Just fyi, while I'm sure you didn't intend it, I find comments that start with "Uh..." to be rude.
Regarding asceticism in Christianity, I also find its extremes to be disturbing. All I can say is that Christian culture as I understand it, especially Western Christianity, places relatively little emphasis on asceticism. And all these acts happened a long time ago when people took religion more seriously. And if you compare these to Buddhism (say in China) at the same time I think you'll find them relatively tame.
Regarding asceticism in Christianity, I also find its extremes to be disturbing. All I can say is that Christian culture as I understand it, especially Western Christianity, places relatively little emphasis on asceticism. And all these acts happened a long time ago when people took religion more seriously. And if you compare these to Buddhism (say in China) at the same time I think you'll find them relatively tame.