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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 4907
[Society]
Date Posted:
9/11/2002
12:29:07 pm EDT
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Views: 6,572
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Comments: 17
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Africa: Witches Scare Pupils Away, Says Cleric
Author: Robert Nyasato , The East African Standard (Nairobi) Source: AllAfrica.com
Title: WITCHES SCARE PUPILS, SAYS CLERIC
Witchcraft is greatly contributing to declining education standards in the district, a Catholic priest said yesterday.
The priest in charge of Kebirigo Parish, Father Christopher Oira, said students no longer attend morning and evening tuition for fear of abduction by witches.
He wondered who were the perpetrators of the practice and yet majority of the locals purport to be Christians, adding: "Are you Christians during the day and witches in the night?"
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Community Thoughts: There are 17 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Contrivances And Arguments | Sep 12th. at 9:59:26 pm EDT |
by silveroak (wichita,kansas) - wc_xemail
Okay, lets consider it- lets start with the first problem: assume that some local is trying to scare poeple into not going to the Catholic church to keep things 'as they have always been'. If this were the case, would not this local want to frighten people from *all* Catholic churches? Yet teh story tells that many people are sending their children to *other* catholic schools, in different regions. Hardly sounds like a conspiricy against the whole church! Furthermore the people attending are christian converts, who would be rather unlikely to heed the warnings of a tribal religious figure.
So lets consider the second possibility- incompetance. If this is the case it is a most unussual case, in that so much incompetance would be so concentrated without affecting the surrounding schools in the same organization. Are we to assume that whomever is loking over these schools has simply overlooked massive incompetance at one school while keeping nearby Catholic schools in good running order? If it were merely incompetance at the schools level would not the regional coordinator take notice and replace the head of that school?
I know in Oklahoma a priest who was repeatedly accused of child molestation was moved to India where he ran an orphanage! If the Church is reassigning molestors to more third world locations, I would expect stories like this to occur- after all, a mysterious evil 'boogey woman' is a lot easier for some Christians to believe than a pries that betrays their confidence and injurs their children.
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| A Couple Of Things... | Sep 12th. at 3:03:06 pm EDT |
by Kate (Des Moines) - wc_xemail
...need to be looked at more carefully before we start screaming 'Inquisitor!' at people and assuming that because the priest that opened his mouth is a Catholic that he is raping these children and THAT is the real reason they won't go to that particular school.
First and foremost, we have to admit that there really may be someone in the community who is discouraging people to not send thier children to this scool. We don't (with the possible exception of our friend in Johannesburg,) know anything about the acculturation in this particular area. There could indeed be a tribal 'witch' who is trying to keep things 'the way they always have been' by keeping these children out of school and using more traditional means to teach them what they need to know.
Second, we have to also look at the probability that this whole thing may have been brought about by the fact that people are perfectly willing to let each other stumble around blindly in the dark. By this I mean to say that the people of the village may be sending their children to school outside of the area, and that the children that DO go to the school in the village aren't achieving to the standards that the parrish priests would prefer simply because the teachers are incompetent, or badly educated themselves. It is perfectly likely that the parents are just letting the priests think what they like in order to not bring the censure of the community down upon themselves and their families.
We don't always need to get a big stick and go thrashing through the bushes looking for monsters, people.
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| The Real Question | Sep 12th. at 2:17:43 pm EDT |
by silveroak (wichita,kansas) - wc_xemail
It would seem to me taht the real question is why these children are more affraid to come to school than to say for example, play soccer. Which seems like a better place to be abducted, if you believe in this 'boogey man witch', an open feild surrounded by other children, or in a classroom with a supervising adult?
Unless the real bogeyman in this case happens to work at the school, maybe wear a collar, and has a problem keeping his hands off the children...
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| Has It Crossed Anyone Else's Mind That . . . | Sep 12th. at 11:09:39 am EDT |
by Yarroway (Florida) - wc_xemail
. . . the witch story just might be the excuse they have come up with to get the priest off their backs regarding poor church/school attendance? Maybe some people are just tired of the catholic church trying to convince their children that the old ways are wrong and only the catholic way is right. With so little information given in the article, it is impossible to know what might really be going on in that parish. If there are problems in the church or school, and the priest has power in the community, parents or children may find it easier to blame "fear of witches" rather than try to face the real problems head on. All I can say is,
Blessings to all,
Yarroway
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| No Title | Sep 12th. at 10:07:06 am EDT |
by Sunshine (Florida) - wc_xemail
IMO - Do you know why Witches eat only children? It's not really to steal their youth. Have you ever tasted the sour soul of an adult Christian or tried to chew their hardened heart? It's not worth the effort....(he he)
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| Those That Live In Glass Vaticans... | Sep 12th. at 5:48:25 am EDT |
by ReverendStyx (Phoenix, AZ)
Y'know, in light of their own PR nightmare, I think the catholic church has better things to do than cast aspersions at witches of any sort...
