[Sca-cooks] RE: Cannibalism , ritualistic or otherwise

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach <kingstaste at mindspring.com>:
>Ana wrote:
>>  Ana
>>  PS: And the Eucharisty is a good example or ritual cannibalism.
>
>to which Huette responded quite strongly:
>>I am sorry, but you are very, very, very WRONG!!!! The Eucharist is NOT
>ritual cannibalism!!!
>>Huette
>
>	Well, I had to think long and hard about responding to this 
>one.  I take it
>from Huette's response that she is a Christian of strong belief.  I
>generally shy away from getting into religious conversations because that
>way lies madness (and usually hurt feelings).  My initial reaction was "but
>it is", and then thought that if that was all I said it would be fanning
>those flames and it would turn into a shouting match really quickly.  I had
>to stop and consider if it was really food related, and I think it is.  That
>original communion took place at a supper, where there was actual food
>present, or at least that is the accepted story now.  Having studied a bit
>about religious origins and knowing how things get changed around, I suspect
>there are many other interpretations of what actually happened.  I suspect
>the symbology goes back to the examples Phlip stated and the ideals of
>passing strength (and holiness) along with the consumption of various
>aspects of the godhead.  This certainly seems to be what is happening in the
>modern celebration of communion.  However, if the arugment is that this
>ceremony is not ritual cannibalism, then there is some other reason for
>taking in wine and bread and considering it a holy act.  The holiness is
>passed along into the act of sharing the food.
>	So, I am interested in hearing thoughts on the original event, the
>symbology behind it, how the idea of breaking bread at a communal table fits
>into it, and other food-related aspects of the question.  However, I do hope
>that it can be kept from becoming a religious flame war, as nothing will
>come of that in the furtherance of understanding eating practices and the
>reasons they figure strongly into spiritual observances.   Let's keep it
>civil, shall we, and try to examine this question in a way that we can all
>learn something?

It should be noted that I'm probably a heretic, but here goes anyway.

My feeling is that the cannibalism aspect is of secondary importance 
to the sacrificial aspect. I'm not troubled by a lack of faith in 
such mysterious phenomena as Transubstantiation because I don't 
consider the question relevant: I don't _need_ to believe that that 
bread and wine are flesh and blood to believe that good is stronger 
than evil, that love is stronger than death, and that sacrifice under 
the right circumstances can expiate sin.

The Liturgies of the Word and of the Eucharist are full of references 
to the Lamb of God, to the Paschal Sacrifice given to humanity to 
return to God in atonement for sin. The Eucharist liturgy also refers 
to eating the flesh and blood of Christ, or, rather, to Jesus 
referring to the bread and wine as his body and blood (presumably 
knowing full well he was to be the centerpiece of a human sacrifice). 
He points out that these are given freely for the salvation of 
humankind, and tells his disciples to commemorate the sacrifice in 
his name. He doesn't exactly say, "Eat human flesh and drink blood on 
Sundays," or even, unequivocally, that subsequent celebrations of the 
Eucharist have to involve consecration and transubstantiation. These 
are aspects introduced by literal-minded popes and theologians, I 
assume.

As Phlip said, there's also an aspect of sharing in the divinity of 
the sacrifice akin to some cultures' view of cannibalism. But without 
that sacrifice, the rest doesn't follow: Jesus is the sacrificial 
offering, and the disciples, and later, the church, are there to 
share in and commemorate the sacrifice.

Hey, did anybody eat Aslan??? Huh? Argue me that one! ;-)

Adamantius
-- 




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la 
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them 
eat cake!"
	-- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau, "Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
	-- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry 
Holt, 07/29/04