Origin of Mardi Gras

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=70 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="084f0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="042203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>Crossbearer.net</B></FONT><B>      | </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>    </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crossbearer.net"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="083f2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div>  <IMG SRC="http://members.tripod.com/bin/counter/id230.htm?FF00FF" ALT="[Tripod Counter]">  </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" >Return to</FONT> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletters"><U>Newsletters</U></A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" >Return to</FONT> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Studies on Cults and Religions"><U>Studies on Cults and Religions</U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" > page.</FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" >Send me</FONT> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>e-mail</U></A></div> <bR> <div> In my experience of the past 15 years preaching at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, this party is a TOTAL abandonment of all morality, where the law becomes "lawlessness" and sin is the accepted. Only Sodom and Gomorrah can compare with the sinful state of this city during this occasion. Homosexuality is practiced in public, men lusting after men, drunkenness in abundance as they fall onto the putrid street, rolling in their own vomit, people exposing sexual body parts (women lifting their shirts, men dropping their pants), some even parading without any clothing at all. </div> <bR> <div> The police do nothing, only stepping in to break up fights or to intercept a thief which are both commonplace in this city of lawlessness.</div> <bR> <div> The parades often have names of Greek mythological Gods, such as Zeus, Hercules and Bacchus! The Gospel of Jesus Christ has NO part in this entire party, except for the 2,000 or so Street Evenaglists who come each year to lead these lost souls to Jesus! You can read about these efforts in my <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletters"><U>Newsletter</U></A></FONT>  pages.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/"><U>Bible search</U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" > click here to find a Bible verse. (open in New Window to retain this web page)</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=410 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="086f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>Origin of Mardi Gras</I></div> <bR> <div> On my <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletters"><U>Newsletters</U></A></FONT>  page you will find more photos and testimony to preaching Jesus Christ at Mardi Gras. I will give a brief detail of what takes place at Mardi Gras first, and then I have an excerpt from the  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000</I></FONT> on the Origins of Mardi Gras!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1245b0a0.jpg" border=0 width="347" height="266" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">                     <IMG SRC="126e30b0.jpg" border=0 width="227" height="267" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Photo above is of the Satanists who gather to mock the Christians. The next photo, is a mockery of Jesus burning in hell with a sign (not shown) saying "Crucify yourself now" as mockers put their face in place of Jesus. The man with his face shown here, has a male sex organ mask for a nose!</div> <bR> <div> In the past years of preaching at Mardi Gras, the Christians whom have come out here to tell these lost souls to turn from their sins and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, have been arrested, lit on fire, bitten, spit upon, had beer thrown in their faces, been urinated upon, mocked, cursed, screamed at and fondled by the sexually perverted who think that Christians are pupits for their use. Women are raped by perverted men, Homosexuals drug unsuspecting male guests and drag them into back ally's where they are raped! (We rescued a Pastors son who was druged and was about to be raped by a homosexual one night). Satanists perform their rituals upon the Christians including throwing the blood of their animal sacrifices on them! The Voodoo practitioners blow  incense in their faces while chanting curses. Tarot card readers, phsycics, and mediums line up their business in front of the Catholic Cathedral in Jackson Square each day! Unless you have been to this sinful party, there is no way anyone can explain the decadence of this revelry in words that can accurately share the depth of sin that has fallen upon this city that has, year after year, allowed such evil to persist! Only the words "Sodom and Gomorrah" can come close to describing this atmosphere of sin! Mardi Gras has infected much of the Gulf Coast cities and is observed from the shores of Texas to Mobile Alabama, which has its own Mardi Gras and is second to New Orleans in size and revelry!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="37d44f80.jpg" border=0 width="324" height="248" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">                        <IMG SRC="37f40fc0.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Christian brother arrested for preaching!  A palm reader in Jackson Square waits for business to come for a reading!</div> <bR> <div> Although there is much rejection to the preaching of the Gospel, of the estimated 2 million visitors who come each year to party, several hundred end up finding Jesus Christ and are saved. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <U>Origin of Mardi Gras</U></div> <div> <I>Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Mardi Gras</B>, also known as Shrove Tuesday or Carnival, annual festival marking the final day before the Christian fast of Lent, a 40-day period of self-denial and abstinence from merrymaking. Mardi Gras is the last opportunity for revelry and indulgence in food and drink before the temperance of Lent. The term <I>Mardi Gras</I> is French for “Fat Tuesday.”</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="3731c390.jpg" border=0 width="284" height="313" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="MS Reference Sans Serif" ><IMG SRC="4a30d510.jpg" border=0 width="269" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  </FONT><B><IMG SRC="8157f250.jpg" border=0 width="383" height="293" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> The first photo is of a "drag queen", it is a homosexual dressed as a woman. The second photo was taken in front of the Catholic Cathedral in Jackson Square on Fat Tuesday, the 3rd photo is on Bourbon Street.