In this video, the pastor with an image of Jesus on his robe went into a trance. Claiming to be speaking in the voice of the Holy Spirit, he said that the two children were possessed by the evil spirit of witchcraft, and the stepmother believed him. Of course, not believing him or making confessions contrary to the voice of the Holy Spirit could earn her a slap as you can see in another video clip from Nigeria. Meanwhile, the stepmother of the children confirmed the accusation. She claimed that one of the kids had been stealing the stepsister's blood, which she used to fly at night. And the pastor went ahead with the deliverance, for which he charged $50. Children accused of withcraft are tortured, torment, starved, chained, or beaten in the name of exorcism, because torture is believed to be an effective way of expelling the witchcraft in them or of disabling their "witch powers", whatever that means.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, one of Africa's most notorious witch hunters, Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church, claims to have the power from God to identify and deliver those allegedly possessed by the demon of witchcraft. She organizes sessions where she claims to identfy and deliver mostly children who are victims of witchcraft attack, possession, or initiation. She produces films and books on how to identify child witches and the havoc they wreak in families. One of her films, The End of the Wicked, identifies children who steal or are stubborn or lack interest in going to school--children who break household utensils or keep bad company--as witches who cause death, sickness and misfortunes in their families.
Meanwhile, news about one of Nigeria's millionaire pastors, Bishop Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (a.k.a. Winner's Chapel), who slapped one of his church members during deliverance, has drawn a lot of outrage, criticism and condemnation around the globe.
Bishop Oyedepo slapped the girl, because she claimed not to be an ordinary witch, but a "witch for Jesus": something this Pentecostal witch doctor found so embarrassing that he had to slap the lady in question.
The time has come for all skeptics to help expose the scams, tricks, atrocious acts, fakery, fraud and pretensions of these Christian pastors. Unfortunately, due to corruption and lack of rule of law, none of these criminals have been brought to justice. These evangelical churches have become "miners" of unreason, blind faith, superstition, and ignorance in Africa. We who subscribe to reason and critical thinking need to join efforts in combating the epidemic of witchcraft accusation and religious exploitation in the region.
Leo Igwe is a skeptical activist in Nigeria and a former representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Currently, he is researching African witchcraft accusations at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. He is partnering with the JREF to respond in a more organized and grassroots way to the growing superstitious beliefs about witchcraft throughout the continent of Africa.
FINALLY, you have posted something that supports my position on this issue. This article should be title "Nigerians and the Epidemic of Witchraft Accusations".
Nigeria is simultaneously the most populous and the most corrupt country in Africa. Apparently it is also the most stupid, as even people at the highest levels of society have trouble managing their financial affairs, if my email is any indication.
The problem is NOT evangelical churches, the problem is indigenous African belief systems, and sad to say, stupidity.
Apparently Nigerian society can be divided into three parts: the stupid, the predators, and those with enough sense to stay away from the other two.
The problem is Nigerians. As the article points out, a lot of them are stupid and like to hurt children. The problem is Nigerians.
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Native Africans not to blame written by Mother Water-Cow,
January 21, 2012
In a traditional society at a less socially complex level, native religion serves to strengthen and unify the society. An example is the San Bushman religion in which the actions of its shamans, whether male or female, protect the community. See Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art, by David Lewis-Williams. A hunter-gather society unmolested by outside forces does not increase in size; its size is self-regulated. A switch to agriculture results in overpopulation, not occurring among hunter-gatherers. The problem comes from increasing size and social complexity in which an unscrupulous eite may manipulate other members of the society--and hunter-gatherer societies almost never reach such a size, or the problem comes from without. Corrupting the native religion by forced blending with the newer religion, missionaries, whether Muslim, Christian, or other, cause results unwanted and unforeseen. Blamimg the natives is the usual imperialist excuse. In addition, the foreign religion mandates belief in the frightening nature of a partiarchal inhuman inhumane god and his opposite, who is just as inhuman and inhumane, onto a thought system that is usually benevolent. However, some parts of the world because of overpopulation from outside invasions such as New Guinea practice cannibalism and headhunting and human sacrifice, three other manifestations of imbalance in the society (usually pressure from outsiders).
