鞭笞者的回歸

封鎖不成比例地針對樂趣。沒有家庭聚會。沒有旅行。保齡球，酒吧，百老匯，劇院，遊樂園，都被禁止。婚禮，算了。餐館、酒店、會議，甚至高爾夫球場都是封鎖者的目標。

這裡有一種精神。為了戰勝疾病，你必須受苦。你必須避開快樂。你必須坐在家裡，只為了最基本的必需品而外出。即使在今天，偉大的疾病緩解者安德魯·科莫（Andrew Cuomo）已經在電話中 承認 封鎖不是科學而是恐懼，他警告紐約人除非絕對必要，否則不要出州旅行。

甚至還有與新的國家懺悔相關的服裝。這是一件長毛衣連衣裙、羊毛緊身褲、笨重的運動鞋、手套和你能找到的最大的面罩。這與安全無關。這是關於象徵你的美德、悔恨和忠誠。

我第一次看到這件讓我想起塔利班葬禮上的女人的服裝是在三月中旬。一個時髦的千禧一代，曾經過著無憂無慮的生活，在為事業而受苦中找到了新的意義，並在聽著腦海中的死亡Irae時迅速轉向任何沒有穿著恐懼的人。

這是怎麼回事？當然，這與科學無關。有一場道德戲劇在起作用，它深深地挖掘了人們內心的一些精神衝動。這是關於相信壞事發生在我們身上，因為我們犯了罪。服裝和禁止娛樂是我們懺悔行為和對錯誤行為的懺悔的一部分。聽起來很瘋狂？沒那麼多。否則，很難解釋。而這種對疾病的反應並非史無前例。

歷史目擊者 解釋說 ，鞭打者是黑死病期間興起的宗教運動：

<quote>
The Flagellants were religious zealots of the Middle Ages in Europe who demonstrated their religious fervor and sought atonement for their sins by vigorously whipping themselves in public displays of penance. This approach to achieving redemption was most popular during times of crisis. Prolonged plague, hunger, drought and other natural maladies would motivate thousands to resort to this extreme method of seeking relief. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, the movement gained strength and reached its greatest popularity during the onslaught of the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the mid-fourteenth century. Wearing white robes, large groups of the sect (many numbering in the thousands) roamed the countryside dragging crosses while whipping themselves into a religious frenzy.
<quote>

以下是埃夫斯伯里的羅伯特爵士對14世紀鞭打者的第一手資料，引用自諾曼·科恩（Norman Cohn）的經典著作《追求千年》（Pursuit of the Millennium）：

<quote>In that same year of 1349, about Michaelmas (September, 29) over six hundred men came to London from Flanders, mostly of Zeeland and Holland origin. Sometimes at St Paul’s and sometimes at other points in the city they made two daily public appearances wearing cloths from the thighs to the ankles, but otherwise stripped bare. Each wore a cap marked with a red cross in front and behind.<quote>

<quote>Each had in his right hand a scourge with three tails. Each tail had a knot and through the middle of it there were sometimes sharp nails fixed. They marched naked in a file one behind the other and whipped themselves with these scourges on their naked and bleeding bodies.<quote>

其中四個人會用他們的母語吟唱，另外四個人會像一連串的一樣吟唱作為回應。在這種遊行中，他們三次把自己扔在地上，像十字架的手臂一樣伸出雙手。歌聲會繼續下去，在後面的人首先跪拜的人，他們每個人都會依次跨過其他人，用他的禍害給躺在他下面的人一擊。

<quote>This went on from the first to the last until each of them had observed the ritual to the full tale of those on the ground. Then each put on his customary garments and always wearing their caps and carrying their whips in their hands they retired to their lodgings. It is said that every night they performed the same penance.<quote>

天主教百科全書更詳細 地解釋了 這一可怕的運動：

<quote>The Flagellants became an organized sect, with severe discipline and extravagant claims. They wore a white habit and mantle, on each of which was a red cross, whence in some parts they were called the “Brotherhood of the Cross”. Whosoever desired to join this brotherhood was bound to remain in it for thirty-three and a half days, to swear obedience to the “Masters” of the organization, to possess at least four pence a day for his support, to be reconciled to all men, and, if married, to have the sanction of his wife.<quote>

<quote>The ceremonial of the Flagellants seems to have been much the same in all the northern cities. Twice a day, proceeding slowly to the public square or to the principal church, they put off their shoes, stripped themselves to the waist and prostrated themselves in a large circle.<quote>

<quote>By their posture they indicated the nature of the sins they intended to expiate, the murderer lying on his back, the adulterer on his face, the perjurer on one side holding up three fingers, etc. First they were beaten by the “Master”, then, bidden solemnly in a prescribed form to rise, they stood in a circle and scourged themselves severely, crying out that their blood was mingled with the Blood of Christ and that their penance was preserving the whole world from perishing. At the end the “Master” read a letter which was supposed to have been brought by an angel from heaven to the church of St. Peter in Rome. This stated that Christ, angry at the grievous sins of mankind, had threatened to destroy the world, yet, at the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, had ordained that all who should join the brotherhood for thirty-three and a half days should be saved. The reading of this “letter,” following the shock to the emotions caused by the public penance of the Flagellants, aroused much excitement among the populace.<quote>

重申一下，這些人希望其他人都慶祝他們，因為正是他們阻止了世界完全分崩離析。他們的犧牲是對人類其他人的仁慈行為，所以人們怎麼敢忘恩負義！更糟糕的是，人們越是繼續生活在狂歡和樂趣中，鞭打者就越需要懲罰自己。出於這個原因，他們對任何拒絕加入他們事業的人感到並表現出蔑視。

如果你沒有看到這裡與今天發生的事情的相似之處，那麼你已經 7 個月沒有關注了。例如，看看媒體對特朗普集會的巨大仇恨。這也有助於解釋為什麼鎖定者慶祝BLM抗議活動，但譴責反鎖定抗議活動。前者被視為對罪的懺悔的一部分，而後者則被呼召堅持罪惡。

天主教會長期以來一直在鎮壓其隊伍中的瘋狂極端主義，它很清楚：這是一種“危險的異端邪說”;教會認為，真正的流行病不是疾病，而是“異端流行病”。這些都不重要：這些運動發展並持續了數百年，再次證明，一旦恐懼和非理性佔據主導地位，理性可能需要很長時間才能恢復。

但這怎麼可能呢？我們不像中世紀那樣是一個非常虔誠的民族。指導新鞭打者的祭司在哪裡？我們試圖贖回的罪是什麼？這並不需要那麼多的想像力。牧師是數據科學家和媒體明星，他們一直在呼籲封鎖，並在2020年的大部分時間里慶祝封鎖。罪是什麼？擴展這個分析並不需要那麼多的想像力：人們投票給錯誤的人選總統。

也許我這裡的理論是錯誤的。也許還有其他事情發生。也許我們真的是在談論生活中普遍失去意義，一種來自繁榮的內疚，許多人渴望關掉文明的燈，暫時沉溺於痛苦中，以清除自己罪惡的污點。無論為什麼會發生這種情況，並且與實際科學無關的問題的答案是什麼，這似乎是一個無可爭議的觀察。

在14世紀的英格蘭，當掠奪的鞭毛人來到鎮上時，社區的好成員覺得這些人很有趣，相當可笑，否則他們過著自己的生活，玩得開心，建立一個更好，更繁榮的社會。讓那些渴望受苦的人自由地這樣做。至於我們其他人，讓我們回到美好的生活中，包括參與真正的樂趣。

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本文首發於愛爾，經許可轉載。