Modern witch hunting in Nigeria

[Darth Wong]

Mis-fucking-translation.. The term translated to "witch" refers to people who are specifically doing evil things - not just magic or sooth-saying, but actively trying to harm people. It cannot be something done by dint of birth, as apparently these "witches" are.

That sounds like bullshit; in the Old Testament, their idea of "evil things" was not restricted to activities which caused material harm. Anyone who spoke against God or even questioned God was considered to be doing "evil things" in their eyes. Why do you think Moses slaughtered 3000 of his countrymen for worshiping a golden calf?

[Shroom Man 777]

Stone children who curse their parents.

[Molyneux]

Mis-fucking-translation.. The term translated to "witch" refers to people who are specifically doing evil things - not just magic or sooth-saying, but actively trying to harm people. It cannot be something done by dint of birth, as apparently these "witches" are.

That sounds like bullshit; in the Old Testament, their idea of "evil things" was not restricted to activities which caused material harm. Anyone who spoke against God or even questioned God was considered to be doing "evil things" in their eyes. Why do you think Moses slaughtered 3000 of his countrymen for worshiping a golden calf?

It might be (I was somewhat parroting what my rabbi told me a few years back, when I asked him); still, even the harshest Old Testament definition of "witch" ascribes some intent to it. One can't simply be born a witch, as these people seem to think - it's ludicrous.

...well, more ludicrous than the 'standard' Bible point of view.

[Darth Wong]

It might be (I was somewhat parroting what my rabbi told me a few years back, when I asked him); still, even the harshest Old Testament definition of "witch" ascribes some intent to it. One can't simply be born a witch, as these people seem to think - it's ludicrous.

...well, more ludicrous than the 'standard' Bible point of view.

Nowhere does it say that these kids are necessarily born witches. They are simply accused of being witches. Nobody cares how they got that way. They could have been possessed by demonic spirits, or seduced by Satan himself, or whatever. It doesn't matter; as long as you believe in this kind of bullshit (and remember: demonic possession has been a staple of mainstream Christian thought for 2000 years), you can potentially fall for it.

[salm]

It is not safe in Africa. I hate that place.

Bullshit. It´s perfectly safe in most areas in Africa. You can walk around at night in big cities without having to be afraid of being mugged. Most people there are awesomely friendly (and not the type of "you-got-money-that´s-why-i-kiss-your-ass" friendly).
There´s surely a lot of crap going on all over Africa. Raving deceases, superstition, corruption and getting fucked over by everyone else on the planet.
However, it´s not the hellhole that most people believe it is.

[Shroom Man 777]

I will defer to your wisdom since I recall an SDnetter and his buddies going about in Africa without stepping on a landmine or getting eaten by a hippo.

Still, you seldom hear Good Things coming from That Place.

[wjs7744]

How often do you hear good things about anywhere? The media largely concentrates on when things go wrong, rather than when they go right.

[salm]

I will defer to your wisdom since I recall an SDnetter and his buddies going about in Africa without stepping on a landmine or getting eaten by a hippo.

Still, you seldom hear Good Things coming from That Place.

Yeah, you never hear good things coming from the Philipines, either. However, i doubt that most people there live in depression or constant fear.
Hell, you never hear good things coming from Spain. Good things are Boring(TM). They´re not reported.

[Surlethe]

It might be (I was somewhat parroting what my rabbi told me a few years back, when I asked him); still, even the harshest Old Testament definition of "witch" ascribes some intent to it. One can't simply be born a witch, as these people seem to think - it's ludicrous.

...well, more ludicrous than the 'standard' Bible point of view.

Nowhere does it say that these kids are necessarily born witches. They are simply accused of being witches. Nobody cares how they got that way. They could have been possessed by demonic spirits, or seduced by Satan himself, or whatever. It doesn't matter; as long as you believe in this kind of bullshit (and remember: demonic possession has been a staple of mainstream Christian thought for 2000 years), you can potentially fall for it.

Interestingly, though demonic possession ha sbeen a staple of mainstream Christian thought for two millennia, it wasn't linked to 'natural magic' and witchcraft until the middle ages. People were witches and (though they) used their magic to heal, make crops better, etc., and also went to church and were devout catholics; the two coexisted peacefully. Only after the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, a book for the persecution of witches, in 1486 was the general attitude toward witches changed. Even then, the church decried it and placed it on its list of banned books for some time. So in this case, in practice at least, Molyneux's rabbi's interpretation of the passage is consistent with the first three-fourths of Christianity's history.

[Rye]

Mis-fucking-translation.. The term translated to "witch" refers to people who are specifically doing evil things - not just magic or sooth-saying, but actively trying to harm people. It cannot be something done by dint of birth, as apparently these "witches" are.

It's not a mistranslation, it refers to all sorcery/witchcraft etc. See: Witch of Endor. This sort of shit is an entirely logical (i.e. predictable) direct consequence of the culture of Christianity and superstition in Africa.

[Molyneux]

Mis-fucking-translation.. The term translated to "witch" refers to people who are specifically doing evil things - not just magic or sooth-saying, but actively trying to harm people. It cannot be something done by dint of birth, as apparently these "witches" are.

It's not a mistranslation, it refers to all sorcery/witchcraft etc. See: Witch of Endor. This sort of shit is an entirely logical (i.e. predictable) direct consequence of the culture of Christianity and superstition in Africa.

Do they kill the Witch of Endor?

[Rye]

Not quite, they have driven out/killed all the other witches so she's the only one left. Then king Saul goes to talk to her to contact the dead because God isn't talking to him in his dreams, they contact the spirit of Samuel, Samuel tells Saul he's doomed, and Saul promptly dies the next day.

[Darth Onasi]

The growth of society in most of Africa has been so stunted, this kind of thing never surprises me.
This everyone is a glimpse into the "good old days" that all that damned science and progress took away from us.