In today’s news we learn that Saudi Arabia is on the one hand buying Western academic prestige and on the other beheading a woman accused of practicing “sorcery and witchcraft.”
The state-run Saudi news agency announced that a woman named Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar was publicly beheaded because she claimed to be a healer who could [...]
Tags:Allah·Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar·beheading·faith healing·Islam·King Saud University·Muslim·Neil Robertson·Saudi Arabia·sorcery·Wahhabi·witchcraft
In several posts, I have discussed the prevalence of witchcraft in Africa. Before anyone gets the idea that Africans are somehow unique or backwards when it comes to this issue, I would like to point out the resurgence of interest in exorcisms within the Catholic Church.
As Laurie Goodstein reports for the New York Times, Catholic [...]
Tags:angels·Bishop Paprocki·Catholic Church·demons·devil·exorcism·incantations·Linda Blair·magic·possession·prayer·rites of exorcism·sacraments·Satan·sorcery·spells·The Exorcist·witchcraft
In English and American law, “force majeure” clauses are standard in most contracts. These clauses simply recognize that the world can be a chaotic place and that when a contracting party cannot perform due to such chaos, the lack of performance will not constitute a breach of contract. Such clauses typically include a standard list [...]
Tags:acts of God·Africa·American law·angry God·Azande·Bangui·Bartolomé Goroth·Central African Republic·chance·chaos·contracts·covens·E.E. Evans-Pritchard·force majeure·Graeme Wood·Hex Appeal·jurisprudence·law·magic·Mbutu·Pygmies·spells·witchcraft·witches
Just the other day, I commented on the origin of ritual and noted that Jonathan Z. Smith sees “the thrill of coincidence” as at least a partial explanation. Before rationalists dismiss this thrill as mere superstition, Smith also notes that the same kind of coincidence resides at the heart of scholarship:
The discovery that two events, [...]
Tags:Africa·Assembly of God·Catholics·charismatics·charms·coincidence·evangelicals·exorcism·Foursquare Gospel·Geoffrey MacDonald·Glimpses of African Belief·indigenous beliefs·Johann Hari·Jonathan Z. Smith·Massachusetts·mediums·pagans·Pentecostals·possession·psychics·ritual·rituals·rosaries·saints·Salem·secret interconnection·spells·spiritual tourism·spiritualism·superstitition·The Gathering·The Masque of Africa·The Vault·transubstantiation·V.S. Naipaul·voodoo·Wicca·witchcraft
Over at Live Science, Benjamin Radford stereotypically reports — with no irony and little thought — that “Belief in Witchcraft Widespread in Africa” is prevalent:
A new Gallup poll found that belief in magic is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft. Studies in 18 countries show belief [...]
Tags:Africa·Africans·angels·Benjamin Radford·Christianity·demons·Gallup Poll·helplessness·Islam·Ivory Coast·lack of control·magic·propitiation·religiosity·sorcery·spirits·supernatural beings·supernatural forces·Uganda·witchcraft
A Norwegian university recently issued a press release titled “Modern Medicine Conquers Witchcraft.” The lead paragraph is condescending (i.e., Eurocentric) and reinforces negative stereotypes about “Africans”:
Seen through western eyes, beliefs in supernatural forces are common in Ghana and other African countries. Death, suffering and diseases are often attributed to witchcraft. Over thirty per cent of [...]
Tags:creationism·witchcraft
