US Senate hopeful killed goat and drank its blood

[SepiaAndDust]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Two years ago, Augustus Sol Invictus walked from central Florida to the Mojave Desert and spent a week fasting and praying, at times thinking he wouldn't survive. In a pagan ritual to give thanks when he returned home, he killed a goat and drank its blood.

Now that he's a candidate for U.S. Senate, the story is coming back to bite him.

- Source

I don't have a problem with his drinking blood, but from a goat? Really? Goats are about the nastiest animals that aren't actual denizens of the local swamp.


Then again, that's about the least troubling thing I've read about the guy.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Disturbing ...

 

[DaisyDay]

One comment made me laugh:

You know, when I read that a crypto-fascist Florida politician had quaffed the blood of a sacrificial goat in a quasi-satanic ceremony, I immediately assumed that it was Rick Scott.​

 

[Black Dog]

I don't have a problem with his drinking blood, but from a goat? Really? Goats are about the nastiest animals that aren't actual denizens of the local swamp.


Then again, that's about the least troubling thing I've read about the guy.

He needs to follow in Christine's footsteps with an "I am not a pagan" ad.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

He is a sick individual, mentally and spiritually.

 

[TLK Valentine]

So what's the problem?

 

[lupusFati]

I don't really see a problem. Is there some religious doctrine against drinking blood in the gospel or something that somehow invalidates salvation?

All I care about is his platform, really. His religious beliefs are protected under the Constitution.

 

[Nithavela]

I don't really see a problem. Is there some religious doctrine against drinking blood in the gospel or something that somehow invalidates salvation?

http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/12-23.htm

 

[CabVet]

All I care about is his platform, really. His religious beliefs are protected under the Constitution.

You forget that people only care about the Constitution when the Constitution agrees with them.

 

[Albion]

You forget that people only care about the Constitution when the Constitution agrees with them.

That's the point of the Constitution...it protects everyone. Of course, that's what they are going to be interested in.

It's not a document that's supposed to lay out in detail every last thing about how to live one's life.

 

[CabVet]

That's the point of the Constitution...it protects everyone. Of course, that's what they are going to be interested in.

It's not a document that's supposed to lay out in detail every last thing about how to live one's life.

I bet the average frequenter of this forums will tell you that the founding fathers were inspired by the Christian God, that the US is a Christian nation and that the Constitution only applies to Christians.

 

[Albion]

I bet the average frequenter of this forums will tell you that the founding fathers were inspired by the Christian God, that the US is a Christian nation and that the Constitution only applies to Christians.

That the Constitution only applies to Christians?? I don't think so. The other two points are arguably true, but it seems like you are carrying around some serious resentment about something.

 

[grasping the after wind]

I bet the average frequenter of this forums will tell you that the founding fathers were inspired by the Christian God, that the US is a Christian nation and that the Constitution only applies to Christians.

I would expect you to lose that bet. The last point is silly but the founding fathers were heavily influenced by Christianty and their world view was a Christian world view and the US, though not a Christian nation, is still a nation composed mostly of Christians.

 

[Hank77]

He needs to follow in Christine's footsteps with an "I am not a pagan" ad.

Why? He admits that he is a pagan.
Invictus knows running as a Libertarian is a longshot — Wyllie was easily Florida's most well-received Libertarian candidate and he only received 3.8 percent of the vote — and he acknowledges that being a pagan will hurt him with an electorate that tends to support Christians. But he said he is running with the hope of speaking on the Senate floor.

Is there some religious doctrine against drinking blood in the gospel or something that somehow invalidates salvation?

Yes, but that is besides the point when it comes to this man, who says he is a pagan. Only those that believe in the God of the Bible concern themselves with what God's word says.

I bet the average frequenter of this forums will tell you that the founding fathers were inspired by the Christian God, that the US is a Christian nation and that the Constitution only applies to Christians.

No, the Constitution applies to all citizens, not just Christians. Someone has been lying to you if you think that most Christians are not aware of this.
It's preposterous to deny that the founders were not inspired by the moral precepts found in the Bible, even Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Freedom of religion was first written in the colonial constitution of RI, promoted by a Christian preacher, Roger Williams. It was not just freedom of Christian denominations either.

 

[Albion]

~STAFF EDIT~
Of course, I always feel sad when someone relates an account of Christians behaving badly. But at the same time, it should be obvious to all fair minded people that you can't just slap your religious experiences upon every other Christian and say, "they're all alike."

 

[Albion]

~STAFF EDIT~
"Why not" is because it takes very little investigation to realize that, in a world which counts billions of Christians, including both saints and sinners, talking as though they're all alike, either for good or ill, is not credible.

You may have been unlucky enough to have experienced some bad churches. "Several" of them, you said. I have too, but I can also point you to some wonderful ones. You're smarting from some resentments, but you know better than to talk like "they all do X," I'm sure.

 

[Papias]

He drank blood as part of a religious ritual?

Why is that a concern at all? Lots of people do that - and I don't mean just symbolically. Heck, 26 current Senators do that regularly, as do most of the members of our Supreme Court.

 

[seashale76]

Is there some religious doctrine against drinking blood in the gospel

Yes, there is (since you asked).

Acts 15:28-29 (the decree from the Jerusalem Council)

28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

 

[Marius27]

I don't really see a problem. Is there some religious doctrine against drinking blood in the gospel or something that somehow invalidates salvation?

All I care about is his platform, really. His religious beliefs are protected under the Constitution.

Not necessarily. It could be deemed animal cruelty. He can't sacrifice humans, even if his beliefs dictated it. Religious freedom isn't absolute.

But I thought it was a joke after seeing his name was Augustus Sol Invictus. He's named after a Roman Emperor and Sun god?

 

[seashale76]

~STAFF EDIT~
I simply answered a direct question from someone since they asked. You seem to be under a few assumptions that I never addressed one way or the other. I never made any post judging the man for goat killing and drinking blood. Yes, I think it's weird and I disagree with it. No, I wouldn't actually let it get in the way of voting for someone if I agreed with their politics.

Anyway, I don't believe in 'memorial' only Eucharist. We don't simply spiritualize it- we believe it literally. The reason we partake of the body and blood of Christ is because, according to the Orthodox Christian belief, it is the medicine for what ails us/the fountain of immortality/we literally have Christ in us. Christ went on at length as to why in the New Testament. We don't partake of any other blood because it is considered that life is in the blood (it's still in the Church canons as well). Everything the Christian does relates back to the Eucharist. Through partaking of the Eucharist we are in Christ- and it is only through Christ that we will live. We don't partake of something that would bring us out of communion.

ETA: Some people on this thread ask questions about Christian beliefs, obviously don't know much about the Christian beliefs, but then will de-facto attack the Christian beliefs and reasoning even before the Christians come back to explain said beliefs. My personal guess is because it is always 'attack Christianity day' with some posters here at CF. It's always nice to see them reveal themselves for who they are.