Zimbabwe going back in time

[Bozo Erectus]

Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on the practice of witchcraft, repealing legislation dating back to colonial rule.

From July the government acknowledges that supernatural powers exist - but prohibits the use of magic to cause someone harm.

In 1899, colonial settlers made it a crime to accuse someone of being a witch or wizard - wary of the witch hunts in Europe a few centuries earlier which saw many people burned at the stake after such accusations.

But to most Zimbabweans, especially those who grew up in the rural areas, it has been absurd to say that the supernatural does not exist.

In fact, it is not hard to find vivid stories about the use of magic.

Alfred, for example, believes that he was bewitched at work some years ago, making him partly bald.

He described how after supper one evening as he and his wife were retiring to bed his hair disappeared.

"When my wife came into the bedroom she look at me and said, 'What happened to your hair? Where's it gone?'

"She saw a bald patch from the forehead going back on the side of the head. There was no trace of it," he says.

He spent seven months visiting traditional healers to make it grow back.

"She made some incisions round the bald patch, put some powdery muti (medicine) and lo and behold within a few day the hair had grown."

Fetishes

There are many other accounts of the use of magic, and the new law effectively legitimises many practices of traditional healers.

But there will be some legal grey areas, like whether it is legal for a husband to place some charms in his bedroom - charms that may injure his wife if she is unfaithful.

Professor Claude Mararikei - a sociologist and the chairman of Zimbabwe's Traditional Medical Practitioner's Council - argues that witchcraft has some positive benefits in the modern world.

He cites the example of a man who stole some bewitched cement that became stuck to the thief's shoulders so he could not remove the bag.

"So if you have that knowledge to capture a thief in a cattle kraal when he comes for the cows, well and good. It's like electrifying the fence round your house," he says.

'Waste of time'

Others believe that the country would be better off without elevating the supernatural.

"I think it's a waste of time and energy. The urban areas are not really caught up in these supernatural issues," says social commentator Thomas Deve.

"Claims of witchcraft need to be investigated instead of putting down every disorder in society that is taking in our society to witchcraft or modern magic," he adds.

The church in Zimbabwe has always believed that witchcraft exists, but it has been careful to establish the source of such supernatural powers.

"As Christians we've got to recognise that supernatural forces are good if they originate from God - now witchcraft is one of the things that originates from the Satanic world," says Reverend Roy Musasiwa who runs a theological college in the capital, Harare.

The Witchcraft Suppression Act was used fairly frequently, but prosecuting someone under the new legislation may prove difficult.

The new Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act will demand proof that a person has supernatural powers and that they are using them to harm others.

"It's not going to be easy task," says Custom Kachambwa, a judge with years of experience in the legal field.

He says witnesses will often be traditional healers, who could be accused of practising harmful magic in the future.

But whatever the problems, the repealing of the witchcraft laws is another sign that Zimbabwe's government is continuing to move away from Western values and placing more emphasis on the country's own traditions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5134244.stm

Dont blame this only on Mugabe, it appears to have popular support.

 

[HannibalBarka]

Well, there are people in some "civilized" countries believing that some guy divided the Red sea into two parts using a stick, others that a virgin gave birth to the son of a guy they worship and call God, and some others that their "hero" have a kind of horse traveling at the light's speed who brought him to the God mentioned above. And countless believe that Jupiter and Saturn have a significant impact on their love affairs

 

[Shaihulud]

What is there to be expected from a bunch of superstitious peasants?

Professor Claude Mararikei - a sociologist and the chairman of Zimbabwe's Traditional Medical Practitioner's Council - argues that witchcraft has some positive benefits in the modern world.

He cites the example of a man who stole some bewitched cement that became stuck to the thief's shoulders so he could not remove the bag.

I guess it goes to show that Sociologists are generally quacks, as everyone knows.

 

[amadeus]

Well, it would take something supernatural to get "Zimbabwe" out of it's misery.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Well, there are people in some "civilized" countries believing that some guy divided the Red sea into two parts using a stick, others that a virgin gave birth to the son of a guy they worship and call God, and some others that their "hero" have a kind of horse traveling at the light's speed who brought him to the God mentioned above. And countless believe that Jupiter and Saturn have a significant impact on their love affairs

Yeah I know. Everything is equal, everything has the same value, nothing is better or worse than any other thing[/relativism] . So therefore an African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs. If you say so.

 

[Winner]

Well, it would take something supernatural to get "Zimbabwe" out of it's misery.

Something like 100 UK soldiers?

 

[HannibalBarka]

Yeah I know. Everything is equal, everything has the same value, nothing is better or worse than any other thing[/relativism] . So therefore an African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs. If you say so.

No, every thing is not equal, never said that.
Some African private citizens believing in magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs
And
An African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some US counties teaching ID in Biology classes

Don't you agree?

