Sorry, bud, but you totally missed the point. We say that extreme pain undergone by soldiers training or by athletes training is good. Did you get that, pain is good if it is ascesis, training for something good.
I did not say that something bad, if done in moderation, is good. I said that ascesis, training, is good and that you, unless your a really weird person, accept the goodness of training for soldiers, football players, marathon runners etc.
Your premise, that sufering is never good is absurd and most people know it’s absurd because they accept: no pain, no gain.
And yes, the pain a soldier undergoes in training and the pain an athlete undergoes is real pain, real suffering.
Think about it.
I think the difference in those circumstances is that the pain is not the direct objective, but rather, an undesirable side-effect of the training processes.
Soldiers don’t shoot themselves in the arm, nor do athletes trip and fall, on purpose.
Whipping oneself, impaling, blood-letting, etc., are not side-effects, in the same manner.
No, I didn’t miss your point about athletes etc. But you said self-flagellation in moderation is OK. I don’t agree. I’d be crazy to say all kinds non-self-inflicted pain are bad. You made a distinction and then didn’t follow your own distinction. Here’s what I think, FWIW: pain in a good cause is OK; pain for the sake of repentance is wacko, even in moderation.
It seems to me that the Pope could’ve beaten himself all he wanted to. But I wouldn’t do it.