Looking at the evidence it would seem that some Russians are confused about what constitutes loving your children. Apparently some people over there think that in order to remove "sin" from their children all they need to do is strip them and dunk them in a frozen lake against their will; take that "sin"!
What could they possibly be thinking I hear you ask, don't they realise that there is a good chance a young child's heart might just stop dead by doing this, never mind the psychological trauma of having people you trust thrust you into what is obviously severe jeopardy, not to mention discomfort. Well you won't be surprised to know that superstition is behind it all, yes religious superstition moulded by centuries of warping due to local climatic conditions (no mention of cross shaped ice holes in lakes in the Bible that I recall?). Of course not everyone jumps naked from -26C air into freezing water for the sake of religion, in fact the Orthodox Church frowns on the ritual, but mainly it seems because people aren't coming to church to get Christened as opposed to the potentially lethal nature of the practice, but anyway it's a nice change to see the voice of reason coming from organised religion for a change even if it is only acting in self interest.
If you want to experience the full effect of a screaming 5 year old having this done to them then you can find a video on Youtube here (warning it's not for the feint hearted)
2 comments:
Ah, but there again, you're an effete southerner. We did this all the time oop north.
CB, thems were the days! ... ;)
Post a Comment