...and now you know, the REST of the story!

	So you've got a beef with God, and you think the best way to show your protest is to take the symbol of Jesus' self-less sacrifice and turn it upside-down?
	Yeah! That'll piss off God! "Hail Satan!" Right?? Ummmmm...I don't think so. Read on...


	According to legend¹, the apostle Peter was condemned to death and crucified on an inverted cross at Rome. Hegesippus²tells us that the Roman Emperor Nero brought charges against Peter to put him to death and when this news got out, the Christians in Rome pleaded with Peter to flee the city. Peter, finally giving in to their persistent begging, packed up his things and headed out of the city. But, coming to the gate, he saw Jesus Christ coming from the other direction. Worshiping Him, he said, "Lord, where are You going?" To which Jesus answered, "I have come to be crucified again." By this Peter understood that he was to die by crucifixion and went back into the city to meet his fate.

	Jerome³ wrote that Peter was crucified upside-down, by his own request, because he was (in his opinion) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as his Lord. (edited from Foxe's Book of Martyrs) According to Wikipedia, to many xians (like myself), the inverted cross is a symbol of humility and unworthiness in comparison to Christ. It does not in and of itself give honor to Satan or show disrespect to the One who laid down His life for us "while we were yet sinners..." In all honesty, the best way to disrespect your Creator or dishonor Christ is encapsulated in the philosophy of Anton LaVey in his Satanic Bible: To thine own self, and only thine own self, be true (this is the essence of at least six out of the nine Satanic Statements). LaVey's version of "Satanism" is very Biblical, since selfishness and self-centeredness is the epitome of mankind's rebellion against God. "Live for self - screw everybody else!" But also, in all honesty, I've met very few people (although I have met a few), even amongst self-proclaimed atheists and Satanists who really live only for themselves all of the time without any thought or concern about the people around them. The heart of Christ's message is love for others - the heart of Satanism is love of one-self and disregard of any person or anything that doesn't serve his or her own selfish desires. Are you REALLY a Satanist? REALLY?? Think about it... My advice? If you're mad at God, talk to Him about it. Yell at Him if you want to or have to. He can take it. He's not going to strike you dead with a bolt of lightning. He's heard it before anyway, and if what Jesus said was true (and I believe that it was), then He cares enough to listen to you and keep loving you in spite of your present feelings towards Him. ...but turning the cross upside-down as a sign of rebellion? ha, ha, ha! That's just being stupid. ¹ The Scriptures don't tell us how Peter died, so most Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians take this story with a grain of salt...however, the part about being crucified on an inverted cross is generally accepted as factual (and regardless, demonstrates that Christians respected the inverted cross as a sign of humility long before it became a token of Satanism). ² Hegesippus wrote an early history of the church between A.D. 165-175 ³ Jerome, c. A.D. 340-420 is best know for his translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek of the Old and New Testaments into Latin (the Vulgate Translation). For more on Peter and the inverted cross, check out these websites: John Paul II and the Inverted Cross Chair Wikipedia article on the Cross_of_St._Peter St. Peter's Cross: Emblem of Christian Humilty Bible Mysteries: Peter the Rock (BBC-UK transcript) [Die Happy] [Home] [Sanctuarium Game Room] [WWJD] [Face-Melting Truth] [SciFi, Horror & Fantasy] [Body Piercing]