</div> <bR> <div> The date of Mardi Gras varies from year to year, always falling between February 3 and March 9. Although <I>Mardi Gras </I>refers to a specific day, the term often encompasses a much longer period of celebrations leading up to Mardi Gras Day. The Carnival season is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and dancing in the streets.</div> <bR> <div> Some scholars have noted similarities between modern Mardi Gras celebrations and Lupercalia, a fertility festival held each February in ancient Rome. However, modern Carnival traditions <B>developed in Europe during the Middle Ages</B> (5th century to the 15th century) as part of the ritual calendar of the <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="MS Reference Sans Serif" ><A HREF="id198.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Origins of the Roman Catholic Church"><U><B><U>Roman Catholic Church.</U></B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Today pre-Lenten Carnivals are celebrated <B><U>predominantly in Roman Catholic communities</U></B> in Europe and the Americas. Cities famous for their celebrations include Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. New Orleans, Louisiana, holds the most famous Mardi Gras celebration in the United States. <B>Residents of New Orleans have been celebrating Mardi Gras since the 18th century</B>. Mobile, Alabama, has a lesser known but equally old Mardi Gras tradition. Mardi Gras is informally observed in many North American cities, usually invoking the spirit of the New Orleans festivities.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="5c24b970.jpg" border=0 width="331" height="407" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="5c38d300.jpg" border=0 width="397" height="304" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Christians preaching! You can learn more about some of the cults shown at<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" > <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Studies on Cults and Religions"><U>Studies on Cults and Religions</U></A></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> Not all Mardi Gras celebrations take place in urban areas. Distinctive Mardi Gras traditions are also maintained by the Cajuns, an ethnic group that derives its culture from French Canadian refugees who settled in southwestern Louisiana during the 18th century.  Carnival parades through the streets of New Orleans begin 12 days before Mardi Gras Day. Most parades, sponsored by private and highly secretive organizations known as <I>krewes</I>, combine imagery from classical <B>Greek and Roman mythology</B> with satirical references to contemporary events. During the parades, costumed krewe members ride highly decorated floats and toss strings of plastic beads and other trinkets into the crowds of spectators lining the streets. Many krewes hold elaborate, private balls following their parades. On Mardi Gras Day, many ordinary people dress in costume and wander through the city. Revelers jam the narrow streets of the city's oldest neighborhood, known as the French Quarter. The atmosphere in the French Quarter is marked by <B>drunken euphoria and general abandon</B>.</div> <div> Today Mardi Gras draws more than 3 million people to parades and generates approximately <B>$1 billion</B> for the local economy. <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >"Mardi Gras," <I>Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. </I>© 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.</FONT></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="5d940240.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="292" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> One of the trademarks of Mardi Gras are the beads. Usually given as a reward for those who will expose private body parts, the revelers take pride as they gather massive amounts of them, which often end up on their mirrors as they drive home. The beads are their crowning  identification as a drunkard and reveler! The beads are first thrown from the floats as seen below, and then become trading items for those who will remove their clothing! Along with beads, the floats throw out beer cups and other items.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="4a2054f0.jpg" border=0 width="517" height="335" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="MS Reference Sans Serif" >Symbolically recognized as the last opportunity for indulgence before the start of the austere religious period of Lent, the Mardi Gras festival features parades and parties, most notably in New Orleans, Louisiana. This float of King Cotton during Mardi Gras in 1985 is representative of the carnival-like atmosphere of the week-long celebration.  </FONT>"Mardi Gras," <I>Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. </I>© 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Only those who know how to worship God, with upraised hands, can identify what these people in the photo above are doing, which is not much different than the Israelits who formed the Golden calf and had a big party while Moses was upon the mountain!</div> <bR> <div> 1 John 3:4-10 </div> <div>  <I>   Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for </I><I><B>sin is the transgression of the law</B></I><I>. [5] And ye know that he was manifested </I><I><B>to take away our sins</B></I><I>; and in him is no sin. [6] </I><I><B>Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not</B></I><I>: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. [7] Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. [8] </I><I><B>He that committeth sin is of the devil</B></I><I>; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might </I><I><B>destroy the works of the devil.</B></I><I> [9] </I><I><B>Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin</B></I><I>; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. [10] </I><I><B>In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil</B></I><I>: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Deut. 18:9-12 </div> <div>     <I>When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. [10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, [11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. [12] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. </I></div> <bR> <div> Rev. 9:20-21 </div> <div> <I>    And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: [21] Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="5c53e2a0.jpg" border=0 width="830" height="298" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Christian Worship Rally in the rain at the amphitheater across from Jackson Square. Over 1,000 Evangelists gather to worship the Lord Jesus Christ before entering the devils den to pull sinners out of the fire!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>