Friday, 02.29.08
Witches' Brouhaha
Photo by flickr user fx geek under a Creative Commons license
The scholars and the goddess
January 2001
Charlotte Allen debunks the "ancient rituals" of the Goddess movement.
Cult classics
April 2006
Some initiatives -- such as this pardon -- have merit, even though their proponents are groups that exist in part to support those who have "experienced poltergeist activity." Helen Duncan spent nine months in the clink because she predicted the sinking of a British ship (an act of clairvoyance made admittedly less impressive by the fact that it was 1944, and British ships had U-boats snapping at their keels).
We should thank Full Moon Investigations for ratcheting back the high regard in which we hold modern legal systems, including our own, and forcing us to see that absurd legal categories have persisted into living memory, and indeed possibly persisted up to today. The Central African Republic, although no one's juridical ideal, has a penal code whose cases are fully half about witchcraft. When someone goes berserk and stabs another, the response is cherchez la sorciere. This is no joke: little children end up in jail for casting spells on their own parents. And it all makes perfect sense to many Central Africans.
Now, pull back the lens, and imagine our own legal system, viewed by the hyperrational machines that some say will replace us, much for the best, once artificial intelligence reaches its tipping point. The law today recognizes categories that these creatures will almost certainly treat to the same mockery we now reserve for the category of "witches." The state holding that two firefighters are "white," despite their claim to the contrary? Or that the Universal Life Church is a religion, but Scientology is not? If the machines' microprocessors are equipped to guffaw, they surely will.
Witches or rabble-rousers?Stephan Phelan of the Sunday Herald casts a sympathetic yet skeptical eye over Helen Duncan, whom he concludes was imprisoned for disturbing the fragile war-time order. |
No atheist witchhuntersDaylight Atheism argues that the burden of proof for accusations of witchcraft -- like all supernatural claims -- must rest on the accuser. Invisible crimes are no crime at all. |
Fifty-two million strongMichael Colmer, creator of the official pardon site for Helen Duncan, claims that her extraordinary powers of resurrection motivated her persecution. |
Scape-witchesLiberated Thinking argues that witches in modern Africa and medieval Europe were society's whipping-boys: too rich or too dejected, they embodied a collective nightmare. |
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Scientology might be a religion, but the litigious acts of the Church of Scientology are deplorable and need to be stopped. Do your research before making claims (of course, I'm referring to your last paragraph; this page came up on Google News, so. ) www.xenu.net www.whyaretheydead.com www.scientology-victims-testimonies.com www.xenutv.com www.torymagoo.org and, a newer site: www.exscientologykids.com
You can also visit Scientology's sites, if you want both sides: www.scientology.org www.scientologymyths.info these are the two they usually link you to. enjoy
Posted by Anoynymause | February 29, 2008 5:50 PM