Notice how we're not running around yelling "Child Molesters!" whenever we see priests.
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| I'm Afarid This Rings True.. | Sep 12th. at 1:45:00 am EDT |
by Aquila ka Hecate (Johannesburg South Africa) - wc_xemail
...here in Africa 'we' greatly fear 'witches'.
I'm using the english word, to distinguish 'witches' from sngomas and nyangas, who, while perfectly capable of casting the odd curse,are primarily traditional healers and diagnosticians.
The 'witches' we fear are, true to form, almost always females,of above a certain age.
They tend to be solitary of habit,have no close kin, and are owners of small tracts of land or households.
Does any of this sound familiar yet?
I'm afraid that much of Africa is still highly superstitious, and this is perhaps the greatest challenge before us.
I'm going to indulge in a little christian-bashing now:
The church, from the time it set foot in Africa, has not ceased to encourage and even propogate these fears.
It stands to reason that a populace living in superstitious fear is more easily controlled.
Which is not to say that these 'witches' don't exsist.
I'm afraid that they do.
Muti is big business, and children make ideal ingredients.
Godless Blessings
Terri
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| I'm Confused | Sep 12th. at 1:12:00 am EDT |
by confused (WA)
The whole article seems fague to me. I won't reiterate what else has been said on this already. But given all the previous comments and what's been pointed out. It just seems fague still. Did the writer not take english or writing classes?
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| So Sad . . . | Sep 11th. at 10:19:59 pm EDT |
by KarEEna (Perth, Australia)
Those people need to collectively grow up. I mean, "witches" in this sense is equivilant to the "boogy man" as the word has nothing to do with the actual religion-related use of the word "witch." So, basically, you have an entire population, including their supposedly educated leaders (the priest) believing in boogy men. How sad.
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| Hey, It's The Taste That Counts | Sep 11th. at 7:47:52 pm EDT |
by WhiteFire WolfDragon (Phoenix, Arizona) - wc_xemail - Web
You know, abduction is a way of the past. I remember when I was three, I was abducted by this Methodist church... maybe it was part my parents fault. But every Sunday, they'd take me away against my will...
Anyhow, abduction and force is what brought me here. I'd rather go somewhere by choice and live in a religion where I can speak with my one voice, instead of speaking the popular voice. I'd rather not be abducted into a religion.
Anyhow, the story is all bullhonky (BS), total BS, it's not like the witches abducted them, tied them to a really tall tree, and summoned their strange "lightning god" to them for sacrifice.
I would also like to ask the God and Goddess to not let what I just put in here to go into the media. *Watch, they will exploit my words as the words of a witch*
Blessed Be!
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| Now, I Have To Say.. | Sep 11th. at 5:05:49 pm EDT |
by Xanthe (Chaska, MN)
It seems that all the problems with "witches" in Africa aren't Neopagan witches. Either they're traditional 'witches', Shamans, or such, or they don't even exist. Remember, the Catholic church did this in the Middle Ages as well. None of THOSE witches were really witches, just normal citizens. If people want to blame an event on someone, they'll create a scapegota. :( I agree, the premise on this is all absurd, but, just remember they're probably NOT saying witches as in Witches, but witches in the traditional sense.
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| Just A Few Questions | Sep 11th. at 3:12:22 pm EDT |
by Old Gray Mouse (Sturbridge MA)
Of course we eat babies. They know this by watching us open a jar of Gerber's Baby Food. The picture on the outside always shows the contents inside, right?
Question-did the lightning get all 11 kids in one swell foop (obverse of a fell swoop) or 11 consecutive times? Sometimes lightning just won't give up.
Question-just what were these foreign investors going to invest in?
Question-were the kids abducted or killed by lightning. This is not clear. Witches don't recruit (abduction is a poor recruitment technique anyway). If abducted, 11 is too few for a coven.
I'm confused.
mouse
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| Ha Ha! | Sep 11th. at 2:08:28 pm EDT |
by Gawain (Plattsburgh, NY)
Yeah, witches are abducting students from the Christian schools in Africa. And we eat babies too.
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| Whole New Meaning To "lest We Forget" | Sep 11th. at 1:43:57 pm EDT |
by inezs (bowling green ohio)
The students were struck by lightening in 1985, 17 years ago....let it go, man.
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| Where's Law Enforcement? | Sep 11th. at 12:58:00 pm EDT |
by Mar-Garet (SW Pennsylvania)
If children are being abducted, the local Law Enforcement needs to get on the ball, and not be blaming it on those who are not proven to be guilty.
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