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Cardinal sin written by Mother Water-Cow,
January 21, 2012
I have been criticized, so I will add that I am not talking about benevolent personages like Jesus and Buddha, but of the harsh and angry father god who throws thunderbolts whenever he feels like it. Some of the Protestant sects are prone to forget about Jesus and concentrate on the harshness of the early depictions of Yahweh, a figure from the late Bronze and early Iron Ages. Any proselytzing religion should not be allowed near natives as yet unmolested by the outside, such as the Andaman Islanders as protected by the Indian government. Disrupting their culture anmd ruining forever their primal happiness is a cardinal sin in my book.
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Polyamory, sage smudging, goddess worship, heck , you name it. written by Caller X,
January 24, 2012
written by Mother Water-Cow, January 21, 2012 In a traditional society at a less socially complex level,
I can't believe you'd say that about Nigeria!
native religion serves to strengthen and unify the society. ...blah blah reading list... Corrupting the native religion by forced blending with the newer religion, missionaries, whether Muslim, Christian, or other, cause results unwanted and unforeseen. Blamimg the natives is the usual imperialist excuse.
Rwanda, Cambodia, the list goes on.
In addition, the foreign religion mandates belief in the frightening nature of a partiarchal inhuman inhumane god and his opposite, who is just as inhuman and inhumane, onto a thought system that is usually benevolent.
Except for the part about child witches and how hurting children causes them to stop being witches.
However, some parts of the world because of overpopulation from outside invasions such as New Guinea practice cannibalism and headhunting and human sacrifice, three other manifestations of imbalance in the society (usually pressure from outsiders).
New Guinea was doing that shit long before the "outside invasions" and they're STILL doing it. Let's review your nonsense: "because of overpopulation from outside invasions" Seriously dude? "because of overpopulation from outside invasions" Let's focus on the incredible absurdity of that reasoning. Let's all take a moment and really think about it. Have you heard of the Aztecs and the Mayans? The outside invasion pretty much stopped the human sacrifice, and reduced the population. Your ignorance is quite an accomplishment.
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Overpopulation causes patriarchy written by Mother Water-Cow,
January 25, 2012
Dear Caller X: The Africans are being terrorized with fundamentalist stories of Satan and such nonsense into their non-dualistic culture. Look at the horrifying and demoic trash that our own children in the USA see every days in the movies. It was unthinkable 50 years ago. It is worthy only of Gilles de Rais, a madman influenced by "Oriental" occult Satanic doctines. If white people were so smart, they would see that they need to keep their nose out of the rest of the world's business, and keep their violent macho fantasies of power to themselves. And yes I am white and I am a woman. I do not hate men.
Modern Western culture is so unbalanced, tipped toward the masculine, and growing worse since WWII, that kill, kill, kill is now the USA's only answer to "problems" in the world, especially problems in the Middle East that are not our problems at all. There would be no poor in this country if we kept our money at home. The supposed peacekeeper the United Nations is now a tool of the cognitive elite, and in the 1980's and 90's gave scores of millions of smallpox injections with the AIDS vaccine therein to black Africans and others in supposedly overpopulated parts of the world to reduce the native populations which were burgeoning because Westerners had "colonized" them and disrupted the stasis of their culture which kept the population balanced. Read a biography of Magellan, for instance, to see how as a youth before his famous voyage around the world he took part in the forced colonization of points along the African coast and then in India.
Rwanda and Cambodia were both the results of outside interference in native areas. Pol Pot was educated in Europe. The United States set up the Viet Cong in Vietnam after Roosevelt wanted the French out, who refused to leave.
When I speak about New Guinea I am taking a long historical view back thousands of years. The original settlers were Negritos who have been there 40,000 years. The Polynesians are a mixture of the original Austronesians mixed with invaders from the Asian mainland who then started expanding. There were other expansions too. The natives were reduced to small groups. Agriculture produces population expansion and the hunter-gatherers are the victims and then they get blamed.
After a climate change I think in the AD 900's, there was a population drop because the great increase in agriculture in S Mexico and N Central America caused by the Mayan elite'd insistence on faming, failed when the climate conditions changed. The area was ripe for conquest.
