S. Korean man found crucified, wearing crown of thorns

[moobu2]

SEOUL, South Korea — The body of a man with his hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross and a crown of thorns on his head has been found in an abandoned stone quarry, South Korean police said Wednesday.
A man wearing only underwear, with a wound on the side of his torso and nylon strings tied around his neck, arms and stomach, was found crucified Sunday in Mungyong, about 115 miles southeast of Seoul, said Chung Ji-chun, chief of the violent crime section at Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.

Two smaller crosses were erected on each side of the cross he was nailed to, Chung said.
Police also found nails, a hammer, an electric drill, pieces of wood and instructions on how to build crosses inside a tent near the scene, Chung said. An SUV belonging to the dead man was found nearby.

Extreme religious views

Police are waiting for a forensic report to determine the exact time and cause of the man's death and whether it was a homicide or suicide.
Chung identified the man as a 58-year old surnamed Kim. Popular representations of the death of Jesus Christ depict him crucified between the crosses of two thieves, wearing a crown of thorns, a white cloth over his loins, with a wound on his side from a Roman soldier's spear.
The AFP news agency reported Kim, a taxi driver, was said by neighbors to have had extreme religious views.
It said a mirror was found at the scene, placed so Kim could see himself on the crucifix.

LiNK

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. If it was a suicide, it would have required some help.

[Silent3]

7. Very, very assisted suicide.

Not that it applies to the case in the OP, but perhaps with an appropriate system of pulleys and winches and a well-programmed advanced industrial robot you could manage self crucifixion all by yourself.

Fortunately I think I'm a long way from getting bored enough to try to figure out all of the details for that.

[frebrd]

2. What would the human race be without religion?

Considerably more evolved, I believe!

[Blue Owl]

4. No shit

n/t

[moobu2]

3. Resurrected in 3 days? nahh n/t

[Iggo]

5. .

:rofl:

[RC]

6. Suicide? And he nailed his own hands and feet to the cross?

It's truly a miracle.

[struggle4progress]

8. This shows some signs of being an invented filler story: Kim is a very common surname,

so it's a safe invention, without first name. The Western press versions contain a lot more detail than the Yonhap version: a mirror placed so "Kim" could see himself, tent-making instructions found on the ground nearby, and so on. A nameless pastor and nameless neighbors are quoted as saying "Kim" was a religious extremist. There's a photo on several sites, which I would guess is photoshopped: the cross looks too nice, for example

[LAGC]

9. Thanks for your input.

It did strike me as a little bit too contrived to it to be for real...

Of course, "miracles" do happen right?

[moobu2]

10. CNN reported that South Korean police confirmed the story.

MSNBC, CNN, YAHOO NEWS, UPI, THE GUARDIAN, THE MIAMI HEROLD, and on and on and on reported on the story, so I guess they were all duped huh? And you were the only person to figure out that the story was an "invented filler story" lol. You dont have any real reason to think this story was invented, you just wish it was, OR, you just wish to cast doubt on it any way you think you can. At the same time you insinuate this story is false, you would come up with the most ridiculous arguments to defend the absurd and fantastical make believe stories in the Christian Bible. All this is is just another story about a crazy religious nut doing something crazy, nothing new about that because it happens EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK unfortunately!! At least THIS TIME the only person that got hurt was the insane person himself.

"CNN) - A South Korean man was found crucified, local police told CNN on Thursday.

Police in Munkyuong said they were overwhelmed with the investigation and declined to provide further details."

CNN

[trotsky]

11. Meh, that's just his SOP whenever any article showing religious nuttery is posted.

I wouldn't worry too much.

[struggle4progress]

13. If you think it's a real story, and important, follow it for a few weeks and get back to us

with a careful factual account of what really happened

I expect that nothing much more will be clarified, and we won't hear much more about it

[trotsky]

15. I don't see why it wouldn't be a real story.

Plenty of accounts of mock/real crucifictions done by Christians who just want to be more like their perfect savior.

I too suspect we probably won't hear much more about it, because of the very reason I just gave. It's really not that unusual. I have no idea why reports of disturbing religious behavior bother you so much that you have to jump in and try to cast doubt every single time.

[struggle4progress]

19. Because it's really hard to commit suicide this way, because it's very tricky to nail your

second hand down after you've nailed the first one down, and very tricky to drill holes in both your hands since after you fugg up one hand drilling through it you then have no good way to hold the drill while drilling through the second hand?

I find other problems, but I think I'll await your further research before disclosing them

[trotsky]

20. Umm

"Police had not ruled out murder or whether other people had helped Kim to kill himself, AFP said."

Helps if you read.

[struggle4progress]

21. Conflicting reports should make you suspicious. Let us know when you've sorted it out:

... The body of a man with his hands and feet nailed to a .. cross .. has been found in an abandoned stone quarry ... http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hg4MyBh6B_SclzXkFd4IYmU5teeg?docId=6750022

... A South Korean man .. crucified himself ... http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/04/S-Korean-man-crucifies-himself/UPI-23241304543741/

... He put nails into the cross first, then drilled holes in his hands and hung himself on the cross ...
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/05/south-korean-man-found-crucified-police-say/

... An autopsy showed that he used an electric drill ... http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/05/south-korean-man-crucified-cross/#ixzz1LbrPxaiz

[darkstar3]

22. Your excerpts don't show any conflicts that I can see.

[struggle4progress]

23. Hmm. Yes, well, look: Trotsky just suggested this was a murder case. Ok, but there

are plenty of reports claiming suicide, as I've just indicated

Best of luck sorting out the reports to obtain a coherent story!

