted. Having experienced the humility of bearing my own cross through the streets, I felt my God wanted me only to pray at the foot of my cross.”

If it brought Diamond closer to God, I guess all's well that ends well.... File this one under "God draws straight with crooked lines."


PHOTO: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

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