Cheap Christs

[Peter Dexter]

 

[Asher Kelman]

Peter,

I am moved by what many would see as a trivial scene. It’s both humorous and tells a bigger, deeper stories fully of wonder, ideas of salvation, generosity, forgiveness and hope. But that is only part of the story of Christ in this great continent!

Christ certainly has staying power! A lot of folk would die in his name. Belief can be truly amazing. It provides a uniform set of values of treating one another.

It lead to colonization of South America, 8,000,000 deaths and over 100 cultures extinguished and indigenous folk now dedicated to Mary the Mother of Christ.

Each year representatives of the Vatican, (expert judges of miracles), certify images of the Virgin Mary and associated miracles, so that shrines can be ecclesiastically recognized for healing the sick!

Either they are fortunate to speak Spanish or Portuguese and get saved from ignorance or else they are duped and deprived of their heritages: a matter of perspective!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Faith can be amazing! Often faith is wonderful leading to kindness and public service. The consequences can also be dark and extreme!

A relative’s co-worker, a die hard Trump supporter, just 28, so distraught at Biden’s electoral lead, that he turned in grief from the News on TV, put a gun to his mouth and blew his skull apart!

A lot of the folk storming the Capital also actually sincerely believed the mythology created by Trump and his enablers!
One can buy Trump hats, shirts, flags and so much more! Do you think there will be such Trump trinkets for sale in even 10 years time or he’ll be forgotten!

Are beliefs in hero’s just variants of expression of a wonderful power or merely the infectiousness of delusions?

Jesus has lasted in power for about 2,000 years. That’s a pretty hard record to beat!

Asher

 

[Peter Dexter]

But Asher 2000 years is but a mere blink in the history of Homo sapiens and its religeous beliefs.The religion of the Australian aboriginies is so many, many thousands of years older. If only we knew what beliefs other Homo species like H. neanderthalensis held. And why did you crop my image for a repost? Did you think viewers would miss the jist?

 

[Peter Dexter]

But Asher 2000 years is but a blink in the history of Homo sapiens.If only we knew what beliefs other Homo species like H. neandertalis held.

 

[Asher Kelman]

But Asher 2000 years is but a mere blink in the history of Homo sapiens and its religeous beliefs.The religion of the Australian aboriginies is so many, many thousands of years older. If only we knew what beliefs other Homo species like H. neanderthalensis held. And why did you crop my image for a repost? Did you think viewers would miss the jist?

Sorry Peter.

I removed the cut out! Not done for art or composition at all!!

I just wanted to discover the details of what was for sale. Hope you don’t mind. I am not familiar with them all. I saw Crucifixes but not many and are the other pieces Rosaries?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

It does appear that many hundreds of years before the Pharaoh’s folk in Egypt had ceremonies related to the dead.

The same with Neanderthals!

In ancient Israel they were plastering skulls in the Neolithic era.

Looks like we are stuck in such beliefs. Take Moses for example: there’s zero historical evidence that he ever existed! There’s zero historical evidence that my people were ever slaves in Egypt. However each is considered fact by billions of Jews, Christians and Muslims!

it doesn’t take away from noble teaching of sages and prophets. But we do need to educate ourselves better to use logic!

Asher

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

I`m not in the mood for a big religious debate. Instead, I find this picture a great testimony of how everything, especially beliefs-related, is for sale. And as a picture I like it.

 

[Jerome Marot]

It does appear that many hundreds of years before the Pharaoh’s folk in Egypt had ceremonies related to the dead.

I remember I posted and example which predates the pyramids in that thread: https://openphotographyforums.com/forums/threads/a-comparatively-young-house.22323/

But we don't really know the rites from the neolithic, even when the neolithic is as recent as it is in Australia. We found artefacts with human bones within. That much is certain. We also know that there were many more dead people which we did not find. We don't know what happened to these, although it would probably be necessary to find out to understand what relation the neolithic people had with death. I mean: if they buried 10 people and let all the other rot away in pile, that is not the organised graveyard we like to entertain in our idea of the neolithic.

Likewise, we have no idea about the religions of the time. Even with the people still living in the neolithic today, this proves difficult. It is not because they use stone tools, that they are stupid. When the ethnologists come with presents and ask questions, these folks are quick to observe that "white man comes and gives valuables for stories, let us tell them really good ones".

 

[Asher Kelman]

I remember I posted and example which predates the pyramids in that thread: https://openphotographyforums.com/forums/threads/a-comparatively-young-house.22323/

But we don't really know the rites from the neolithic, even when the neolithic is as recent as it is in Australia. We found artefacts with human bones within. That much is certain. We also know that there were many more dead people which we did not find. We don't know what happened to these, although it would probably be necessary to find out to understand what relation the neolithic people had with death. I mean: if they buried 10 people and let all the other rot away in pile, that is not the organised graveyard we like to entertain in our idea of the neolithic.

Likewise, we have no idea about the religions of the time. Even with the people still living in the neolithic today, this proves difficult. It is not because they use stone tools, that they are stupid. When the ethnologists come with presents and ask questions, these folks are quick to observe that "white man comes and gives valuables for stories, let us tell them really good ones".

For the isolated Stonehenge’s we find there are at times intermediate people’s who have traded with the isolated culture and might have knowledge.

But, to the past Neolithic, we can observe what arrangements are made for the dead. With the Egyptians, we have murals with many texts and prayers to read. With extensive excavations, from earlier times in the Levant, we find unique physical intentional patterns, carvings, votives and other objects in graves which allow us to start to make guesses as to what seemed important in belief systems.

Our first observations and descriptions are our prior facts. Each step in deduction or translation even of a symbol we think we recognize is fraught with uncertainty as to context, direct meaning or metaphor or just used as a sound or descriptor like an adjective.

Still it’s possible to glean knowledge as we have a lot of solid evidence over at least 3 millennia of what religion itself might be.

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

I`m not in the mood for a big religious debate. Instead, I find this picture a great testimony of how everything, especially beliefs-related, is for sale. And as a picture I like it.

Jarmo,

if the symbol leads to good behavior towards each other, and that’s what we need, I am all for these symbols. They should be inexpensive!

I just hope they spread good ideas. The sages in the Bible had a lot of worthy guidance. I would love to know whether folk get guidance from symbols are just identity and pride?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

But I see some Christians question wearing such images!

That surprised me!

I hadn’t realized Calvin was against it.

My view is to respect everyone’s holy personal and harmless symbols. That’s civilized!

As to selling cheap Christs, really why not. Gives folk another small source of income and they are not breaking any laws or copyright in the process. As long as symbols advocate personal faith, beliefs and values, and don’t pressure or disadvantage others, there are no practical negatives.

In the USA, there are strong restrictions for religious symbols. Here, such private devotional symbols belong to free people to choose to display, but never the State.

Asher

 

[Peter Dexter]

Asher actually I'm not familiar with the other adornments but I'm sure there were rosaries available.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Asher actually I'm not familiar with the other adornments but I'm sure there were rosaries available.

It’s surprising they can scrape a living with such a simple inexpensive merchandise! I just hope this helps folk lead a better life and treasure others!
Asher