[darkstar3]

24. Actually, there are no reports that I've seen claiming murder,

only that murder hasn't been ruled out as a possibility.

It's that thing called detective work that's getting in the way of summarily calling it suicide, which I'd think you'd understand if you actually gave a damn about obtaining a coherent story, that in itself being detective work and all.

You just overplayed your hand.

[struggle4progress]

12. I've posted my general ideas about when to suspect a bogus story any number of times

The story should be lurid; and key details should be vague; checking it should be difficult; versions of the story should vary widely in later versions; and the US press will especially like the story if it concerns weird foreigners

"local police told CNN" -- Exactly who told exactly who what?
"Police .. said they were overwhelmed .. and declined to provide .. details" -- So where are the details coming from?
"He put nails into the cross first, then drilled holes in his hands and hung himself on the cross" -- Amazing! After drilling a big hole in one hand, I would expect he had considerable difficulty holding a drill well enough to drill a hole in the other hand
"reports said ... reports said" -- "Reports" are my favorite source!
"local media ... did not name the victim" -- Wait a minute! We're backtracking. The AP report (as published, say, in the Miami Herald) says "a 58-year old surnamed Kim"

Yesterday, the only reference I found to a tent was something about tent-making instructions found near a hammer and drill; today, this has morphed into cross-making instructions found in a tent that he was living in. But wait! I'm confused again! Some reports claim unnamed neighbors consider him as a fanatic -- so is there a whole tent city there in the abandoned quarry?

[moobu2]

14. This is actually not that unusual at all, matter of fact

People get nailed to a cross in gruesome Jesus crucifixion reenactments every year in the Philippines around Good Friday. Those reenactments are very very similar to this one beside the ones in the Philippines having someone on standby to give medical treatment. The only aspect of this story that was news worthy was the mystery about what exactly happened (did he do this to himself?, did someone else do this to him?, was this a group?, did someone else just assist? etc...) otherwise its just like the Christian Jesus crucifixion reenactments that occur every year down in the Philippines. You probably know about those other cases but if you don't Google the words "Philippine crucifixion"

[struggle4progress]

16. Actually, "devotional crucifixion" is quite rare. It seems to most common in Philippines, where

(although discouraged by standard churches and the government) something like a dozen or two folk do this annually, many of the "actors" doing this year after year. There are over 90 million Filipinos and over 90% call themselves Christian, so the rate is below 0.0001% of the Christians in the Philippines

... The Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said there is no need for corporal punishment to show one’s faith ... Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro discouraged self-flagellation and crucifixions, saying that the practices are an “imperfect imitation with doubtful theological and social significance” ... Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Pampanga said ... most of those who get themselves crucified or those who hurt themselves are the “unchurched” or “the type who are baptized but would rarely come to church” ...
Tradition trumps Church teachings
Thousands of Filipinos ignore bishops' pleas to stop self-harm and crucifixions to mark Holy Week
Bernardino Balabo, Julian Labores and D'jay Lazaro, Manila
Philippines
April 23, 2011
http://www.ucanews.com/2011/04/23/tradition-trumps-church-teachings-in-philippines/

A bishop in the Philippines is discouraging the faithful from practising acts such as crucifixion and self-flagellation as penance during Holy Week. "The real expression of Christian faith during Lent is through repentance and self- denial," Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez was quoted saying by the Manila Bulletin. "People should avoid self-flagellation. There are many ways of repenting for our sins," he said over Church-run Radio Veritas. Another Catholic prelate, Bishop Rolando Tirona, likewise expressed his disapproval of self-flagellation and crucifixion by Catholic penitents which, he said, "are expressions of superstitious beliefs and are usually done out of the need for money and for tourism purposes which is totally wrong" ...
Filipino bishop appeals against crucifixion, self-flagellation
Published: March 29, 2010
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=20286

[moobu2]

17. Yeah, it's so rare the Filipino government has issued guidelines about tetanus shots

and recommending that the nails be sterilized. The Bishops feeling the need to address the ignorant practices says a lot as well. Self crucifixion isn't so unusual face it..it happens. I could post photo's but they're to disturbing.

[struggle4progress]

18. It's a big tourist attraction: thousands of outsiders come to watch. Tourists spent money,

so there's some local economic incentive to encourage people to do this. The government today is probably worried more people will become involved. I slightly underestimated the current prevalence: about 50 folk did this in the Philippines this year, which is rather more than the one or two dozen estimates I'd seen in the past. It seems to be a post-WWII phenomenon


... In 1961, a man in Pampanga, Arsenio Añoza, made a vow that if God would intervene on his behalf he would crucify himself, put nails through his hands and feet, every Good Friday for fifteen years. The event gained local media attention and quickly spread. Others imitated Añoza ... Within one year, 200 American tourists arrived in Pampanga to watch ... Travel agencies began promoting the event ... The numbers of visitors quickly grew. By the 1970s, twenty to thirty thousand people were attending the annual blood fest. Local businessmen saw the opportunity for profit. They began investing in the event. The crosses were no longer made of stray timber; they were smooth, carved affairs with foot rests and a nicely painted INRI, the label traditionally inscribed at the top of the cross meaning Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Coke and Pepsi sponsored the events, setting up banners and stands to sell their products. Hawkers sold sunglasses, hats, religious artifacts. By the late 1980s, the Department of Tourism was directly investing in the event ...
Good Friday crucifixions in the Philippines
By Joseph Santolan
22 April 2011
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/phil-a22.shtml