Self-flagellation, it seems, has always been with us. From ancient cults of Isis and Dionysus, to the roaming flagellants of the European Middle Ages, to current examples of self-crucifixion in the Philippines in the Easter season and zanjeer (ritual self-infliction of pain, often with a chain) in many Islamic nations on the Day of Ashura. Most of us recoil when we see these behavio
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