Do Americans know about burning of judas?

18 comments

1. No never heard of it. Sounds ridiculous and terrible, but also right in line with some sects.

2. It sounds familiar so I think I’ve heard of it but we don’t have it here.

3. I’ve only heard of the “Judas goat,” an animal that supposedly carries the sins of the whole community and which is then beaten and driven out of the village, carrying everyone’s sins away.

4. I’ve heard of it. I doubt most have, though. It isn’t uniquely Latin American.

5. No, we don’t really have a tradition of burning effigies. The one we are most familiar with Guy Fawkes because of our cultural closeness to England, but that European tradition didn’t really stick around for us.

6. It’s new to me. I wonder if it’s an adaptation of some of the local or native traditions that got essentially rebranded when Christianity took over.

7. Nope. Sounds very strange and non-biblical.

   It most likely was an adaptation of a pre-existing native tradition coopted by the Catholic Church in the region to aid in conversion of the locals. They did this a lot.

8. Something somewhat similar happens in New Mexico every year.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zozobra

9. I doubt many people do. This is more common in Catholic communities, and the US is predominantly Protestant.

   The culture of marching in streets with statues, religious symbols, burning effigies, etc. isn’t something you commonly see in the US even in Catholic communities. You might see it in an immigrant portion of a town, but most of our festivals are low key.

10. Never heard of it. Also without Judas’ “betrayal “ there would be no Christianity. The entire premise of Christianity is that Jesus died for your sins. How can you believe in an omnipotent God and not believe Judas was inspired by the omnipotent God to bring about the defining act of Jesus’ time on earth. Seems to me Judas should be celebrated for his sacrifice.

11. I recently learned about “Quema del diablo,” in which an effigy of the devil is burned. Didn’t know about this tradition though.

    Also, “savage?” Why?

12. I have heard of it, but mostly because I’m Catholic, went to a Catholic school, and took Spanish which included a lot of cultural history stuff. Dia de los Muertes, penitentes, burning Judas, etc.

13. We don’t really do effigies much, though I’m sure some have heard of it.

    Probably wrapped up in a common protestant aversion to idols, even ones embodying something negative. Outside of catholicism you don’t see much of anything other than crosses and crucifixes be it positive or negative.

14. Not my cup of tea but I can dig it.

15. No.

16. We don’t experience that particular tradition much, although I’m not sure I’d describe it as particularly savage. Burning effigies is a pretty common cultural practice around the world, including in bonfire day in the UK and in a variety of protests. The US has bonfires but usually nothing in the form of a given figure.

17. I am not but I’m not shocked.

    I honestly feel bad for Judus. Betrays 1 messiah and he’s given shit about it 2000 years later. smh

18. Never have! Interesting stuff.