Religion and Politics: Voodoo Hexes

BvBPL

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As reported by the Post, NYC City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is today under fire for putting the voodoo whammy on a primary opponent. Gwen Goodwin claims that Mark-Viverito, in her capacity as the head of the urban art campaign Los Muros Hablan, painted a giant voodoo hex on the side of Goodwin's residence. According to Goodwin, the giant disembodied chicken amounts to both a voodoo curse and a symbol for Puerto Ricans akin to a swastika. Goodwin is now suing Mark-Viverito alleging that the chicken caused Goodwin's blood clot in her foot and her close friend to go crazy.

Spoiler :


The alleged voodoo hex Goodwin (top) says Mark-Viverito (lower) put on her.



Do you think there should be any legal barrier to bar politicians running from office from painting five-story voodoo hexes on the buildings of their political opponents? What about a more general social barrier, that is even if it is legally permitted should it be allowed within the confines of good taste? Furthermore, do you think it that using public funds to paint a hex on the building of a political rival should be barred even when the hex is quite beautiful and striking?

Broadening the topic a bit, how permissible do you think magic and hexes are within politics? Does magic and politics run afoul of the separation of church and state? What if the magic is not a part of a religion, but recalls a religious basis, such as in Goetic and Enochian magic? What if the magic system is distinctly nonreligious, as in the case of Chaos Magic?
 
Yes a separation of state and religion should be adhered to.
 
Then again, if magic does work in NYC, I think we wouldn't need the "state" part, because if there's magic, surely things like Obamacare won't be needed anymore.
 
Voodoo fixes everything?
 
I'm sort of in shock that this happened in New York City and not New Orleans.

I think this thread, in all seriousness, could use a hefty helping of somebody who actually knows about the distinction between magic and religion, like Plotinus or The Strategos.
 
Magic people, voodoo people :/

Although obviously it was a bad move (probably down to stupid reasons) to enable this to be painted there under these circumstances, the story still reflects very poorly on what news stories have become- let alone politicians.
 
I'm sort of in shock that this happened in New York City and not New Orleans.

I think this thread, in all seriousness, could use a hefty helping of somebody who actually knows about the distinction between magic and religion, like Plotinus or The Strategos.

It would seem that they both call on "spiritual" forces to do their bidding. Religion is not just about laws and morals. That is only the tip of the iceberg. They both work in the realm of spiritual control, and fear of the unknown.
 
Yes a separation of state and religion should be adhered to.

Well, that's just it: is magic religion?


On the one hand, as you pointed out, both seek spiritual intercession.

However, religion is organized much more so than magical communities generally are. Religion generally tries to obtain mainstream acceptance whereas magicians are generally willing to sit on the side lines. Religions can be evangelical (used in the broadest sense of that term) whereas few magicians have knocked on my door asking if I've communed with my Holy Guardian Angel.

Are religion and magic sufficiently different that interaction with the government should be different in each case or are the similarities so close that what's good for the goose is good for the gander?

For that matter, what about other quasi-spiritual practices, like TM? Should the government not fund TM?

Then there's the broader question of whether or not someone should be legally liable for putting a magic hex on another person?
 
Wait, so one politician painted a giant bird on the other politician's house and now the other politician is suing the former politician because the painted on bird messed up his foot and made his friend go crazy?

That just sounds like a failed Steve Martin movie from the 80s or something.
 
It's even more tenuous than that.

A neighborhood museum painted the mural on the side of her building before the primary, which she lost to another candidate of the same party. This kept her from rightfully challenging the voodoo witch candidate in the general election, who must have been responsible for the mural because she received a $100 campaign contribution from the museum.
 
Can someone clarify the "her" part of this as regards the residence. The picture looked like an apartment building or something, which suggests she has no property claim to it.

As far any legal barrier goes, as long as they have permission of the building owner, go for it. I suppose if the alleged victim can concoct some scientific proof that a voodoo hex does stuff, then the victim may have a case to sue, but short of that...
 
My own feelings aside, I can tell you if someone was capable of exhibiting "powers" in a controlled environment, they can win a million dollars from the James Randi Educational Foundation. Call it magic, call it psychic phenomena, call it whatever, no person has collected the prize, so there's that.

edit: oh, snap, it's up to about 1.5 mil now. Last statement was from March 31, 2013.
http://www.randi.org/site/images/stories/evercore.pdf
 
Well, that is proof that voodoo hexes work.
An immediate political corpse in 3...2...1.

Right?
 
Well, that's just it: is magic religion?


On the one hand, as you pointed out, both seek spiritual intercession.

However, religion is organized much more so than magical communities generally are. Religion generally tries to obtain mainstream acceptance whereas magicians are generally willing to sit on the side lines. Religions can be evangelical (used in the broadest sense of that term) whereas few magicians have knocked on my door asking if I've communed with my Holy Guardian Angel.

Are religion and magic sufficiently different that interaction with the government should be different in each case or are the similarities so close that what's good for the goose is good for the gander?

For that matter, what about other quasi-spiritual practices, like TM? Should the government not fund TM?

Then there's the broader question of whether or not someone should be legally liable for putting a magic hex on another person?

Yes, if the government supported magic, and it delved into the spiritual realm, then it would be giving such magic an organized front. The US frames it as church, because church just happened to be the term of the more realized effect the church had on the European governments. I think that one could substitute religion, mysticism, and even magic in place of church. Just because the words church and religion hold an organized thought pattern, does not mean they are any different when it comes to allowing spiritual matters in control of the secular state. I would go so far as to say that some private aspects of morality should be left out of the government as well, instead of being used as bargaining chips. People should have their home life, their church life, and their civic lives separated and governed appropriately. Murder, theft, and physical abuse would be the only moral issues handled by the government, but unfortunately removing all other issues would drastically affect the economy, but would probably be a worthwhile overhaul if such an endeavor could be realized.

I would say the government is a mess today, because the so called "church" has given up it's moral judgment to the secular state and the line between the two has blurred until there is no longer any separation.
 
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