Trail of Blood is an article of faith in Baptist (and Brethren and Church of Christ) theology which claims to trace spiritual authority from early church leadership. In Christianity, like other religions, it’s all about authority, who has it and who does not. The allusion is to the trail of blood supposedly left by Christ during his walk to crucifixion, following scourging and while wearing a crown of thorns. It is held to be emblematic of the need to espouse one’s belief by public demonstration, even in the face of oppression and under threat of death, as proof of the validity of one’s faith.

Don’t look for common sense or rationality here; remember that the principle tenet of Christianity is forgiveness of sins through the ritual consumption of their god’s flesh and blood. Talk about creepy.

I'm picturing Scarborough stooping down to lick up the droplets with his forked tongue.

But thanks for the info (shudder).

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

because, seriously, ritualized cannibalism is the heart of every form of "christianity" there is.

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!-- Xan

Communion, the ritual cannibalism, is one thing.

This "blood trail" deal I think is not only an entirely different matter but one which I suspect most of us share. The notion of not just being willing to suffer for the advancement of causes in which we believe, but taking pride in physical evidence of such suffering, i.e. scars, is hardly confined to some oddball branch of Christianity.

In fact these guys sound more like they'd been watching too much CSI (heh, you thought I was gonna say "Lawn Order" dincha?) or DaVinci's Inquest, where they're always whipping out the little blacklight or whatever it is to find spatters and footprints that the villain thinks he/she has gotten cleaned out of the carpet.

Bringiton will correct me if necessary; the flavor of Xianity I grew up in did not have the requisite suffering fondness to be acquainted with this phrase. :)

still practice their ritual self-mortification all through the mountains of northern New Mexico. Their moradas have not fallen into disrepair as they might had the practices occurring in them been foresworn. I think the say the Mass in spanish, though i dunno fersher. Scarification is a mark of piety.
In this culture, interestingly, also, one finds that genre of sexual orientation known as MWHSWM: Men Who Have Sex With Men, as distinct from homophilia, per se; or so they say.
30 miles north of Santa fe--10 miles outside of Espanola in ANY direction, STILL, today--you have regressed a century and a half in sophistication, or even much accomodation with modernity. Cell phones don't work well in the mountains. But milagros? Como NO?

Wonder if it's something to do with the mountains, or the poverty, or the combination?

You know that joke about "you might be a redneck, if you've been divorced twice and still have the same in-laws?"
In the Ozarks, it's no joke.

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!-- Xan

Perhaps on this topic I could be considered a guide, so much more ennobling.

There is a difference as you say, but not a clean one. First some terminology and in theology, Christian or otherwise, there is enough to choke a horse.

“Communion” is a term that can apply to many aspects of Christian behavior, not just the cannibalistic sacrament – that is more appropriately called The Eucharist, and it is group participation in The Eucharist that is a Communion. (This is a Wikipedia link, yes, CD will chastise but this is one entry I’ve read through and it’s reasonably complete and fair. The alternative is a whole big bunch of links without synthesis that no one will read. Beat me as a lazy bastard if you must.)

The common concept in both Eucharistic Communion and the Trail of Blood concept is in the blood and it’s symbolism of both sacrifice and the sanctification of the believer by consumption, contact with or emulation of the divine. The idea of strengthening ones self by consuming the spirit of another, whether an enemy or a relative or a god or a slain animal, is as old as humanity and not possible to sort out in origin from other primitive beliefs in magic.

To me, the ritual profession of belief as embodied in the Trail of Blood is quite different from the simple openness of allowing one’s experiential scars to be seen, or relating how they were acquired. The authoritarian theological purpose is to establish dominance over others, to force unquestioning belief and submission. In distinction, I can express testimony in my sacrifices for equality and freedom without demanding that all others bow down in submission to my authority on the subject. I will argue my points tenaciously, but I will also freely allow that no one else must agree or else forfeit their eternal soul. Counting coup is not the same as flagellation.

Xan, if you were raised in a gentler form of Christianity consider yourself blessed. The dark forms leave scars of their own, not always visible but still persistently disabling.

Just Sayin'

I think what he meant about Thompson was that at first blush it appears he hasn't actually killed any interns in his office that he was having an affair with. This makes him good to go for the presidency.

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

(or, as we say, les autres) he was talking about, and not his own.

Because, with these guys, it so often is. Eh?

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

and when I was 9 or 10 years old, I helped lash a used railroad tie to a second-hand telephone pole in Sunday school class on Palm Sunday, with no idea that the preacher's kid brother was going to "portray the Christ" over the following weekend.

They tied his feet with leather thongs, drove nails through the thongs between his ankles, set railroad spikes under his armpits, and tied his wrists out to the railroad tie, spread-eagle.

They explained that this was the "humane" way to do it -- if they'd made him bear his weight on his wrists, he'd suffocate. Hung him up there Friday right before sundown, left him until "sunrise service" Sunday morning.

He had on a pair of brown cutoffs. No food. No drink. No bathroom break. No blanket. In late March. I guess the fact he didn't die of exposure, or pneumonia, is a manifestation of God's grace on earth.

There are still sets of three crosses on hills overlooking some of the highways up in those mountains. Either Palm Sunday weekend or Easter weekend, you'll see those "passion plays" going on.

Thompson might be (shudder) too "moderate" on Iraq/Iran. They want somebody who will "rain down fire on the earth" and bring them Armageddon, so they can have their Rapture.

And you cannot convince a one of them that the Rapture isn't in the Bible.

Is Gucci Fred rapture ready? Somehow, I doubt it.

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

To the Dominionists, settling for anything short of total theocracy is heresy. That means, of course, genocide for the unbelievers. They will unleash global nuclear fire to get their Kingdom of Heaven.

This presents all kinds of problems for the Company. The corporatista elite realize the need for consumers, who not only buy the products, but also provide the labor and the amusement for the Aristocrats. They really do not understand that there are Dominionists not in it primarily for the gold or the power, but for the glory of their God.

Of course, the God of the Dominion might as well be one of the Old Ones of Lovecraft for the things the Faithful would inflict on humanity in His name.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky

but I don't know if anybody ever died, for sure. Yeah, there were rumors it had happened.

Though, given that it's the Ozarks...

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

Brother Rick is speaking metaphorically regarding the shedding of blood, it doesn't have to be literal as long as the one professing faith suffers in some way as a consequence; public approbation, loss of a job - ridicule from Satanist lefty bloggers will probably do in a pinch. The real message being delivered here is that Fred needs to get right with God, The Baptist One, more clearly than he has and strongly enough that he suffers for it in some way.

Perhaps also the good Pastor likes seeing his name in print; helps with the recruitment effort, saving souls is a tough business, every edge helps.

It’s a wonder these folk aren’t mocked more often.

I think you're authoring offline, in Word perhaps, and the software is "helping" you by converting straight quotes in your links to curly quotes, which HTML doesn't understand, hence your links break.

In fact, this site converts straight quotes to curly quotes itself, so you don't need a word processor to do that.

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

Trail of Blood is an article of faith in Baptist (and Brethren and Church of Christ) theology which claims to trace spiritual authority from early church leadership.
And these are the folks who (for the most part) will not let women lead churches as primary pastor? Harrumph. Metaphorical trail of blood, OK. Literal, monthly trail of blood--not OK.

So many details, so few neurons.

any value in a lowly female, don't you?

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

God says STFU. What part of that is unclear?