The Aztecs were brutal and bloodthirsty elite invaders from the North, from (the are now known as)SW USA or very NW Mexico, who invaded, took over the native Mexican civilization, and began their hideous human sacrifices of thousands per year because they had increased the population by forced conversion to farming. There were too many people, so the elite murdered them and used religion as an excuse,and believe me the conquistadores were even worse than the Aztecs. Almost all of the natives in the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and Mexico died from diseases brought by Europeans and by forced labor and brutal treatment, and so slaves from AFRICA started being shipped in. Religion is used as an excuse nowadays too when the Zionists in the US and Israeli and British governments use a cleverly manipulated fundamentalist Christian population in the USA and manipulation of the Jewish people by telling them that Yahweh approves of Zionst deeds to do their dirty work against Palestinians and Muslims, and then the USA blames the Muslims. Every thinking person knows dern well that the USA, Britain, and Israel governments committed 911.
My point is that now the best thing to do is stop the West from its insane megalomania which tells it that it can expand as much as it wants whether through global corporations or imperialism or the CIA toppling governments. Russia has given up Communism and we need to control the cognitive elite at work now in the USA and Europe. And the Communists in China.
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... written by Mother Water-Cow,
January 25, 2012
I mean to say the AIDS virus. You can find info on the green monkeys shipped into the USA with the AIDS precursor virus in their blood, and then their blood was used to prepare vaccines. I daresay the US biological weapons labs tweaked the virus somewhat. Otherwise it would not be as deadly as it is. The truth is out there. I went looking for it and I found it. I have been an oficial skeptic since about 1990. The truth is hard to bear, but I think we can beat the cognitive elite with education. Randi and friends are doing a great job, but the cognitive elite are the Globalists that people are talking about, and they are smarter than me and smarter than you, and they hide in the shadows of people's ignorance.
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Polyamorous sage smudging goddess worshippers Occupy JREF written by Caller X,
January 25, 2012
kill, kill, kill is now the USA's only answer to "problems" in the world
I remember well all those people the U.S. killed in Rwanda.
millions of smallpox injections with the AIDS vaccine therein to black Africans and others in supposedly overpopulated parts of the world to reduce the native populations...
Didn't work, did it?
The United States set up the Viet Cong in Vietnam after Roosevelt wanted the French out, who refused to leave.
That makes perfect sense. The U.S. set up a communist organization in a colony of an ally in 1954, perhaps by using a time-traveling President Roosevelt, then a few years later in the Eisenhower administration seriously considered dropping atomic bombs on that same communist organization, stopped only be British opposition.
When I speak about New Guinea I am taking a long historical view back thousands of years.
I think it would be charitable to call your knowledge of history "shaky".
Almost all of the natives in the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and Mexico died from diseases brought by Europeans and by forced labor and brutal treatment, and so slaves from AFRICA started being shipped in.
And the genetically superior Negro managed to survive the same forced labor and brutal treatment?
Religion is used as an excuse nowadays too when the Zionists in the US and Israeli and British governments use a cleverly manipulated fundamentalist Christian population in the USA and manipulation of the Jewish people by telling them that Yahweh approves of Zionst deeds to do their dirty work against Palestinians and Muslims, and then the USA blames the Muslims
I've long thought that we should return to the status quo: the Palestinians should be governed by the Turks.
Every thinking person knows dern well that the USA, Britain, and Israel governments committed 911.
Ding! Ding! Ding! That's the sound of you hitting the Crazy Bell.
Randi and friends are doing a great job, but the cognitive elite are the Globalists that people are talking about, and they are smarter than me and smarter than you...
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Nigeria is simultaneously the most populous and the most corrupt country in Africa. Apparently it is also the most stupid, as even people at the highest levels of society have trouble managing their financial affairs, if my email is any indication.
The problem is NOT evangelical churches, the problem is indigenous African belief systems, and sad to say, stupidity.
Apparently Nigerian society can be divided into three parts: the stupid, the predators, and those with enough sense to stay away from the other two.
The problem is Nigerians. As the article points out, a lot of them are stupid and like to hurt children. The problem is Nigerians.