Do you think these people were really witches?

Question

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/world/africa/22brief-GANGKILLSSUS_BRF.html

and why would it take 300 people to kill them?(They were all over 70) This sounds like it's out of the Dark Ages. Isn't it against the law in Kenya to do this in these days?

Answer 1

No that was an excuse to kill them...

Answer 2

Thats a pretty crazy article. My wife actually has an ancester who was hung in the Salem witch trials in massachussetts.

The cause was simply mass hysteria, which I suspect is what happened in Kenya. They believed that they were witches, looked for enough evidence, and apparently 300 people were convinced enough to commit this gruesome mass murder of 11 people.

I doubt they were even practicing magic, the people just couldn't take responsibility for thier own childrens delayed education. The thinking is "My child is slower than other children, it must be someone elses fault." (Do you think they checked the difficulty of the tests the teachers were giving the kids?)

There is always going to be an average intelligence level, and many children will fall below that, and many will be above that, no matter how excellerated those children are. These people slaughtered 11 innocent people because they could not comprehend this simple statistical fact.

Answer 3

.Kenya is a different place from the U.S and they have different law,

and do i Reilly think these ppl r witches well i cant answer that cuz i did not no them, but there are religions like  wika

which do rituals to celebrate the earth and they are considered witches there r ppl who are satanists who worship the devil and they do rituals that hail satin and if u believe in ghosts and spirits some times they mess with the wrong thing  and open a portal in to this world

Answer 4

They must not have been witches, else they could have hopped on their brooms and flown away.  I'm sure it is against the law in Kenya to commit murder.

Answer 5

no i think they havent reached our period of time mentally.

Answer 6

You haven't defined what a "witch" is, so I can't answer your question with any certainty. But did these "witches" have supernatural powers?  There is no reason to think so. I doubt it would have taken 300 people to kill 11, but when people go rioting and feel like spilling blood the numbers tend to grow and they pile on to join the melee.

You brought up the Dark Ages and this is a good example of how the mentality of mystical thinking (e.g., belief in witches) keeps dragging us back there.  I doubt you would have found a paranormal skeptic in that 300.

Answer 7

no

Answer 8

Fear of the unknown. That is the only reason people are harmed in the name of witchery or wizardry.

A recent substitute teacher in Florida was fired for practicing wizardry by making a toothpick disappear.

Shame isn't it? All that talent going to waste...

Some of the top answerers consistently deny anything having to do with the paranormal. The only thing that separates them from the African witch burners is MOTIVATION and CIVIL LAW, they have the same mentality.

Answer 9

Here's another source of that killing of that girl:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...

This version says it was an exorcism, not Santeria.  So it's possible they were performing an exorcism ritual which is Catholic, not witchcraft (voodoo to be more specific).  This isn't a case of the dangers of voodoo or Catholicism, but an example of how superstition and magical thinking can (and frequently does) end in the death of an innocent person.

As far as the African witches go, it's extremely unlikely there was any witchcraft going on here.  Witchcraft is the Bogey man these people blame for whatever ills them.  This sort of thing has happened many times in the past and will continue to occur as long as the cultures embrace superstition and magical thinking.

Answer 10

Yes Witches do exist!! but the Santeria  people are not Evil !!!

Maybe the link below will help

Answer 11

Face it, witches DO exist. But i don't know if they WERE really witches. Maybe you'll think that I'm a fool. But they do exist. C'mon! People that cast spells are witches. And they are evil. but beautiful. Ugly witches aren't IN nowadays. I think fairy-tale creatures are true and they are used by the Evil one. Go on, read the Bible.

Answer 12

yes

Answer 13

Witches do not exist; so no.

Seems to me this was the "work" of moronic, delusional kids who should be hung from their thumbs.

Answer 14

I guess mycrofts answer is "maybe".I don't think they were witches.This is why so many of us are so anti-paranormal.Here in the first world the paranormal/superstition is a harmless,silly pastime.This is an example of what lies just beneath the surface.Remove laws and education from any society.Throw in poverty,ignorance and oppression.These types of barbarities can happen anywhere.

Answer 15

I doubt it. This whole witch hunt thing is due to superstition. Something strange happens, without a clear explanation, and therefore something else is required. In this case, the reason blamed was witches, and the people killed were just scapegoats.

Answer 16

Yes, there were probably witches by the criteria of Kenya and the beliefs of the people in the country. Perhaps they did cast spells (effective or not) and made potions (effective or not). Were they people that fly on brooms and turn people into toads no and witches never were such beings this was simply how Christians cast them in order to force their beliefs on to others and persecute those that differed from them, huh I guess I'm a YA witch ;)

Yes I believe murder is illegal in Kenya but so may practicing witch craft (which probably does not carry the death penalty).

How is this any different than people in US dragging a g*y person tied to a truck until he died because he was g*y and some people (murderers) didn't like g**s?

Don't believe for a second we are any more enlightened than Kenya or any other civilization.

Psi

Answer 17

Well, being Wiccan, I can say that yes they do exist.  If you are asking about ugly old women who have horrible laughs, boil frogs in cauldrons and fly on broomsticks, well you're not thinking of witches at all.  Witches are not evil, warlocks are.  If you could spot a witch in a crowd and ask them if they were a warlock, they would take great offense.