 

[skadistic]

Can they start exporting voodoo dolls because mine is getting worn out. It takes it toll on the little dolls when you use them keep democrates out of office. I use to use then purely for baggin' chicks but it got easy.

 

[.Shane.]

Yeah I know. Everything is equal, everything has the same value, nothing is better or worse than any other thing[/relativism] . So therefore an African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs. If you say so.

No, but those same western govts. recognize a whole host of religions. I don't see this as any different. Have you forgotten the current US leader would have us all taught creationism as science? I'd say the Zimbabweans (Zimbabites?) are in the same time machine as much of the US.

At the end of the day, its all voodoo of one sort or the other.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

No, every thing is not equal, never said that.
Some African private citizens believing in magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs
And
An African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some US counties teaching ID in Biology classes

Don't you agree?

No, not at all.

No, but those same western govts. recognize a whole host of religions. I don't see this as any different. Have you forgotten the current US leader would have us all taught creationism as science? I'd say the Zimbabweans (Zimbabites?) are in the same time machine as much of the US.

I really shouldnt be surprised at this late date to discover that there are actually people here, including Americans, who see no difference between the United States and Zimbabwe. Makes no apparent difference what the article actually says, their conclusion will always be the same. If the article was about ritual cannabilism in Borneo, many responses would be like: Oh yeah, well what about the Donner Party, huh? You forgot about that! I see no difference here.

 

[.Shane.]

I really shouldnt be surprised at this late date to discover that there are actually people here, including Americans, who see no difference between the United States and Zimbabwe.

And, did I say that? Because, yes, I think the 2 countries are exactly alike.

And, yes, I did read the article. I'm not sure how much of the US you've seen or lived in, but I've met plenty of Americans who have say all the same types of things that that article is saying, only in the US its couched in the language and practice of Christianity, for the most part. Maybe its not as widespread, but it exists.

For example: Jon Edwards will speak to your dead relatives. Scientology is legal. Benny Hin. Snakehandling. Psychics. Etc... its all "voodoo" or "magic" or whatever you want to call it. Now, the practioneers may have different motives, but the excerise is about the same.

If you disagree, fine, but don't post bs false assumptions. It seems you're the one reaching for hyperbole, not me.

 

[nonconformist]

People pray to God to get better. how is that any different?

 

[Verbose]

People pray to God to get better. how is that any different?

Actually a better anaology for understanding witchcraft in Africa is not that a bunch of Westerners believe in God, but that almost all of us believe in "chance". "Chance" fulfills the role of "witchcraft" in our societies.

"Things just happen for no reason" makes little sense in most African contexts. They rather assume witchcraft. (E.-E. Evans-Pritchard, "Magic, Orcales and Witchcraft among the Azande".)

And I should be needless to say that what Westerners think constitutes witchcraft isn't quite what it means in Africa, but CFC being what it is maybe it isn't after all.

 

[spankey]

Gee, from the title of the thread, I thought it would be about Mugabe's repel of private property rights and other anti-individualist leanings. The leanings that have ruined the nation's economy and turned a decently prosperous and food exporting African country and turned it into a famine-heading one with hungry pople all over. Also with an economy experiencing 1000% inflation.

Witchcraft isn't going backward, as I am viewing the world, it is showing the progression that most countries are going--everything from self-help, to crystals, to astrology. The religion of oneself is the sweeping world religion--at least in the intellectual circles....

 

[.Shane.]

Witchcraft isn't going backward, as I am viewing the world, it is showing the progression that most countries are going--everything from self-help, to crystals, to astrology. The religion of oneself is the sweeping world religion--at least in the intellectual circles....

Except that its a fraud. Everything you just listed is. So, it is a step backward. Its a step away from science and progress and a step back toward superstition and shadow.

 

[warpus]

IMO legal witchcraft is much better than having an outright ban on witchcraft. In that sense, they are moving forward, not backwards.

The government officially acknowledging that magic exists and is real is a step backwards, but even the American president believes in the supernatural, and he's not afraid to voice his beliefs in public..

so what?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Yeah I know. Everything is equal, everything has the same value, nothing is better or worse than any other thing[/relativism] . So therefore an African government officially recognizing magic is the same as some private citizens in the West having religious beliefs. If you say so.

I'll raise you an $1 bill and a Pledge of Allegiance.

 

[MobBoss]

Something like 100 UK soldiers?

Depends. If they are not American you better up that number considerably.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I think it can be safely assumed that UK soldiers aren't Americans.

 

[spankey]

Except that its a fraud. Everything you just listed is. So, it is a step backward. Its a step away from science and progress and a step back toward superstition and shadow.

Obviously... take it as sarcasm